Scooter Field Trip

[Stig / Major Tom]

Today my daughter and I went visiting a couple of scooter shops.
Saw some monster Victory bikes (yellow one was marked down from $30K to just $25K) with the biggest tail lights I've ever seen.
And into the big garage area to see 15 Vespas and a couple pretty Piaggio BV350's.
Wonder why he does not put the scoots in the showroom. He has the only Vespa dealership for 50 miles in any direction....and it is a well kept secret.
Then we went to see the SYM scoots a few miles up the country road. No photos....ah, because they were being kept in a nice yard shed. New shed but rather cramped and poorly lit. Sign on the door said to see the folks at the tooling company next door. We did. Nice young fellow. Lost their mechanic & only full time scooter employee. Haven't moved too many scoots of late.
I continue to read about issues with SYM parts and service avail. Great scoots which deserve better company support here in the States.
KYMCO is doing a very good job - when I compare it to other brands!




VESPA guts



Pretty brushed silver and oxblood colors on this BV350



Neat LEDs on the BV

[DAC]

Nice pics and write up.  Window shopping is fun.

[GLV55]

Drool, drool! Nice scooters. Ah, so many scooters, so little money! If I win the lottery, I'm gonna build a big storage building/showroom and buy a whole bunch of scooters and invite all the local scooteristas over to test ride them whenever they want. That's what I call community service!

[CROSSBOLT]

Some really fine pictures, as usual!

Karl

[Momma bear]

WOW!!!! Love the pics. It's so much fun to just look at what's out there. Hope your daughter enjoyed the trip too. I don't want to ride those big bikes but, they sure are pretty.

[wkreps]

Thanks for sharing. I wish the scooter scene was much more lively here in Central Illinois. You just don't see more than 3-5 scoots on any show floor. Maybe I can start a revolution.

[kingkymco125]

Wayne:
Don't feel so bad about their being only 3-5 scoots on the road. The majority of people who ride in cages hate those that ride scooters. They complain many of them are too slow and should be restricted to the bike lane. Since I have a Kymco Agility 125 I can keep up with traffic. I will be at the stop light in the left lane and I will pass the drivers when the light turns green. The see me in the left lane and they move over to the center and right lanes. They cannot let their egos know that a little 125 bike can kick their ass and keep up with them. Most of the 50ccs that are on the roads here are those cheap Chinese bikes. They constantly breakdown and the people do not want to spend  the money on a quality bike.  This is so sad with has happened to the Vegas scooter market.

[GLV55]

Wayne:
Don't feel so bad about their being only 3-5 scoots on the road. The majority of people who ride in cages hate those that ride scooters. They complain many of them are too slow and should be restricted to the bike lane. Since I have a Kymco Agility 125 I can keep up with traffic. I will be at the stop light in the left lane and I will pass the drivers when the light turns green. The see me in the left lane and they move over to the center and right lanes. They cannot let their egos know that a little 125 bike can kick their ass and keep up with them. Most of the 50ccs that are on the roads here are those cheap Chinese bikes. They constantly breakdown and the people do not want to spend  the money on a quality bike.  This is so sad with has happened to the Vegas scooter market.

I love it when I see cage drivers pull up to a stop and roll their eyes at me, thinking I will get in their way and slow down traffic. Their expression is quite different when I beat them off the line by about 50 yards and they have to really push it to catch up to me. That look of surprise is priceless!

[houndguy]

The biggest issue is $$ for the dealer.  They are going to make more money off the 25K Victory than they will a 10K Vespa.
 

Which is a shame.  Because frankly I feel that the automatic transmission and storage that the scooter offers will be the way of the future.

Now as far as underpowered scoots.  Frankly if your scoot can't maintain the actual road speed (and lets be honest...posted road speed is not always the actual road speed) then you should not be riding on it.  It's dangerous enough on a bike as it is.

[kingkymco125]

HoundGuy,

Your right about the bikes not being able to maintain the speed limit. On my way to work here in Vegas, I was behind one of those cheap Chinese 50cc bikes while I was taking the car to work. I have thought to myself that used to be me until I purchased a 125 bike that could do the actual speed limit.  Many of the people who ride the small bikes do not know what they are doing. I see 2 people on those little bikes and feel sorry for them. Those bikes are not designed to hold 2 people.

I know it comes down to economics. It is sad that the majority of citizens in Vegas do not want to spend the money on a quality, decent bike. Oh sure, they have no problem financing a car they cannot afford with the income they bring in. When it comes to scooters, they are the cheapskates. For what could be financed for a car, they could do the same thing for a quality scooter and have it paid off in 12 months or less unlike a decent car that will take them at least 3 or more years to pay off.

[houndguy]

HoundGuy,

Your right about the bikes not being able to maintain the speed limit. On my way to work here in Vegas, I was behind one of those cheap Chinese 50cc bikes while I was taking the car to work. I have thought to myself that used to be me until I purchased a 125 bike that could do the actual speed limit.  Many of the people who ride the small bikes do not know what they are doing. I see 2 people on those little bikes and feel sorry for them. Those bikes are not designed to hold 2 people.

I know it comes down to economics. It is sad that the majority of citizens in Vegas do not want to spend the money on a quality, decent bike. Oh sure, they have no problem financing a car they cannot afford with the income they bring in. When it comes to scooters, they are the cheapskates. For what could be financed for a car, they could do the same thing for a quality scooter and have it paid off in 12 months or less unlike a decent car that will take them at least 3 or more years to pay off.

It's partially how a scooter is marketed too.  How many ads emphasize the 100+ MPG?  How many times have you seen people buy a scoot for that reason alone?  I'll be honest, saving money on gas was one of my first thoughts in buying a scoot.

When I bought my first scooter I was smart enough to ask about how fast it would actually go.  I needed something that could maintain at least 50 - 55 mph, so I got a nice Yamaha Zuma 125.  When I moved and needed to ride on the freeways, I upgraded to a Burgman 400. 

Now I ride a Kymco Xciting 500.  I am getting 50+ mpg and could not be happier. 

I would like to see ads geared more towards the storage, the economy, the pure fun that scooters bring.