In my opinion, scooters will never be the main means of transport in the U.S. There are certain regions where it becomes too cold to ride in the winter months. Cities such as Los Angeles, CA, Seattle, WA, Portland, Ore, San Francisco, CA, and Austin, TX will always welcome scooters. I know that Austin has two scooter rallies every year which says something about the influence of them. I know here in Vegas, scooters will never be accepted as a an alternative means of transport. Now that the weather is nice, I have been riding my 125 scoot to work over the last few days and I still get no respect from the drivers here. I will be in the left lane and the cars behind me will either go into the center, or right traffic lanes. It does not matter that my bike can easily keep up with traffic. The general public wants scooters off the road. I ride because I love riding my scooter.
Another factor is reputation and lack of education on scooters. Those who ride in their cages have never rode any two wheel vehicle unless they rode a 10 speed bicycle. When I first rode my 50cc scooter, I was scared sh**less because their was no protection. In the car, there is protection from the elements. With scooters, one is exposed to the elements which they cannot control. When I started to ride, I actually enjoyed riding. It was so much fun. If the public would actually take the time to experience the joy of riding on two wheels, then scooters would be respected. Since the cagers have not been on a two wheel motor bike, they think they those who ride are so poor that this is all they can afford which is not true. I have my car, but I prefer taking the scooter over the bike. I love the power of just twisting the throttle and away I go in just seconds. This is a natural high for me.
