Untapped Market

[Forbes1964]

I agree that exposure is part of the issue.  Around here you see more Harley's than everything.  So if you see Harley's all the time, have a few friends with Harley's then power of suggestion will lead you to a Harley.  On the few occasions I have gone on a ride with other scooters we got all kinds off attention.  If they saw scooters more often maybe they'd look into getting one themselves.

I try to get more exposure for scooters by posting my scooter ride reports on a MOTORCYCLE forum, where more than just other scooter readers will read it.  I know of at least one guy who bought a scooter as a result of my reports but there may have been more.

It's amazing what the power of suggestion will do. It's a case of the chicken and the egg. People don't see enough of them, therefore they don't buy them. And because they don't buy them, we don't see many of them. However, that's where marketing comes in. Those of us who like scooters are THAT unique. But if I bought one by simply stumbling across one, and you know a guy who bought one just by seeing yours, there are bound to be some others who would buy them if they were cleverly marketed. First, to those in the demographic who already buys them but doesn't know of them yet. Then try to expand beyond that demographic. I WISH I had a marketing degree. Lol. Anyway, this has been a nice exchange of ideas among us.

Peace.

[Forbes1964]

Again geography.
Tallahassee has no scooter dealer of merit. Scooter only, quality brands. Most that ride the 50s there will never ride again after college.

I live in a place where the local Kymco, SYM, Genuine dealer can't keep SYM 200 and Kymco 300s on the floor very long. Hit the floor, gone. They buy NOS from other dealers that can't move them.

Now over to the local Honda dealers and see the Forzas just sitting. Or the Burger 200s being price slashed at the Suzuki dealer. Both are exposed to the same market whims and awareness yet one moves them and the others don't.

The reason is here we have a choice to be the second fiddle at the cycle dealer or valued customer at the scooter dealer.

Most of America has no such choice. It's the cycle dealer for anything with two wheels and those dealers have found that large scooters sit on the floor. They didn't just make that up they have watched them sit for decades.

You could make a commercial and run it during the Super Bowl and things will stay the same.
Most looking at two wheels have seen big scoots before.

I'll agree to disagree on this one.

AMAC

You are mostly correct concerning Tallahassee's lack of a real good scooter dealer. We have TWO who focus on that market. One sells only 50-150cc low line Chinese stuff. They are the best known. I don't think they are big on service.

The other (Where I bought mine) is a mom and pop operation that's been in business for a while. But they do little advertising. They sell the full line of Genuine, and Kymco scooters and a couple of brands of Chinese 50cc scooters . They also sell KYMCO ATVS and some lesser known motorcycle. And they have a decent selection of used scooters and motorcycles. They do full maintenance and repair , but will NOT even change a tire on a Chinese scooter above 150cc.

Anyway, they have a better reputation than the other dealership. Perhaps because they do an oil change and spark plug replacement on EVERY Chinese scooter they sell BEFORE it's delivered to the customer. And their owners and service techs seem  to know what they're talking about. If they marketed THEMSELVES more aggressively, they'd put the other store out of business even with the Chinese stuff.

Yes, we'll agree to disagree. I feel that sales can be increased by greater marketing and exposure. You seem to think that the market will stay flat regardless. However, it is nice to dialogue with someone with a different perspective and from a different area. I guess our own experience influences the way we see things. But that's what makes The world interesting. Peace. And maybe we'll cross paths when I ride through Jacksonville.

[Stig / Major Tom]

When I first visited my mother in St. Pete Beach,Fla., I was excited to see a scooter-only dealer just down the blvd from our hotel. Have been in there twice.
Friendly folks but they sell only Chinese scooters....which are the type I see on the streets, for the most part. Have seen a couple Vespas, a few Kymco LIKEs (the 50cc mostly) and a small Scarabeo
It is the Chinese stuff, faded and rusty, that I see parked all over....which is a sign that these scoots are being well used for daily transportation. So, good for them.

I asked a gal on a faded old yellow Honda elite where she got her scooter serviced. She said no one goes to that local dealer for service - the best service is miles away up the coast (Clearwater, I think she said) and that she had just come from getting an oil change and new spark plug from there. We were talking in Pass-A-Grille.

Lots of scooters around - but dealership support seems little better than here in Ohio.

There is a Vespa/Piaggio dealer here, about 25 miles away in a motorcycle shop. He never advertises - and I had to go online to discover that there was a Vespa dealer out side of Columbus or Cincinnati. Guy is located in a very small farm town!
The SYM dealer in the same town closed - their shop was a HVAC company - selling SYMs out of a garden shed. I give them credit - it was a new shed & they had one ea. of every SYM model and in various colors. Their mechanic had quit, and the sales girl was gone. Sign on the door said see the HVAC shop next door. Casualties of the 2009 bust I guess.

If all the scooter sellers around here shut down - I'd happily go back to a nice 300>500cc Honda bike of some sort. Scooters got me back on two wheels after 4 decades, but a 300 cc motorcycle w/ABS would suit me just as well - and probably makes better financial sense.

I wish Honda, SYM and Piaggio were better represented locally - and that they offered a much wider variety from their European line of scooters in this country!!

But that is not going to happen. This is Ohio - not Rome, Saigon or Barcelona. We're lucky that we can get parts for our scooters in the USA - even if we have to service them ourselves in most communities.
We don't do scooters in this country.
Stig

[AMAC1680]

Ya know now that I think about it those 200-300cc class scooters that sell so well here have something in common. Big wheels. The Kymco Gti300 and the SYM HD200 outsell the Downtown 3 to 1. I checked those numbers with said dealer and we agree on this.

It's not the perceived better stability of the 16" wheels or the absolute better handeleing of potholes and such it's that the big wheels make it look more like a motorcycle. They tell me they hear that a lot. Those looking at the DT300 already know they want that "look".

That's why I still think if one big scooter has a chance of making here it's the Integra. It blurs the lines both mechanically and in its cycle like look. Got to break the stigma.

Here's a link for those who haven't been blessed to see a truly great scooter. Team Red needs to give it a shot here.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_NC700D_Integra#

AMAC