Untapped Market

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It SEEMS like the market is untapped. Scooters make a great deal of sense in the American market, but no one has found the formula to sell them. The wave of awful generic chinese imports hurt the idea of the scooter, and the stigma that all riders are actually DUI's on suspended licenses keeps some people from showing interest.

Kymco builds a great machine but seemingly has no earthly idea how to name its machines. Myroad, Bet and Win, People.. terrible marketing. Sym went through its importer drama and will take a long time to repair, plus there is the Lance/Sym confusion. The Symba was a great idea, but now discontinued.  TGB is back.. once again.  Of all the Taiwanese scooters I see in my town that I can identify, its generally Genuine Buddies, but the local BMW/Triumph dealer just started carrying Kymco so that might change locally.  I don't think any marketing revolution in America would come via Taiwan. 

Vespa people are Vespa people. The world doesn't seem to be suddenly making multitudes more of them.

There needs to be a UJM of scooters. Powerful enough to get on the freeway when needed, cheap enough for anyone to buy if they save a few months or have remotely decent credit, and looks really good on its own right, not pretending to be a Vespa and not looking like someone had it shipped in a crate. I Piaggio BV350 and the Honda Forza 300 get pretty close, if not perfect to that idea. But how often do you see them on the road? I think the market is pretty well tapped.

Maybe as batteries get even better and wheel hub motor prices come down we'll see cheap fast electric scooters really get their chance to be more than toys. That might have an effect. Some states have some pretty good tax rebates so that could cause some movement in the market.

[AMAC1680]

27.....

That's the number of scoots over 50cc I passed just running around town today. Maybe 20 miles total.
Even passed a Tmax and thats a rare sighting even down here.

Geography has a ton to do with it as does economics.
Here in NE Florida a scooter is not seen as a DUI mobile it's seen as legit transportation. This isn't the big money resort type town it's wotkimg people and at rush hour it's scooters of all makes.

When I had my place at the jersey shore you would think you'd see a few scoots. Nada it was only me.

AMAC

[Stig / Major Tom]

27.....

That's the number of scoots over 50cc I passed just running around town today. Maybe 20 miles total.
Even passed a Tmax and thats a rare sighting even down here.

Geography has a ton to do with it as does economics.
Here in NE Florida a scooter is not seen as a DUI mobile it's seen as legit transportation. This isn't the big money resort type town it's wotkimg people and at rush hour it's scooters of all makes.

When I had my place at the jersey shore you would think you'd see a few scoots. Nada it was only me.

AMAC

I just stare and daydream of living in a state where all you need is a rain poncho under the seat for year around commuting to work!
This happens for 2 weeks every June when I visit my mother in StPete Beach.
90% of them are Chinese no namers.....and a few others. NEVER anything bigger than a Chinese 250.
The highways are stupid with lousy speeding drivers - but I'd never need a car because I would not even drive a car out there with those idiots.
So jealous of those folks tooling around on scoots, all year !!
Stig

[AMAC1680]

I just stare and daydream of living in a state where all you need is a rain poncho under the seat for year around commuting to work!
This happens for 2 weeks every June when I visit my mother in StPete Beach.
90% of them are Chinese no namers.....and a few others. NEVER anything bigger than a Chinese 250.
The highways are stupid with lousy speeding drivers - but I'd never need a car because I would not even drive a car out there with those idiots.
So jealous of those folks tooling around on scoots, all year !!
Stig

Come on down we have a club full of old guys on maxi scoots. A Sunday morning and a Tuesday night ride every week. Two Thursday' "mid days" every month. Last weekend an overnighter to "The Rockets", Cape Canaveral. I wish I could make more of them.

We need more retired guys to play with!

AMAC

[MJR]

I just stare and daydream of living in a state where all you need is a rain poncho under the seat for year around commuting to work!

No poncho required here in SoCal.

[bleys]

At the end of last season, I almost traded my Xciting 250 in for a used Suzuki S50.  I liked the idea of a bigger bike and my wife has trouble getting over the idea of me riding a "scooter" despite the size of it.  When making the final analysis, I realized that the 800 cc motorcycle had no storage, no faring or windshield for weather protection, poorer gas mileage, and was noisier.  The Suzuki had a better suspension, more comfortable seat, and my wife liked the look better.  Fun factor was equal.  I realized that it didn't make sense to spend more money on the trade and then have to spend even more money on saddle bags, a windscreen, and gas.  I decided to not make the trade.  The salesman asked why I changed my mind and I told him I was having just as much fun on the scooter.  He then told me that he had already been planning to buy my scooter as he had never ridden one before and was shocked at how much fun it was.  I saw him riding a Downtown about 10 days later....  People need to get over the image thing and just ride what works for them.

[Stig / Major Tom]

No poncho required here in SoCal.

Been awhile since I worked in Pasadena....but at night the air looked & smelled like I was in the Lincoln tunnel, and sky was pale gray on cloudless days......and I don't think you are supposed to see the air.
Hope things have improved since then?

In Fla. any pollution blows on over the Gulf to the drug lords in Mexico.
Stig

[MJR]

Been awhile since I worked in Pasadena....but at night the air looked & smelled like I was in the Lincoln tunnel, and sky was pale gray on cloudless days......and I don't think you are supposed to see the air.
Hope things have improved since then?

In Fla. any pollution blows on over the Gulf to the drug lords in Mexico.

See that's what you get for being inland instead of along the coast where I am. The on shore breeze blows all the crap to Irwindale. Besides the air is far better now than it was in the 70's.

[Scooter Dan]

I saw one scooter today as I rode to town to go to the Honda dealer to order a part for my SW. Saw one scooter only and appeared to be a Maxiscooter of about 250-400cc. Didn't recognize the make though. The Honda dealer had a Forza, Metropolitan and Ruckus and only one of each and they've been there awhile. I bought my first 2006 Burgman 650 in 2008, a model that sat in the showroom for 2 years.

Scooters are one of the best kept secrets of 2 wheeling and even burly HD guys get a smile on their face if you can get them to swallow their pride and take one for a spin.

I had a long hiatus(38) years from riding as a kid just out of High School for a few years and then got married and stopped riding. In 2008, I returned to riding and bought the Burgman and s few more Maxiscooters and jumped ship and started riding Goldwing. I became disenchanted with my last Wing and sold it and went back to another Burgman 650 Executive. And now here I am with s Honda Silverwing and P200. Wow, went full circle and loving it.

[Forbes1964]

At the end of last season, I almost traded my Xciting 250 in for a used Suzuki S50.  I liked the idea of a bigger bike and my wife has trouble getting over the idea of me riding a "scooter" despite the size of it.  When making the final analysis, I realized that the 800 cc motorcycle had no storage, no faring or windshield for weather protection, poorer gas mileage, and was noisier.  The Suzuki had a better suspension, more comfortable seat, and my wife liked the look better.  Fun factor was equal.  I realized that it didn't make sense to spend more money on the trade and then have to spend even more money on saddle bags, a windscreen, and gas.  I decided to not make the trade.  The salesman asked why I changed my mind and I told him I was having just as much fun on the scooter.  He then told me that he had already been planning to buy my scooter as he had never ridden one before and was shocked at how much fun it was.  I saw him riding a Downtown about 10 days later....  People need to get over the image thing and just ride what works for them.


America is all about IMAGE AND MARKETING. Just as Honda transformed the image of a cyclist from a scary into something that normal people could relate to, a clever marketing firm could transform the scooter rider's image into something fun but practical. The natural market would be the baby boomers who enjoy two wheeling but find the motorcycle to be a bit much. The other natural market would be the college graduate who enjoys his Chinese 50cc but wants something a little more versatile and "grown up".

[Forbes1964]

Remember back in the 70's or so, everyone knew the jingle "Kawasaki let's the Good Times roll?"

Feature a well known celebrity, a beautiful woman, or "manly" man. In a commercial. That might work

[Forbes1964]

Again, it's not that people are rejecting larger scooters, it's that they don't even know they EXIST. Only AFTER people are aware of their existence can we say whether people will accept or reject them.

Come on down we have a club full of old guys on maxi scoots. A Sunday morning and a Tuesday night ride every week. Two Thursday' "mid days" every month. Last weekend an overnighter to "The Rockets", Cape Canaveral. I wish I could make more of them.

We need more retired guys to play with!

AMAC

I wish we had the same thing in Tallahassee. Weekends are PERFECT for riding to the Golf Coast. St. George island is only an hour away. Panama City about 100 miles. Jacksonville about 150 miles. A Saturday day trip would be perfect for those of us who haven't retired.

Ideally we SHOULD be able to ride with the motorcyclist. But many of them even give a hard time to the non Harley riders. So a scooter rider wouldn't be accepted at all.

[MJR]

Ideally we SHOULD be able to ride with the motorcyclist. But many of them even give a hard time to the non Harley riders. So a scooter rider wouldn't be accepted at all.

That's because they don't want to be shown up by a maxi scooter.

[AMAC1680]

That's because they don't want to be shown up by a maxi scooter.

I ride with my old group often. All HD and Goldwings. They have no problem with the scooter except when I'm leading the way. I'll aways pick a route with lots of red lights......

AMAC

[Scooter Dan]

I've ridden my Maxiscooters with a Goldwing group and they're accepting of it and are impressed I can keep up with them even 2up. Maxiscooters are really motorcycles in a scooter step thru look. I generally get a wave from most bikers on my SW, however different story on the Kymco. Seems like size matters to some. Today I strapped down a plastic milk carton on the luggage rack with a 5gal. gas can for amy antique tractor. Amazing how versatile these little scoots are.