Hm, maybe that is a primary facet of the conspiracy, to cut down on the numbers of scooters by Draconian regulation.
I'm just crazy about Kymcos, and they're all licensed and insured, so I do keep them on the up and up, and it only costs $350 a year for all of 'em. That's less than half what it costs for the '97 Land Rover, and it never leaves the house.
I'm kinda obsessive compulsive about scooters, but it doesn't make sense not to buy when the price is ridiculously low. I figured I'd have some fun modding and customizing and then sell them, but I never find anyone I can trust to take care of one and not crash it, mostly because it could be deadly. So I'm stuck with a garage full, and of course, there's the shed out back, half a dozen street legal Kymcos, and a few oddsod Chinese GY6 150s.
About the only scooter intolerance that has developed out here in the West is warning tickets for parking on the sidewalk and 'No motorized vehicles' signs by the bicycle racks, except for the usual scooter hatin' cagers trying to kill you, either out of malice or ignorance.
But once the word gets out about the European style regulation, I'm sure the gallant scooter outlaw will just fade into the sunset, or be hanged on the gallows on Main Street, with his scooter impounded in Boot Hill.