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Austin is scooter city #63

According to a recent Austin American Statesman article, scooter sales are on the rise across the nation and Austin was 63rd in scooter sales last year. Given the number of new scooters I've seen around town, (and I don't mean those older "vintage" bikes, I mean new european or japanese scooters) I'm not sure wther to be disappointed that Austin only ranked 63rd or to be happy that other cities are seeing even higher scooter uses.

Besides that tidbit, the article itself wasn't very insightful. It mostly gushes about how wonderful those smelly, unreliable "vintage" bikes are and derides modern bikes as "twist and go" toys. I am sure older scooters are fun, but the growing scooter sales across the country aren't coming from people buying 30 year old vespas for weekend rides. They are coming from people buying (mostly bigger) new scooters for day to day use. Vintage scooters are a hobby. Modern scooters are a lifestyle. I'm biased, but that's how I see it.

Austin scooter census

I've been seeing more and more scooters on the roads in Austin and for the last month or so I've been trying to keep track of what bikes are out. The hands down winner in Austin is the venerable Honda Elite. This things are old, and rather ugly. But they seem to get the job done. The ones I see seem to be late 90's models.

In second place, is the Yamaha Vino. I didn't realize how many of these bikes were out there until I started paying attention. The Vino is a small vespa styled scooter. If you want to look like a Vespa without paying for it, the Vino seems to be the bike of choice in Austin.

Next that brings us to the one and only Vespa. I guess you just can't shake the romantic notion of Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn on a Vespa. Hey, if I thought I could get someone a cute Hepburn type to go for a ride, I'd be in line for Vespa too.

Those are the only bikes that I've noticed significant numbers of. Following in a distant 4th and 5th would be the Scarabeo (my bike) and the Suzuki Bergman. I've noticed quite a few new Bergmans on the road these last few weeks. That's quite a surprise because before this month I had only seen one Bergman on the roads in Austin.

A 500cc 2-stroke?

Wow. I just saw the 500cc DiTech prototype from Aprilia. This has to be one of the most impressive scooters I've seen. The Leonardo looks like a nice bike in it's current form, but I definitely prefer the Scarabeo style. But the Leonardo 500 DiTech prototype looks good. It seems to have some of the Atlantic styling, but I like it a lot more. I think it compares favorably to the Scarabeo 500.

Style aside, this bike has power. It has a top speed of 105, and does a standing 1/4 mile in 12.5 seconds. This is a scooter? Oh, did I mention it gets 100mpg? My Scarabeo 150 gets 70 and I think the 500 gets a good bit less than that. According to the website, that's 450 miles on a tank of gas. If it can meet euro standards, I'm sure it'll be fine here despite being a 2 stroke.

I don't know what Aprilia will ultimately deliver, but it's nice to see that they have some great bikes in the works.

A journey of ten thousand miles

I hit 10,000 miles on by Scarabeo 150 this weekend. I've had the bike for just over a year and have done almost all of my day to day commuting on it. The 150 is really a great bike for austin. It tears up city streets and can accelerate to 45 really quickly. The big wheels make it handle more like a motorcycle than a scooter, which makes a real difference on the highway. The 150 handles Mopac with ease. Speed tops out at 75-80, but passed 60 there isn't much acceleration.

That is the the only weakness of the 150. I'd love to get a new Scarabeo 500, but it's hard to justify spending the extra money when my only real complaint is lack of acceleration on the high end. I can get some added acceleration with the multivar kit, and there is even a 170cc kit if I want some extra power too. Coupled with the fact that I'm not sure I really want the temptation to do 100mph, (which I'm told the 500 will do) I will probably keep with the 150 for at least another 10-15k miles.