The Summer Of Scooters

While the rest of the world has enjoyed or been cursed with, depending on how you see it, a thriving scooter culture the United States has never really had a mainstream scene that has been a lasting element. Though larger cities and warmer locales have had steady scooter activity for decades more recently scooters have been catching on in a broader range. The developments in the scooter scene recently noted in a NY Times article mentioned here on PSFK should not be considered a situation unique to New York. One factor affecting the entire nation is almost certainly the rising cost of fuel. With prices per gallon exceeding $2.00 the idea of getting 50 mpg or more is very attractive even in less congested areas.

In the last few years we have seen the return of companies like Vespa and Lambretta to the U.S. market. Other companies such as the Chicago based Genuine Scooter Company (www.genuinescooters.com) are also doing quite well. There is a strong trend of increasing value for vintage scooters that doesn’t seem to be slowing too much. Even up to five or six years ago it was possible to find an old Vespa in the back of a garage and snatch it up for as little as a few hundred dollars. Those days appear to be long gone and the demand is making room for an entire industry based on gray market importation and restoration of vintage Vespas and Lambrettas. Companies like Scoot RS offer fantastic deals on beautifully restored scooters out of Asia.

(www.scootrs.com)

For many scooters are far more accessible than motorcycles. When we step beyond the vintage market, they are cleaner, quieter and often easier to operate with modern “twist-n-go” transmissions. The modern high efficiency engines have also eliminated the need to pre-mix oil and gas or have more likely been designed with four-stroke engines. Almost any breed of die-hard scooterist will happily tell you the advantages of the lifestyle. Lifestyle may be a key word here.

Vespa long associated with fun, romance and all things retro cool has recently done a lot of "dual branding" with the likes of Target, Starbucks and Victoria’s Secret. They even got Parson’s School of Design involved.

(http://a.parsons.edu/~vespa/blog/)

(http://www.parsons.edu/news/detail.aspx?pType=2&nID=98)

(http://www.dexigner.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=513)

Many claim Vespa has transcended cult to become a general status symbol for hip young urbanites. This can only be good for the scooter market in general. Vespa is also planning a go at blogging.

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/0,,SB111507332363322596-fh27AEoX3_U3IT_7XFntAZ2mw6k_20050602,00.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top

The effect this might have on the more fringe world of scooter sub-culture is sort of up in the air but the first sign that it is having some effect could be the growing interest in Lambretta scooters, which have not enjoyed the same level of popularity in the U.S. as Vespa. This year’s re-introduction of Lambretta to the U.S. market will also certainly push that growing interest along due in part to brand awareness alone as early adopters abandon Vespa for something more fringe.

We are sure to see increasingly frequent sightings of Vespas in ads and movies. Movies and ads like the recent re-make of the classic movie Alfie, where pop icon Jude Law strikes a mod profile give the lagging mainstream permission to be cool on a “moped”. As scooters become more practical, affordable and accepted we will certainly see new restrictions and higher enforcement rates for existing laws. This current chaos of easy availability and lax laws will also likely result in a more codified and identifiable scooter sub-culture. Being a scooterist myself I already hear talk of division and deference for one crowd or another and there are active clubs that favor one kind of scooter over others.

Many promote a certain lifestyle and or socio-political standpoint like the Chicago and now Austin scooter group, The Black Hearts. They are known for trademark primer black scooters that usually have a hip post-apocalyptic sensibility. The general idea seems to be a rejection of the gentrification of a long running grass roots scene. In a recent conversation with the Chicago bunch they expressed a degree of dismay for people who, “buy a Vespa to match their BMW.” Within most scenes be it Atlanta, San Francisco or New York things are heating up and the unwritten rules of street cred are getting more and more complex. Black Hearts founder, “Chad” preferred not to comment, but for a closer look at underground scooter culture check out www.scooterjerks.com .

As mentioned above, beyond the classic appeal of what could be termed high-end scooters is a new crowd of cheaper Asian imports that in many states do not require plates or insurance. This could well prove to be a golden summer for the mass scooter market. There is a veritable flood of these scooters popping up all over. The current economy has lead manufacturers to offer unprecedented deals allowing even young and lower income shoppers to get into the game. As can be evidenced by recent sightings of groups of scooterists riding in packs even in places as unlikely as Fort Wayne, IN. Fort Wayne, for those who are not familiar, is often used as test market because it is reputedly one of the most conservative places in the US. If it sells in Fort Wayne it is likely to sell anywhere.

Scooter popularity seems to have run in about twenty year cycles and the last peak in popularity in the states was in the eighties, so, we are about due for a boom anyway. While some are critical of the idea that the US could ever have the kind of scooter culture Europe and Asia do; I would say things might be a bit different now. Perhaps we have reached or maybe are feeling the effects of already passing a Gladwellian tipping point. Buzzwords to look for are Vespa, Lambretta, Scooterist and Scoot.