Scooters in the snow. Scooters parking for free. Scooters on the internet. Scooters, everywhere are making a comeback.
Nadine Caouette of the Golden Gate [X]Press Online reports that Barry Gwin, a scooter seller in San Francisco, states this is the golden age of scootering in the US.
The mode of transportation became popular in the '60s through the '80s, and then between 1997 and 2006 scooter sales increased a staggering 555 percent. Today, a lot of the scooter buzz in occurring in cities with urban centers such as New York, Denver, and Portland and college towns, too.
San Francisco State University has taken part in the scooter boom. With higher gas prices, and expensive parking rates, riding a scooter to school makes sense. James Vossoughi used to be late to class and could never find a parking place. Now he rides a Yamaha Vino 125 and parks in front of campus or between other cars, "it's pretty tight," he adds.
A Vespa, the popular choice among the "mod" crowd, may cost between $3,000 to $5,000 while a Yamaha or other Japanese model may cost half as much. To some, the cost is justified. Even in Minnesota, where the weather can be unforgiving, there is an active scooter club that organizes online.
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