We're About To Get Many New Members By kz1000st (Read 672 times)

[kz1000st]

www.thescooterscoop.com/2011/01/03/2011-a-repeat-of-2008-ex-oil-exec-says-get-ready-for-5-gas/

If this is true scooter and small motorcycle sales will go through the roof.

[mauiboy]

Great link.
its 4.20 already here, so by the time its $5 on the mainland we will be over $6. It shouldn't cause too much trouble in our house, between the scoot and the 2.0L i4 we dont use much gas. Those with the 4x4 winky extensions that are only used for trips to the supermarket and back will be in for a shock!
I hope we make some breakthroughs soon, lead / nimh / liion batteries are pretty inefficient ways of storing large amounts of energy, not to mention having relatively short life spans compared to what would normally be expected of a car. They can also be extremely bad for the environment when you look at the bigger picture (digging up ore which is rarely pretty, shipping it half way round the world, refining it which kicks out pollution and takes energy, shipping it another half way round the world to make it into cells, the shipping those another half way round the world to be put into cars which are then shipped again, so all in pretty much environmental genocide) and I have been hard pushed to get a real answer as to how long I should realistically expect the batteries to last at an acceptable level and the cost of replacing them. I'm not against the concept, just the execution is a little nonsensical.
Gas is probably going to go up and keep going up until a realistic replacement is found. Hybrids might help a little, leccy cars are like bombing for peace, so chemical fuel it is I guess, be it hydrogen or some biofuel? Lets hope its cheap and the gy6 can be adapted lol

[ootscoot]

As a scooter dealer this is great news! My Symba gets around 120 mpg.
I did read that US gas reserves are at a higher than normal level and that perhaps due to weather, demand is less than normal...should lead to lower prices, but not so...

[Smorkle]

I was thinking this would be a great time to invest a little money in a scooter or motorcycle company, but which publicly held company do you think would be in a good position to capitalize on such a market?

[mauiboy]

I would invest in oil companies but I take no responsibility for that advice lol. Shipping is doing well these days as well. It is possible to make some decent money by betting on trends, I have done the same with amd and nvidia in the past (and skb) but it is a risk. Investment advice is always risky, if you have any debt at all that is usually the best way to spend your money, ROE on buying honda shares over say 5 years on the hope they pickup some value on increasing oil costs quite risky. My personal approach, if I had the money, would probably be to pick someone small with potential. The genuine scooter company springs to mind, they sell cheap scooters for big price tags. I don't doubt that they are well built, and a sensible limited range (unlike roketas 400 mostly identical models), but with a warranty, dealer network and finance. The put the branding and business around pretty cheap scoots and ramped the price accordingly. They might tank, but they have potential. I wouldn't personally invest in the big names if I was looking for big gains, if i wanted banker stocks that would track a few points above inflation sure, but for making some maitai money I would roll the dice on a smaller company with a clever business plan. Genuine scooters sell alongside hondas and yamahas, have a 2 yr warranty, have finance in house and the same type of dealer agreements (required floorspace etc). Do you own due diligence but that would be my first pick Under the skin theyre not expensive scooters, theyre probably made very cheaply but with a bit more polish and qc. I think theyre made in taiwan by PGO?
If you are going to dabble in stocks I hope you have a pair of red suspenders and a cambridge shirt, dressing stupidly is required!

[mauiboy]

Sounds about right! Makes more money, engine placement means folks are more likely to take it to a dealer to fix, plus longer job = more labour $. The scoots seemed fine, mid tier propositions, very big on chicago, very little on the taiwan connection. Lots of Harleyesque branded add ons. It's a brand, I don't believe they own any factories so there is little capital there but I hear about them more and more and whilst it wasnt the scoot for me it was ok. Some folks assume american made and they dont go out of their way to stop people assuming. Could be money there, could also be a moneypit, thats just part of the game

You could always go to a broker with foreign investment funds and just drop some money on asian automotive sector funds.

Perhaps american manufacturing will make a comeback and we will see well made, reliable and innovative usa made scoots! stranger things have happened!