Really Interesting Article By kz1000st (Read 487 times)

[kz1000st]

www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=355011&paper=59&cat=104

What really amazed me was this part:

“Every year there is a 15-20 percent increase in sales and new customers coming in for repairs,” said Hung Pham of HP Mopeds. “Scooters really took off since China entered the moped market back in 2006.”
“China is coming into the market with a vengeance,” said Bernie Gratzl of Mopedland. “They took the quality scooters coming from South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Italy, reengineered them and can sell them for half as much.”
Import statistics from the Foreign Trade Division of the U.S. Census Bureau show 50cc engine moped imports were at an all time high of 220k in 2008. Although moped imports dropped significantly following the great recession, there was a 40 percent growth between 2010 and the first half of 2011. Such numbers are to be expected considering the benefits of riding a moped scooter.

These numbers conflict with the MIC numbers for scooters by a mile. If 50cc imports were that high, how many more 150 and 250cc scooters came in? How many scooters are there out there anyway?

[89newbie]

Zillions rofl, but where are they? I suspect from the threads from U.K. U.S. and elsewhere we have a small portion compared to the world. I havn't seen any farmers taking 35 chickens to market lately.

[Bashan]

It depends on the type of town. That city probably has a lot of side streets, small shops, cafes, etc. Around here the main road is six lanes packed with crazed SUVs, you do NOT see mopeds and you won't until things change. I'll go on it with my 250 and the Pegasus but not the Motorino. We do most of our scooter riding out in the country where you don't have to worry about getting killed. I'd love to live in a city like Alexandria where you could hop on a moped or scooter and safely use it to get around. Rich

[kz1000st]

When I last went to New York I saw a bunch of Vespas. When I lived there bicycles were everywhere. They were faster than buses and subways. I guess now a scooter will have you anywhere in no time. My wife says she wishes she was a scooter rider when she lived there. Life would have been completely different.