Motorcycles vs Cars

As gas prices continue to rise and the roads become more congested I wonder if we are going to see an increase in small bike sales?
When I travel to Europe I'm always amazed at the number of bikes and scooters on the roads in all major cities. The kids are flying through traffic on the crotch rockets but the majority of people are riding the Vespa style bikes.
Since WWII the trend in America has been to expand the cities outward in an ever increasing urban sprawl but now your starting to see the large intercity apt. and condominium developments going up. As the younger generation starts moving closer to where they work and play I just wonder if you won't start seeing more of these small scooters being used for the routine errands and short commutes to work. :idunno:

JFN, I just read and article on the the same thing. It said that there is a big rise in the use of Scooters in N.Y.C. They said that they are actually forming clubs. Who knows maybe when on people on scooters in N.Y.C. start having problems with the cage drivers, we might see for protection for us, like more jail time for hitting a Biker.
Ride Safe,
Tugs

I'm starting to see more scooters be used all the time. I'm wondering when the motorcycle companies will produce Ethanol compatable bikes then we could have a still in every home.

Lots of the old folks around here are going from golf carts to scooters. They can travel on all the streets with them. It's cool to see actually. They have way more respect when they get the scooter perspective vs. the golf cart perspective where they tend to be in the way and self indulged.

I'm thinking electrics are going to be big soon. The 100 year old lead acid battery technology is robust enough for a while. NiCd is OK for higher energy density. NiMh is still very expensive more so than NiCd $78 for one 20Ah 1.2V NiCd cell. It takes 150 of them to make a 100Ah battery. Pretty soon the blue hairs will brown out the whole powergrid.

I just saw the stats on scooter sales, they say that they are tenfold higher that they were in 2000. And there does not seem to be any letup in sight.

Our local paper just ran an article on bike sales. Both the local Harley dealer and the local Honda dealer have had a significant increase in sales during the past year. Many people are giving gas costs as a reason for purchasing.

I just saw the stats on scooter sales, they say that they are tenfold higher that they were in 2000. And there does not seem to be any letup in sight.
I guess my eyes haven't been deceiving me then. :) :moped:
I've started to see more of them on the roads lately but nothing yet compared to the streets of London or Amsterdam.
It just seems to me it makes a lot more sense for people to use a bike for short commutes rather then a SUV.

I too, have noticed a great deal of scooters on the road, here in the Tallahassee area. Lots of women riders and senior citizens and college students too!

I think it is great thing...more bikes. Yes this high priced gasoline will affect many areas of our life & change many peoples lifestyle. For the positive I'm praying.