History
& Popularity of the Scooter
Excerpt from Wikipedia
History
of the Scooter
Scooters trace their ancestry back to France with the Auto-Fauteuil
mark in 1902, 1903 in the USA, where Cushman and Salsbury created some
of the first motorized two wheelers with the traits that have come to
embody scooters. Salsbury produced the first automatic scooter with a
Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT). Cushman's light, compact, and
rugged scooters were used by the United States military as ground
vehicles for paratroopers during World War II.
The Vespa, originally manufactured by Piaggio in post-WWII Italy,
quickly popularized motor scooters in places where inexpensive
transportation was in dire need. Constructed using aircraft design and
materials and eliminating belt drive by mounting the engine on the axle
it redefined the vehicle type for 35 years. Despite Vespa's dominance
of the scooter market, they were not without competition.
Lambretta offered models that rivaled those in the Vespa product line.
In the 1980s new versions of scooters began to be released and become
popular, especially in Japan and Far-East Asia. This styling of
scooters began to reflect that of larger, sporty, higher-performance
motorcycles of the time and the trend has continued to the current day.
With the release of the Honda Ruckus, new trends towards dirt-bike
scooters are just beginning.
The classic styling of the Vespa has never lost its popularity, however
and remains the most popular and most imitated scooter design. Almost
all manufacturers now carry both a classic/retro model and a
sporty/modern model.
Popularity
of the Scooter
In many parts of the world, such as Asia and Europe, motor scooters are
a popular form of urban transportation due to their low cost and easy
driving position. In fact, in many nations in Asia, scooter sales
growth outpaces automobile sales growth. For many people, a motor
scooter is the family vehicle until sufficient funds to purchase an
automobile are amassed, although in crowded cities, scooters can be
preferred over automobiles regardless of cost, due to parking, storage,
and traffic issues.
In Taiwan, road infrastructure have been built specifically with two
wheelers in mind, with separate lanes and intersection turn boxes. In
Thailand, scooters are used for street to door taxi services, as well
as for navigating through heavy traffic. Motor scooters are also
popular because of their size, fuel-efficiency, weight, and typically
larger storage room than a motorcycle. In many localities, certain road
motor scooters are considered by law to be in the same class as mopeds
or small motorcycles and therefore they have fewer restrictions than do
larger motorcycles.
In the last few years, new technology has emerged. Fuel-injected
scooters are very efficient and durable. Aprilia released the SR Ditech
in 2001. The fuel consumption of this direct injection scooter is one
litre of fuel for 50 kilometres of driving (117mpg). Later on, more
brands, such as Derbi and Peugeot, started using direct injection
systems for their scooters. Due to new environmental laws, scooters had
to change because the Euro3 standard allows only four-stroke engines.
Some scooter drivers don't agree this is a good solution because they
are used to two-stroke motors. Also, while four-stroke engines
generally grant sufficient performance in sizes from 100cc upward, 50cc
four-strokes tend to have barely enough power to drive at city speeds.
While their incredible fuel efficiency makes up for it, not everybody
is willing to accept the compromise.
More recently China has become the largest manufacturer of scooters
producing over 50% of the worlds supply according to the MIC
(Motorcycle Industry Council). With lower prices and better quality
control, China is now making scooters which meet strict United States
DOT & EPA standards. Some manufacturers from China, Ricardo
Motors from Mexico,and Flyscooters from The United States meet the very
strict California Air Resources Board's CARB requirements.[citation
needed]
Some brands imported from China and known for their affordability are
Baron, CF Moto, Genuine, Longbo, Motofino, Qlink, SunL, Tank, and
United Motors.
In the 2000s they have gained popularity in Latin America, specifically
in Puerto Rico.
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