I had a short conversation with a colleague today about why I and another colleague both love riding scooters: the economy, the fun or riding, the chic simplicity of it. Her question was “Why don’t more people do this?”
America is such an odd place. We pave the way in so many areas, yet when you compare us to Europe or Asia (whole continents, mind you), we’ve completely missed the boat on scooters until just this last season. I’m really hoping that gas prices and practicality converge again this summer to continue the upward trend in scooter sales.
I have a simple response to that question: masculinity. Look at the masculine pride America takes in its automotive heritage; a culture that continues to this day. The Dodge trend of “put a hemi in it” was the thesis of this mentality. Take that and compare it to everything a scooter stands for. It’s not a mystery, it’s just misguided american culture. When Americans get cold, they turn up the heat. When Europeans get cold, they put on a sweater. Americans prefer gas-guzzling engines and the mentality of “I pay for my (macho) lifestyle and F the rest of the world and everyone in it” to “chic simplicity.” Anything less it just “gay.”
Hum seems we have a lot of stereo typing above. If you look at Italian men you might say they are the most arrogant and alpha males in the world. I think scooters in europe has more to do with their economy. They don’t have massive credit card limits nor massive home mortgages as our banks have allowed us USA-ians.
One of the coolest things I saw while in Rome were the massive amounts of “Motorini”, As I found they call their scooters, that I saw especially during their early morning commutes. Each signal was an opportunity to have a corsa which meant no lanes were respected and sidewalkers had better beware.
I myself never got the whole “Scooter” thing until… I went to the greek islands. I then road one and had a ball touring around the little towns and beaches, it was special. Would I own one here in LA… too scary even in a car to drive here.
More than anything, I think that it comes down to “needing” the bigger and better with everything. Ours is a culture that pushes people to own something big, expensive, and edgy. If it’s not worth showing off, it’s hardly worth having. As a country, we’ve hardly ever had to feel like we need to downsize. Even with massive cities, the gaps in between remind us that we have tons of room and resources. So why care?
Masculinity ties into this. Crotch rockets (giggle) and Harleys are either about speed, power, or noise. Scooters have long been made fun of as the transport of the weak and nerdy. The geek with big glasses, a bike helmet, and a cinched up backpack is what people expect to see on a scooter. Nothing macho, nothing sexy. With more people such as yourself, this idea will quickly change.
Not if, but when gas prices skyrocket again this summer, I think that the necessity to minimize fuel costs will be multiplied by people’s apprehension at our current economic situation. With good scooters costing less than $2000, I imagine that many many more people will embrace the beauty of less being more. I also think that in regards to the macho side of things, there are a great number of people who don’t really identify with the harley or sport bike scene either, and thereby never end up riding anything on two wheels even if they might really want to. The lightweight ease of a scooter is a great alternative to 400+lbs of manual transmission, snarling motorcycle. The fact that there really are highway capable scooters out there is just not common knowledge more than anything. This recession is teaching us a lot of big lessons the hard way — myself included — and hopefully “less is more” is one of the big ones we pick up on as we move toward a more moderate and sustainable national lifestyle.