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The face of short range personal transportation is changing.
Author: Scott Best
You may have noticed recently some odd looking two, three and even 4
wheeled vehicles buzzing around your neighborhood, the mall or the city
sidewalks and streets. Portable scooters, pocket bikes and
mobility scooters have for many replaced those short car trips these
days. With the price of gas well over 3 dollars a gallon in most
parts of the country, its making more and more economic sense to utilize
these types of personal transportation vehicles.
Remember when you were a kid and you had a two wheel push scooter?
Maybe you never had one as a child, but in fact they have been around
for a long time. They became popular for children in the early
1900’s as a toy and were still quite readily seen into the early 70’s.
From those humble beginnings of course someone put a motor on it and the
powered scooter was born.
There are many types of scooters these days to be certain, ranging from
the low cost low profile sleekly designed push scooters that are
reminiscent of the first push scooters we knew merely as a toy, to super
fast motorized pro versions that can scoot along at 40mph or more.
Some scooters are gas powered, some electric, and yes the ever popular
foot powered scooter still is loved by many
Pocket bikes are sometimes referred to as mini motorcycles and are very
small, single person transportation devices, usually only about 47
inches long and 18 inches tall, usually with gas motors that are 50cc’s
or less. Pocket bikes started out as a fad but have gained
popularity over the years. Many different styles are in production
today, ranging from Harley Davidson look a likes, to those that resemble
most of the modern motorcycles on the market. Pocket bikes not
only have become a new type of racing phenomenon, but also have gained
popularity as a personal transportation device, usually with those of a
younger age group.
Simple motor scooters with small gas engines like those that became
popular in the late 60’s and early 70’s from several major motorcycle
manufactures have again gained great popularity. Honda, Kawasaki,
Suzuki and others have again begun to produce moderately priced motor
scooters again, that have the unique U shaped leg space in the middle of
the frame structure for “sit” riding rather then straddle riding.
These companies have also begun to produce some much more powerful
scooters as well, sporting in upwards of 650cc engines and more.
Cushman scooters were once among the most recognized and sought after
scooter in the industry. Cushman scooters, among the first power
scooters produced, were constructed in my home state of Nebraska at a
plant in Lincoln from the 1930s through 1965. The Cushman scooter became
iconic in its following and even today remains in the minds of many
scooter enthusiasts, as the best scooter ever built.
The advent of better battery technology gave rise to a new kind of
scooter that has greatly improved life in general for persons with
disabilities or health issues that hinder personal mobility. The
personal mobility scooter usually configured on a three or four wheel
design, has become quite popular as well as helpful to a new demographic
of scooter user. Mobility scooters help in many ways inside the
home and out in the world as well. People can live independently
longer with the help of these mobility scooters. Clean, quiet and
easy to operate from armrest controls, personal mobility scooters have
become a sort of saving grace for many with mobility issues.
So you see scooters, in what ever configuration, have found new
followings in young and old, for fun and for serious use purposes.
Electric or gas or even the old reliable push scooter, scooters will be
a part of American and world culture for many years to come.
It’s not likely that gas is going to go back to under a dollar a gallon
any time soon, so scooters are likely to play a bigger role in personal
transportation in the future. Scoot safely, and no mater for what
purpose you want or need a scooter, smile and have some fun, life is
short
Copyright
© 2007 Scott Best
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