Norman RichardsI want my two dollarsAustin is scooter city 63- (Found July 15, 2008 ) According to a recent Austin American Statesman article, scooter sales are on the rise across the nation and Austin was 63rd in scooter sales last year. Given the number of new scooters I've seen around town, (and I don't mean those older "vintage" bikes, I mean new european or japanese scooters) I'm not sure wther to be disappointed that Austin only ranked 63rd or to be happy that other cities are seeing even higher scooter uses. Besides that tidbit, the article itself wasn't very...http://members.capmac.org/~orb/blog.cgi/general/scooter/austin_63.html Austin scooter census- (Found July 15, 2008 ) I've been seeing more and more scooters on the roads in Austin and for the last month or so I've been trying to keep track of what bikes are out. The hands down winner in Austin is the venerable Honda Elite. This things are old, and rather ugly. But they seem to get the job done. The ones I see seem to be late 90's models. In second place, is the Yamaha Vino. I didn't realize how many of these bikes were out there until I started paying attention. The Vino is a small vespa styled...http://members.capmac.org/~orb/blog.cgi/general/scooter/austin_census.html A 500cc 2-stroke- (Found July 15, 2008 ) Wow. I just saw the 500cc DiTech prototype from Aprilia. This has to be one of the most impressive scooters I've seen. The Leonardo looks like a nice bike in it's current form, but I definitely prefer the Scarabeo style. But the Leonardo 500 DiTech prototype looks good. It seems to have some of the Atlantic styling, but I like it a lot more. I think it compares favorably to the Scarabeo 500. Style aside, this bike has power. It has a top speed of 105, and does a standing 14 mile in 12.5.http://members.capmac.org/~orb/blog.cgi/general/scooter/2strokepower.html A journey of ten thousand miles- (Found July 15, 2008 ) I hit 10,000 miles on by Scarabeo 150 this weekend. I've had the bike for just over a year and have done almost all of my day to day commuting on it. The 150 is really a great bike for austin. It tears up city streets and can accelerate to 45 really quickly. The big wheels make it handle more like a motorcycle than a scooter, which makes a real difference on the highway. The 150 handles Mopac with ease. Speed tops out at 75-80, but passed 60 there isn't much acceleration. That is the.http://members.capmac.org/~orb/blog.cgi/general/scooter/scarabeo_10k.html |