It can get 80 miles per gallon, costs dimes a day to insure and draws stares anywhere you drive it.
JIM MAHONEY/DMN
Josh Bailey uses his motor scooter to travel to work. Consumers should expect to pay about $2,000 for a vehicle that can reach speeds of 40 mph.
So why aren't we all speeding to the dealership to get one?
Well, some people are, but only those who don't mind rolling into the office on a motor scooter.
"Everyone at work was excited when I bought it," said Josh Bailey, a 29-year-old White Rock-area resident who sold his car last year and purchased a scooter to drive to work. "And I get great parking, right up beside the door."
Although scooters conjure up pleasant memories for many Americans of European holidays spent zipping down narrow streets to reach sun-soaked vineyards, the idea of trading their comfy SUV for a bum-bumping motorbike at home might seem a pill too bitter to swallow.
As gas prices soar and more scooter models flood the market, however, some daring drivers are bringing a taste of the Continent to their daily commute.
Nancy Rodriguez, an administrative coordinator for the city of Plano, purchased her scooter two weeks before gasoline hit the $3-a-gallon mark.
She's cut her locks shorter – it helps prevent "helmet hair" – and she's put a sign on the scooter's back that reads, "80 MPG. Any Questions?"
DMN
Scooter sales nationwide more than doubled in the past four years, according to the Motorcycle Industry Council. About 50,000 scooters were sold in 2001, compared to 113,000 last year.
