Gas Prices Has Consumers Turning To Motor Scooters
UPDATED 05/11/11 12:33 a.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Despite predictions that gas prices are poised to plummet, they have not shown any dramatic decrease in recent days.
CBS2's Mike Parker says more and more motorists are turning to two wheeled transportation, and saving a lot.
We've all heard the cries and maybe uttered them ourselves…"It's too much"…."It's very high." It's the same old discomfort when you go to fill up the tank.
For some, the classic motor scooter may be the answer.
Alan and Kathleen Lang drove from Michigan City Indiana to Motoworks in Chicago to look over the wide array of Italian made Vespa scooters.
"We were in Italy for a week of vacation just this past month," Alan explained. "We saw hundreds hundreds if not thousands of scooters."
They ended up buy two, matching red Vespas. One for each. They expect to save a bundle on gas. Kathleen said she plans to commute to work on the two wheeler.
At a West side filling station, we saw another scooter owner trickle in just a dribble of gasoline. "Should take about two bucks," to go about 60 miles, he said.
Because of gas prices, more and more Americans are joining the Europeans and taking to the roads on those flashy little scooters. US scooter sales went up 50 percent in the first quarter.
For Chicago's Motoworks, the news is even better. April 2010 to April 2011, dollar volume sales are up 350 percent.
In the first quarter of this year, bicycle sales are also up. Road bike sales went up 29 percent.
