July 19, 2008
'You twist and go'
The high price of gas boosts scooter sales
Advertiser

HURRICANE, W.Va. -- When Mark Moye got his 250-cubic centimeter scooter a year ago, his friends laughed.

They've stopped laughing, Moye said - and a few are in the market for their own.

"It's the gas," he said.

Moye commutes about 25 miles a day from Hurricane to the Toyota Motor Manufacturing Plant in Buffalo. He said he can easily get 70 to 80 miles out of just one gallon of gas.

Tim McCormick, manager of Power Sports Center in Cross Lanes, said the store has seen an across-the-board increase in motorcycle sales, but the most significant increase has been in the scooter department.

This year, the store, fondly known as Scooter Town, has sold three times more scooters than it did last year, said Doug Craigo, manager of West Virginia Used Auto Trailer and RV Sales, which owns the store.

McCormick said the Power Sports Center brought in scooters about three years ago, with the idea that gas prices would drive demand.

Still, it wasn't until gas hit $3.60 in April that demand really began to take off, he said.

Scooters range in price from about $1,000 to $6,000, but it "costs $12 to fill up and you can go 300 miles," he said.

"It's an investment that pays for itself," Moye said.

McCormick said scooters "still have the moped stigma" and there are some people that wouldn't be caught dead on one.

"Until they find out what you're paying in gas," he said.

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Posted By: Evildad (12:29am 07-21-2008)
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"Union" doesn't have anything to do with it. Was any US corporation smart enough to manufacture scooters? My research doesn't indicate any scooters actually built in the US.

Posted By: phixer (8:18pm 07-19-2008)
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If they where union made, you would have to pay double the price for it.

Posted By: Labor (8:04pm 07-19-2008)
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Are these UNION made? Are they made in the US?

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