If you ask Mom or Dad whether they had a scooter when they were young some will, surprisingly, answer "Yes it was great fun for a long time". To the question "how old were you when you had one?" various coughs may emanate from their erstwhile bodies smothering all communication except for 'different in my day' type of illusions.

Not necessarily so. Scooters today are just as trendy as they were then in that the new trend for scooters follows the general fashions of many places in the world which is, one is told, a fifties/sixties/seventies revival. Whether this is correct or not the scooter has re-emerged from that era and has been so updated that they very rarely go wrong.

If you happened to be a scooter rider in Italy (their spiritual and mechanical home since the late 1940's), or England during the 'Mods' era, or indeed any of the many other countries who took the scooter doctrine seriously throughout the world, you may have found, in these early days, great fun out on the open road interspersed with mechanical problems.

Many people spent as much time either tuning-up or 'making-go' their scooters as they did actually riding them.

No longer is this the case. They are cheaper, more efficient, more stylish, more gas-friendly and much more economic to run than the ones of 30/40 years ago.

When you buy a scooter the modern technology is at your fingertips. With many you can turn on the engine from a distance, just like a car, to warm up on cold mornings, or perhaps to impress your new girl/boyfriend. The panache of scooters in the modern age, whether you are in Italy or Idaho, Bombay or Boston, Shanghai or Seattle will give you not only a safe and cheap form of transportation but also something that gives you both pleasure and a feeling of style.

The first designs for scooters came from Italy after the second world war when Aero producer Piaggio, pretty broke after this war, used their aircraft designers to make a form of transport that most people could afford in those harsh times. So developed the scooter. A stable two wheeled vehicle which took very little gas and looked sleek with its aircraft designed body which was easily assemblable. No Italian male was seen without one. They were a great hit with the ladies too who could coquettishly dangle on the back, just looking beautiful, at 25 mph.

Of course soon the girls were buying them too. Visitors from abroad took them home. They were exported to all over the world, and now we have people everywhere enjoying the experience of owning a scooter.

Because the technology of the 21st Century allows for better and more accurate manufacture than the originals; because there is now a worldwide market and culture surrounding scooters; because you now have a choice of many, many types of affordable scooters; because they use so little gas; because the price of running a car for small errands is extremely large in comparison; because .. well loads of reasons not least the style characteristics.

Don't let the price of oil spoil your fun. A scooter for well under $1000 could save you a packet in gas for your car and you can have fun too. Of course it's much easier to park than your 4X4 as well.

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