Post by jwalz1 on Sept 7, 2013 9:35:44 GMT -5
Just got back from a stint in Europe. Drove about a thousand mile between a bunch of different countries.
I noticed that at least in Germany, the Chinese scooters are catching on a little.
While they are not the general choice, nearly everything is a "name brand" especially in the big cities, you do see some more appearing. I saw quite a few in the german countryside. In Germany, scooters are around, and more so than in the US, but bicycles are the big thing. The Germans are bike crazy. But I did see some chinese scooters and one business had about a half dozen parked out front for sale. Most of the chinese models are 50cc, if the scooters go bigger, they tend to be a "name".
I think one of the reasons they are not as popular as they could be, and this is not a knock on the chinese scooters, is that people in these cities live in apartments and have no space to give the little bit of wrenching and TLC more common with the chinese bike so they might be a little less attractive. And there has to be a HUGE used market of Piaggios, Peugeots, Hondas, Vespas, Suzukis, etc so that getting a cheap scooter is probably pretty easy.
My Kymco Downtown seems to have become quite popular as I saw lots of them this time but in France they are called the "DinkStreet". Thankfully, they don't call it that here.
Just amazed at how many you see over there. Some cities, it is nearly half scooters. Tons of cool models with neat accessories. Men in suits and women in dresses going to work on their scooters. Pretty cool.
Spent a half day in Monaco, which is surrounded on all sides by other crowded french cities and for all the yachts and Ferrari's you see, you see ten times as many scooters.
For any car people, my favorite car is a Ferrari 458 Italia. I saw seven in one day, but sadly, they were all driven sedately and never got to hear one sing.
I noticed that at least in Germany, the Chinese scooters are catching on a little.
While they are not the general choice, nearly everything is a "name brand" especially in the big cities, you do see some more appearing. I saw quite a few in the german countryside. In Germany, scooters are around, and more so than in the US, but bicycles are the big thing. The Germans are bike crazy. But I did see some chinese scooters and one business had about a half dozen parked out front for sale. Most of the chinese models are 50cc, if the scooters go bigger, they tend to be a "name".
I think one of the reasons they are not as popular as they could be, and this is not a knock on the chinese scooters, is that people in these cities live in apartments and have no space to give the little bit of wrenching and TLC more common with the chinese bike so they might be a little less attractive. And there has to be a HUGE used market of Piaggios, Peugeots, Hondas, Vespas, Suzukis, etc so that getting a cheap scooter is probably pretty easy.
My Kymco Downtown seems to have become quite popular as I saw lots of them this time but in France they are called the "DinkStreet". Thankfully, they don't call it that here.
Just amazed at how many you see over there. Some cities, it is nearly half scooters. Tons of cool models with neat accessories. Men in suits and women in dresses going to work on their scooters. Pretty cool.
Spent a half day in Monaco, which is surrounded on all sides by other crowded french cities and for all the yachts and Ferrari's you see, you see ten times as many scooters.
For any car people, my favorite car is a Ferrari 458 Italia. I saw seven in one day, but sadly, they were all driven sedately and never got to hear one sing.
