Vespanomics

Riding a scooter has more advantages than you might initially realise. While some advantages are very much depending on your individual situation, some are quite obvious and apply to all of us. So lets consider some of they key ones and you will see why we are so passionate about scooters.

Financial advantages.

From an economic perspective, scooters WILL save you money. That’s a gimme. Most of our scooters will do over 30km on a litre of fuel, which is generally 3 times as efficient as the most efficient cars on the market, and compared to many of the bigger capacity fuel guzzling SUVs and 4WDs, you might get 5 or 6 times the economy. For the first time in your life, going to the servo will be a joyful experience, and that pleasure never wanes!

And because of this efficiency they are actually cheaper than public transport too. And you won’t be stuck next to someone with a cold. Or annoying music on their headphones.

Lets not forget parking. How much are you paying for that on a daily basis? Many employers who provide paid parking often have some space available for scooters and motorbikes at no charge. And if you do have to use public car parks, they are often much cheaper than car parking, and in some more forward thinking councils, motorbike and scooter parking is totally free.

Financially scooters are one of the very few things in life that actually pay for themselves. From a purely economic perspective they are a no brainer purchase.

Personal advantages.

So now that you are feeling eminently worthy about riding a scooter, here is the best bit. Scooters are great fun. There is nothing designed to put a great big smile on your face like riding a scooter. Its one of the reasons all the helmets we sell have visors on them – because otherwise you’d be scraping the dead flies from your between your teeth because you’ll be grinning so much. And they are cool too. Just look at how many film stars own scooters. They KNOW its the easiest way of getting around, and these guys won’t compromise their image! And yes, we know that there are some people out there with a certain neanderthal attitude towards scooters, but funnily enough you’ll often find those same people running around on them in Bali. Yep, we don’t get it either.

And in Perth we are blessed with great weather (for the vast majority of the year), and exceptional roads, it really is one of the best places in the world to scoot. There really isn’t an excuse.

Time advantages.

Ok. You are sitting in your car on the freeway in the peak hour crawl, and yet another motorbike or scooter zips through the gaps. I’ll be the first to admit that the speeds that some of these guys filter at is downrightdangerous, but if executed thoughtfully and carefully, it’s not only a great time saver, but it’s legal too.

Ditto at traffic lights. Indeed its possible to cut your commute time in half. Now I know that in Perth many people moan about how bad the traffic is getting, but believe me, you ain’t seen the half of it. Compared to every major city in the world, and what we have here is a breeze. But its getting worse and worse all the time, so don’t expect miracles – unless you are prepared to get out of 4 wheels and onto 2.

And compared to public transport? Well, have you ever had to catch a bus from the station after 7pm? You will save time. Trust me.

Environmental advantages.

Although you might not think it given the way that many politicians appear to be ignoring it, but the majority of people in WA have very major environmental concerns for the future. Not only are we concerned about our carbon footprint, there is a growing awareness that we are approaching peak oil (the point when we are half way through the earths oil resources), and that no-one seems to be taking any responsibility for what we are going to do in the future to replace it. The current problems that BP is experiencing in the Gulf of Mexico is because companies are having to extract oil from more and more difficult places, with the risks that we are clearly seeing. The crazy thing is that 95% of the fuel used in your car is simply used in moving the car about. Only 5% is used to move you. I mean, its madness. And yes, there are times that we need the car, but do we always? We reckon that for transportation the minimum proportion of wheels to legs is one to one. One person, two wheels. So you can do your bit for the planet too.