The Scooter at the Crossroad

I had a very interesting experience last week when I attended a function at the headquarters of the Consumer Report's auto testing center here in Connecticut. First, a bit of background (or appetizer if you're reading this before dining). The popular consumer magazine is pretty much considered to be the Gold Standard of comprehensive automotive testing, and they are forever trying to improve the way they do things in order to give the auto buyer the best possible information when they want to purchase a car. For example, I've been telling people for years to basically ignore the EPA fuel mileage ratings and instead find out what kind of mileage the Consumer's test engineers got when they tested the car in question. The reason I say that is this: they are far more accurate because they have a set city cycle they run at the Consumer's test track, a likewise uniform highway segment, and they feed gas through the car via a small gas can so they know exactly how far they go and how much fuel was used in real-world driving situations (the EPA uses a simulated system). Now I've learned the gas can system is gone, and they use an in-line fuel meter that splices into the fuel line and measures the exact amount of fuel used during the test loop. It's a simple and very accurate system, and transfers easily from vehicle to vehicle. These dedicated testers are always looking for ways to do things more efficiently, get more accurate results in testing, and follow the latest trends in consumer consumption to make sure they can test the kinds of vehicles people are interested in.

In keeping with this philosophy, I learned during my visit that over the last year or two Consumer's has been watching the transportation situation as it relates to increasing fuel prices with great interest, and they have been especially intrigued by the increasing use of motorcycles and scooters (and several of the employees are riders as well). They have been methodically developing a way to test two-wheelers, and right now they are in the process of tackling scooters. This is a really interesting undertaking, because the big question hovering over the project is whether or not a scooter is a good transportation alternative for folks that have always driven cars exclusively. Leaving aside the enjoyment factor in riding a motorcycle or scooter and focusing purely on the practical side of things may seem to many the likes of us that it's missing the point, but the fact is the way we get around as a society in terms of pure efficiency is a very important consideration these days. For a lion's share of folks the bottom line is the bottom line, and they would consider a scooter only if it made practical sense for them and ultimately saved money.

Given this testing rationale, we live in interesting times when it comes to the price of things like scooters, fuel and automobiles. One of the engineers I talked to was comparing the price of a new scooter to that of a used Honda Civic, and while the scooter does get better mileage the Civic does pretty well in this regard. This comparison becomes especially valid if you get a scooter that's big enough to comfortably do highway time as they can become rather expensive. The Civic has numerous advantages in terms of overall practicality, but the scooter does have the considerable urban advantage of its small size allowing it to squirt through traffic where the car wouldn't fit, and then there's the whole parking issue.

So my friend Jake and I (I call him Jake, for 'twas his name) got to talking about the scooter's real role in life, at least in the USA. In a crowded cityscape like Manhattan you can see the size issue makes the scooter look like a really practical choice. Then we acknowledged that in the case if the country village situation (something we have a lot of in the Northeast), the scooter is also a pretty good fit for a lot of people for most of the year at least. An interesting thing: ever since gas shot past $3 a gallon I've seen maybe twice as many scooters in my semi-rural neck of the woods as I had before, many with the ubiquitous milk crate bungeed to the tail section to carry stuff. I typically see people hauling more groceries, hardware, livestock (small mammals, usually) and you name it on scooters than I do on motorcycles. What's up with that? Well, I think it has to do with what started Consumers on the path to reviewing scooters and what started this whole conversation: the scooter as substitute to the car. Motorcycles, in my own humble and possibly alien opinion, are not purchased as a car substitute the way scooters are, even though in many ways they are a better choice (especially in terms of highway commuting). Why this is so may be a combination of the higher cost of the bike and the fact that to somebody who's never ridden before a scooter seems far less intimidating.

Consumer Reports is taking a good look at what people want most out of a scooter (mileage, performance, cargo space, features, etc.) and are setting up the protocols to test all these parameters with as much engineering objectivity as possible. This is a lot more difficult than you may think, when you consider so many aspects of a two-wheelers performance depend on who the operator is. If they get a system they are happy with I wouldn't be surprised in the least if they start testing motorcycles down the road as well. We who are lucky enough to review bikes do the best we can with the resources and experience we have, but speaking for myself I'd love to see what the Consumer's gang comes up with because nobody anywhere who reviews cars for the public has the facility and expertise they do. I ultimately think such evaluations ultimately give us better products, and everybody (especially consumers) benefits.