Is a scooter the answer?

By Tracy Harger

I am an accountant. Before I bought a scooter, I created a spreadsheet.

I'd rented scooters on trips to Europe and the South Pacific and loved them. Back home, rising fuel prices were just the excuse I needed to crunch some numbers.

A scooter can get 80 miles or more to a gallon. That's going to save you money. The questions are, how much and how fast?

After a ton of research, I got Bella -- a Buddy 125-cc scooter in sea-foam green --for $3,200, including tax and title. Here's how I decided.

Payback? Think years, not months

Unless you're getting rid of your car, you won't save a lot of money quickly. You've still got the costs of insuring and maintaining that car, even if it's parked. Your family won't fit on a scooter. Your new flat-screen TV won't fit on a scooter. And if one of your seasons is winter, a scooter won't be practical year-round.

How much does your car cost you? If you're an accountant, you might pencil out the costs of buying, leasing or financing; your taxes, registration, licensing and depreciation; maintenance; and your miles per gallon and annual mileage.

Or you could just use the calculator on the right of this page. It looks simply at the cost of gas and assumes that you'll keep your car.

• Talk back: Would you buy a scooter?

Thinking about my commute and quick trips, I estimated I'd be able to replace 4,000 of my car miles with scooter miles each year. With gas averaging $4 and Bella getting 95 mpg, the break-even point for me comes at 11.15 years.

That's because my car gets about 25 mpg in the city. But if a person driving a 15-mpg car replaced half her 300 miles of driving per week, the payback would be two years.

I considered other ways to tip the cost equation. If I gave up my assigned parking spot at work, I'd save an additional $20 a month. But in the end, I decided my gas-guzzling car would feel like an old friend when it's 25 degrees outside.

The simple fact was, I wanted a scooter. The numbers made enough sense to me. It was time to go shopping.

But which one?

First, I knew I wanted a scooter, which starts electrically, rather than a moped, which you start by pedaling. Most of the newer scooters have automatic transmissions; older ones have a clutch and require manual shifting.

Requirements differ among states, but getting a motorcycle endorsement for your driver's license removes all potential restrictions on where and when you can ride. That doesn't mean you shouldn't think long and hard about how you use your scooter.

A nurse friend of mine says the medical profession refers to motorcycles and scooters as "donor-cycles." According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, in 2005 there were 129 deaths per million scooters registered. For cars and light trucks, it was 78 deaths per million, and for motorcyclists, 645 deaths per million.

The bottom line: If you're doing this just to save money, ask yourself what your life is worth. Spend the money to take a safety class, even if it's not required in your state, and always wear a helmet and appropriate clothing (see the scooter checklist in a few moments). Disability insurance may be another good investment.

My commute avoids highways, so I didn't need the maximum amount of engine power. Scooters range from 50 cc to 650 cc. The "cc" stands for cubic centimeters and roughly equates to how much power they have. In general, the bigger the engine, the less fuel-efficient it is.

How much scooter to buy

Engine size	Good for posted speed limit of . . .
50 cc	25 mph or less (neighborhood streets)
80 cc	Up to 35 mph
125 cc	Up to 45 mph
150 cc	Up to 55 mph (major arterials)
250 cc	Safe for freeways

A 50-cc scooter is the least expensive, but it's good only for residential neighborhood streets, says Mike Solace, who works at Motohio European Motorbikes in Columbus, Ohio, and is a certified motorcycle safety instructor.

Continued: Safety

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