Traveling for five months throughout Europe, my wife and I were impressed by the huge amount of motor scooters. They were everywhere, from the snowy streets of Copenhagen, lively Barcelona, dusty byways of Crete and, of course, all over Italy.
Staying in Nice, in the south of France, I noticed how very much like Santa Barbara the city was; the climate, the hills and Riviera behind the oceanside city, only there were scooters everywhere. I talked with several riders, remarking how fun it must be and was told “it’s not for fun — this is the best way to get around this city.” With gas the equivalent of $5 per gallon, these scooters were getting 65 to 100 miles per gallon. With parking at a premium, many more vehicles could fit in a smaller space. With the capacity of these scooters to carry passengers and luggage and groceries and … it all made sense. It was practical fun.
I thought we could do this in Santa Barbara. Our climate gives us 325 days or more of fine scootering weather, we have a large population of environmentally aware citizens, many excellent routes for the scooter commuter as well as wonderfully scenic roads for pleasure riding.
So on returning, I looked into purchasing a scooter, thinking it would be “one less car.” Shopping around, I found some very nice bikes, but beyond my price range. My idea was to find practical transportation — “affordable alternative transportation.” Doing quite a bit of research online, I was impressed with the Chinese scooters — at least with their price. I ordered one and found it to be a good practical bike. So many people asked where I got the scooter, and along with my feeling that this city would benefit with a lot more “one less cars,” I decided to open a scooter store.
Business has been great over the last 2½ years. We have managed to put a huge amount of scooters on the road, and the business is local and family owned. We all ride scooters; we are scooter commuters.
My scootering customer family has grown to where I really feel we have helped with some of the traffic issues in this community. Also, the more scooters, the safer it is to ride one. One important aspect of this business is the “green” factor. All scooters in California are CARB-approved, low-emission vehicles. However, this does not make these an environmentally sound choice unless all factors, such as production, lifespan and fuel consumption are figured in. In late 2009, I discontinued the importation of all scooters from mainland China. The environmental damage caused by these scooter factories, as well as their social (low wage) ethics was not something I wanted to support. I also was finding the poor quality of these bikes led to a short lifespan. They were cheap, but I did not like the idea of a disposable bike.
I am now selling scooters made by SYM — one of the world’s largest producers of quality, long-lasting, reliable scooters. The company recently spent more than $500 million in “greening” its production facilities. They pay decent wages. Their scooters are currently getting from 65 mpg to 153 mpg, with extremely low emissions. With their ceramic-lined engines and other leading-edge technologies, the capabilities of these scooters to replace cars has been taking place in Europe and Asia since 1954. I am now pleased to offer this affordable, alternative transportation to Santa Barbara.
The city of Santa Barbara has been supportive of scooters as an alternative means of transportation, offering free parking for bikes in most city lots, and SBCC also offers free scooter parking.
—Chris Neely owns Ooty’s Scooters, 629 E. Haley St. For more information, call 805.965.8101.