There are lots of reasons to buy a motorcycle. The fun, the thrill of the open road and the wind through your hair, and - let's face it - they're pretty darn cool.
Until recently, though, environmental responsibility probably didn't appear anywhere on the list.
With gas prices threatening to top more than $4 a gallon this summer, and most bikes, even Harley Davidsons getting as much as 50 miles per gallon, many riders are finding themselves in hog heaven.
"There's a percentage of the population who are able to ride a motorcycle to work," said Stan Pilavin, manager of Paramount Harley Davidson/Buell in Framingham. "Those people are doing that...because it's a true cost savings to them."
While used bikes can be purchased for as little as $7,000, Pilavin said few, if any, customers are buying solely as a gas-saving strategy.
Rather, he said, the potential savings are simply another reason to buy sooner, not later.
"If you were planning on getting a motorcycle, this is a fringe benefit," he said. "That gives them the impetus to come in and purchase a motorcycle. (And) it's an awesome thing to tell the wife, wink, wink."
As fast as motorcycles are going, though, they've got nothing lately on motor scooters.
The scooters, which can get as much as 100 miles per gallon, have lately been nearly impossible to keep in stock, said Bev Fox, co-owner of Red Streak Motors in Marlborough.
"I have never seen anything like this in my life," Fox said. "People are standing in line to get these scooters. We cannot keep them on the floor.
"It's husbands and wives, it's kids out of school, it's even the 40-year-old guy who would never be caught dead on a scooter, but wants something to go back and forth to work."
Where she might normally sell five to 10 scooters a month, Fox said her showroom alone has sold as many as 20 scooters in the last two weeks. Other dealers she supplies with scooters have sold as many as 1,000 in recent weeks.
Not all dealers, however, have seen the gas-saving trend.
"Some people bring it up, but most people aren't buying it for that," said Jeff Bonin, manager of Todd's Motorcycles in Bellingham. "I don't hear a lot of that. Most people are just buying them 'cause they like 'em."
But Carleton Andersen Jr., owner of Andersen Cycle Works in Framingham, this week said several of his customers are contemplating trading in their bikes for fuel-efficient scooters.
"Motorcycles, they have a 1000cc engine," he said. "If you ride a motorcycle really hard, you get the same amount of fuel economy as you get from a (hybrid) car. So if you have the bigger engine you're going to suck down the gas."
Peter Reuell can be reached at 508-626-4428, or at preuell@cnc.com
