BY GREG WILLIAMS

FOR THE CALGARY HERALD

In North America, scooters are the Rodney Dangerfields of powered two wheelers -- they get little respect.

But that's changing, and fast. As fuel prices rise and congestion on city streets worsens, these remarkable and utilitarian transportation devices are becoming increasingly popular.

According to statistics from the Motorcycle&Moped Industry Council of Canada, scooters are enjoying something of a sales boom. In 2008, a total of 10,551 scooters rolled onto Canadian streets. Compare that to 2004, when 6,245 scooters were sold in this country.

Piero Manzini is the national marketing manager for one of Canada's largest importers and distributors of scooters--Canada Motor Import, or CMI.

His company, based in St. Benoit-Labre in Quebec, offers scooters from two brands, SYM and Peugeot. Manzini, who is based in Toronto, said that's S -Y -M, you do not pronounce it 'sim'.

Manzini would like to see a scooter in the garage or parkade of every urban home or apartment.

He is also hoping that young people might see a scooter as their first vehicle of choice.

"Families and parents (should) compare the cost of scooter ownership with the costs of buying a car; there's a huge difference," Manzini said in a telephone interview.

Manzini is steeped in scooter history. We talked at length about the background of the scooter, and of the machine's place in transportation lore. Scooter-like machines have been around as long as the motorcycle-- more than a century.

But it was the Italian Vespa that popularized the traditional image of the step-through, pressed metal body and small-wheeled scooter in the immediate post-Second World War years.

The Vespa scooter was a machine developed by Europeans mainly for Europeans, and it was meant to be an efficient and economical way to get the masses moving again after the war.

"There wasn't much money, and people needed to move around and commute," Manzini said.

"The scooter was developed to satisfy a transportation need."

Such a success was the Vespa that the firm licensed different makers to produce their scooter design. Other manufacturers also quickly brought their own version of what a scooter should be to market.

No two scooters were designed exactly alike, but a common attribute to all of them was, and to a large extent still is, a smaller-sized engine--from 50cc to 400cc.

These engines are enclosed in some kind of bodywork to help keep a rider free from oil, grease and road grime. And for the most part, scooters have a step-through body to accommodate a unisex market.

"And key to the design is comfort in everyday use," Manzini said of the scooter. "The floorboard provides protection from the elements."

Now, new scooters have a come a long way. Technological advances in materials have decreased the weight of the machines and engines have become more powerful.

Even a small 50cc scooter should be capable of maintaining something close to 60 km/h.

Canada Motor Import has established a scooter dealer network coast to coast, from Vancouver Island to Newfoundland. Manzini said CMI wanted to create a network of "transportation specialists" when they were selecting their SYM and Peugeot retailers.

In fact, in some locations an automobile dealer owns the scooter store.

"The idea was to position the scooter as a transportation alternative," Manzini said.

"We enticed a number of auto dealers to take on scooters -- they are transportation specialists."

"Auto dealers are embracing the scooter because they see it as a natural extension to what they are already doing--providing transportation.

"And they are adding on to an existing building, or taking a facility close by and turning it into a scooter facility.

"We are placing scooters in places where you wouldn't really think they'd be."

SYM and Peugeot scoots range in price from an entry-level $1,995 to a top of the line $10,995.

They are available at Calgary Motorsports Ltd. on Edmonton Trail in the northeast part of the city.

Manzini said: "We wanted to raise the bar on scooter sales. (We see them as) a new trend of transportation."

Other makes, including Vespa, are available at other dealers in Calgary.

In Alberta, a Class 6 licence is mandatory for riding and operating a scooter over a certain weight (55 kg) and speed capacity (50 km/h).

It would be advisable, regardless of the size of machine, to take a scooter training course.

Many of the local motorcycle riding schools offer scooter-specific training courses. Scooters are easier to ride than motorcycles, thanks to their automatic transmissions and twist and go operation.

That said, proper protective gear such as a helmet and gloves are required for scooter riding.