::Austin scooter census :: [/general/scooter] (12:38)

I've been seeing more and more scooters on the roads in Austin and for the last month or so I've been trying to keep track of what bikes are out. The hands down winner in Austin is the venerable Honda Elite. This things are old, and rather ugly. But they seem to get the job done. The ones I see seem to be late 90's models.

In second place, is the Yamaha Vino. I didn't realize how many of these bikes were out there until I started paying attention. The Vino is a small vespa styled scooter. If you want to look like a Vespa without paying for it, the Vino seems to be the bike of choice in Austin.

Next that brings us to the one and only Vespa. I guess you just can't shake the romantic notion of Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn on a Vespa. Hey, if I thought I could get someone a cute Hepburn type to go for a ride, I'd be in line for Vespa too.

Those are the only bikes that I've noticed significant numbers of. Following in a distant 4th and 5th would be the Scarabeo (my bike) and the Suzuki Bergman. I've noticed quite a few new Bergmans on the road these last few weeks. That's quite a surprise because before this month I had only seen one Bergman on the roads in Austin.