Rising gas prices good news for scooter sales

• Scooter Sales

A gas official who says the demand for gas is down 4% nationally partly because more people are choosing alternative ways to travel, which could be adding to the rise in prices.

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As gas prices continue to rise, more and more people are turning to motorcycles and scooters as a way to get around town. With gas prices projected to rise to $4 a gallon by Memorial Day, local dealers are preparing for a busy spring.

Even though the F-M area is nearly 20 cents below the national average-which is $3.52-it is still affecting most people’s wallets. Those of you choosing 2 wheels over 4 can almost guarantee to save some money at the pump as prices continue to rise.

U Motors Sales Manager Cale Arneson says not only are motorcycles selling quickly, but scooters are going even faster.

Cale Arneson – Sales Manager, U Motors: “We sold over 50 scooters last year and I’d assume if gas prices keep going where there going, you know, we could see an increase of up to 75 to 100 scooters.”

With gas prices up nearly 12% or 40 cents a gallon from his time last year, people are justifying adding a new payment to their list.

Cale Arneson: “We see quite a few people that are parking their car or pickup just because they are so expensive to operate. Insurance is half as much as a motorcycle, and it costs $5 to $8 to have a full tank of gas, and you can go anywhere from 100 to 300 miles on a tank.”

It's not just gas powered scooters that are being bought up in a hurry, but the good old man powered ones as well.

Tom Smith – Owner, Great Northern Bicycle Company: “People tend to get out of their cars and start looking for alternative means of transportation and often times that means their bicycle, so well expect to see more of that this spring.”

Tom Smith, owner of The Great Northern Bicycle Company, says people are buying new bikes or simply getting their old ones out of storage for a tune up.

Tom Smith: “You know the big trend is to pull the old bike out of the garage because the cost of a tune up on that old bike now is a lot less than a single tank of gas.”

As for those gas powered bikes, those who aren't buying new are dusting off the two wheels hoping to save big bucks.

Cale Arneson: “We are going to see a lot of people pulling stuff out of the weeds and things like that just to save a buck where they can.”

A gas official who says the demand for gas is down 4% nationally partly because more people are choosing alternative ways to travel, which could be adding to the rise in prices.

Gas prices aren't only affecting us but farmers as well. Farmers usually buy their diesel gas using fixed forward price contracts. This allows them to lock in prices when buying in bulk. Local gas officials say it isn't only the price of gas that has them worried, but the lack of supply.

Kent Satrang – CEO, Petro Serve USA: “We have told all of our farmers that they should have their tanks full going into spring with as much as they can to make sure they get their crop in, and that was somewhat from price, but more so from a supply stand point.”

Satrang believes there will be an issue with supply this spring.

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