[kz1000st]

Sadly Aprilia is just suffering the same fate that many other motorcycle manufacturers did when the Japanese moved into Town. They all but wiped out the British bike industry. Not only are China scoots in a crate being sold out there but also Puma, Bintelli, Wolf and Lance being sold through B&M establishments for hundreds, even thousands less.

Since the amount of scooter owners are so small (motorcycles sell at a rate of 10 to one scooter) there's only so much room. There are two bright spots in this. The first is that Chinese scooter dealers like the ones I mentioned are sending feedback to the Chinese. Justin at Bintelli stated that he spends time talking to them for improvements that actually come through. This will ensure that eventually the scooters will attain solid reliability.

The second is that even though they will cost a little more than now, a person who wants to buy a 150cc scooter won't have to spend $3500 to $4800 to own one. That might assist in the growth of scooters among non-riders (Gen X, Y and Millennials) who would buy one for fuel savings. Things change, companies change and the Chinese are here to stay.

There will always be high priced brands, BMW and Harley didn't disappear in the face of the Japanese onslaught, they just might be fewer in number. Vespa isn't going anywhere for sure.