It’s scooter culture

Donning a grey flannel suit, rich Prada tie, brown shoes and matching belt, the man who whizzed past Morey Chaplick down a narrow Italian strada left the observer with a single thought: This is art on wheels.

“He just kind of oozed by me on a vintage Vespa with Louis Vuitton saddlebags. I elbowed my wife and said, 'That looks f—kin’ cool'.”

His instant two-wheel zeal ignited during a vacation in 2001, a time Chaplick said there wasn’t a scooter to be seen on the streets of Toronto. So he decided to change that, opening his first branch of scooter lifestyle shop Motoretta in Little Italy in July 2002.

Now, more than seven years later and with two more locations, in Bloor West Village and Leaside, Chaplick said there isn’t a day that goes by he doesn’t see one on the road.

His sightings are supported by figures released annually by the Motorcycle and Moped Industry Council, which reported almost 11,000 scooters were sold in Canada in 2008, nearly double the 6,000 sold in 2004.

Considering it costs a couple bucks to fill the gas tank, the insurance rate is half that of cars, scooters can manoeuvre through traffic more easily and parking them is free in Toronto, buying a bike could easily be explained in terms of practicality.

But Chaplick said that’s not why most people secure a scoot, and also explains why the names Fred Perry, Ben Sherman and Penguin share shelf space at Motoretta with Vespa, Piaggio and Aprilia.

“Scooters are still different enough right now where you’re kind of thumbing your nose at the world,” he said.

However fashionable, riding a scooter also requires ability, which manager of Humber College’s motorcycle rider training program Andy Hertel and his team of nearly 100 instructors teach in the school’s eight training courses.

“It can be very dangerous,” said Hertel, “The skill required goes above and beyond what it is as a driver in an automobile.”

Well above simply mastering stability, Humber teaches the basics of steering, turning, accelerating, braking, emergency stopping and avoiding accidents, functions that could turn fatal if performed improperly on a single-track vehicle.

But once you learn, “riding is a common thread that brings everybody from all walks of life together,” said Hertel, “You can go on a ride for an hour and talk about it for three. It’s just remarkable.”

Toronto Motorcycle Show manager Darryl Bond believes rider rapport may not only develop on the basis of ownership, but a shared environmental consciousness, as the scooter shade of “green” is typically bolder than a car’s.

“You can literally go out and use something that uses fossil fuel, but feel good about it,” he said, referencing scooters’ fuel efficiency and lessened greenhouse gas emissions. “That strikes a strong chord with many people in an era of global warming.”

But beyond environment, fashion, economy and fraternity, for Bond, the end benefit of riding lies in the experience.

“There's just this feeling of freedom on the road,” he said. “It’s all about discovery.”