Scooter History

Scooter History
The following is a cursory review of the scooter industry, largely from an engineering achievements perspective. What becomes clear is that the motor scooter is a global answer to a global need for practical, urban transportation.

1894	The first successful production two-wheeler was the Hildebrand & Wolfmueller, patented in Munich. It had a step-through frame, with its fuel tank mounted on the downtube. The engine was a parallel twin, mounted low on the frame, with its cylinders going fore-and-aft. It was water-cooled and had a radiator built into the top of the rear fender. The bike became the first powered two wheel vehicle to be offered to the public on a production basis and was crucial in its move away from the foot pedal as the main source of engine power. Maximum speed was 40km/h. The rear wheel was driven by pistons similar to those in a locomotive. Only a few hundred examples of this model were ever built. Apart from the high purchase price, technical difficulties prevented the bike from becoming a commercial success. The venture ended up as a financial failure for both Wolfmüller and his financial backer, Hildebrand.
1910	The Motoped is believed to be the first United States motor scooter to enter production.
1914	Autoped Motor Scooter, debuted made by the Autoped Company of Long Island City, New York. This compact scooter was designed for short distances, in that it had small (15-inch) tires at either end of a short platform on which the driver stood. Once the destination was reached, the steering column, which contained all operating controls, was folded down over the platform and the entire scooter could be stored in a compact space. The little machine was powered by an air-cooled, 4-stroke, 155-cc engine over the front wheel, and it came complete with a headlamp and tail lamp, a Klaxon horn, and a toolbox. Developed during wartime and gasoline rationing, the little scooter was quite efficient, but it never achieved widespread distribution.
1919	The ABC Skootamoto was created by the British engineer Granville Bradshaw which featured the addition of a seat. Granville Bradshaw was the genius behind quite a few special engine designs, the best known being the ABC flat twins, the oilcooled singles and the engine of the Panther Panthette. The Skootamota has a single cylinder 123cc OHV engine, also a Bradshaw design. The engine sits above the rear wheel which it drives by chain. The pansaddle and spacious footboard provide ample comfort for the rider. The ABC Skootamota can be seen as the rare arch etype of the modern motor scooter. Kenilworth This is a classic vintage scooter also from 1919. Powered by a 142cc overhead valve engine It achieved a top speed of 20mph. Electric lights were a first on this machine. Its braking system was exactly the same as a bicyle.
1935	Salsbury's Motor Glide was a tiny vehicle built in the back of a plumbing and heating shop in Oakland, California, by E. Foster Salsbury and inventor Austin Elmore in 1936. It featured an enclosed body and an automatic transmission. The Salsbury scooter inspired the production of motorscooters by Powell, Moto-scoot, Cushman, Rock-Ola, and others and was such a success that in 1938 Salsbury attempted to license his design to several European manufacturers including Piaggio. The Motor Glide was not only the first of the depression era scooters, but it set the standards for all motorscooters that followed.
1936	The Cushman Company began production of motor scooters in 1936. They were widely used by the military in World War II and Cushman also provided an alternative to automobiles in the years before and after the war. The most successful model of the Cushman motor scooter was the Eagle. These scooters, which resembled motorcycles with their exposed engines and top tanks, were in production approximately sixteen years. Other Cushman models used a traditional step-through design common for most motor scooters. One of the most famous Cushmans was the “Model 53”, a military model from the World War II era. It was designed to be dropped by parachute with Army Airborne troops, so it became known as the “Cushman Airborne”. They were also used around military bases for messenger service. Cushmans were easy to ride. They featured an automatic clutch which allowed the rider to twist the right grip to go and step on the pedal to stop. The step-through design and ease of operation made it popular with men and women alike. Cushman claimed 75 miles per gallon, and advertised penny-a-mile operating cost. Cushman scooters usually weighted about 250 to 335 pounds and some had as much as 9 horsepower. Production ended in 1965.

1946	The Fuji Rabbit was a motor scooter produced in Japan by Fuji Heavy Industries from 1946 through 1968. Production of the initial model, the S-1 began in 1946, some six months before the Vespa went into production and was largely inspired by scooters used by American servicemen during and after World War II. Eventually the Fuji Rabbit scooters evolved into some of the most technologicaly sophisticated scooters of their era, featuring electric starters, automatic transmissions and pneumatic suspension systems. The Fuji Rabbit scooters were the first Japanese made scooters capable of reaching speeds in excess of 60mph. As the Japanese economy expanded, the demand for scooters decreased in favor of more comfortable four wheel transport, and Fuji diversified into automobiles in 1958 with the introduction of the Subaru 360. The last Fuji scooter rolled off the production line in June of 1968. Although not very well known outside of Japan, the Fuji Rabbit has earned itself a place in Japanese pop culture as a symbol of nostalgia. Following WWII, wartime industries underwent a new change. Most aircraft manufacturers began producing scooters, and this brought on the first two-wheeler boom in Japan. This scooter, the Mitsubishi Silver Pigeon (a symbol of peace), was largely made of warplane wheels and discarded warplane parts. It eventually shared popularity with Fuji’s Rabbit scooter.
1946	The first Piaggio Vespa was patented in April and became the standard by which all other scooters the world over were judged. D’Ascanio created a 98cc scooter with a host of radical design concepts that included a sleek, stress-bearing structure. He moved the gear shift lever to the handlebar to make riding easier, positioned the engine near the rear wheel, and replaced the typical fork support with an aeronautical-style arm, similar to an aircraft carriage, to make tire-changing easier. His elegantly styled body design protected the driver from road dirt and the elements. The resulting vehicle was sleek, sophisticated and bore little resemblance to uncomfortable and noisy motorcycles. Combining the best elements of automotive, aeronautical and motorcycle design, the Vespa instantly became an icon of design and economy. Upon seeing the original prototype, Piaggio's president remarked "sembra una vespa” It looks like a wasp!" and the name stuck. The smaller wheels and shorter wheelbase provide improved maneuverability through narrow streets and congested traffic. Just months later, Innocenti’s Lambretta was introduced and Italy’s famous rivalry began.
1947	Innocenti, his General Director Guiseppe Lauro and an engineer named Pierluigi Torre designed a scooter, which was unveiled in 1947 at the Paris Motor Show. The Lambretta scooter was named after the region where the factory stood, and the river it stood on. The first Lambretta 'A' went on sale December 23rd 1947. It was economical (160-180mpg at a time when petrol was severely rationed), with a moderate top speed of 45mph, and a direct air-cooled engine with 123cc. During its first 12 months of sale the 'A' model, which was available in five different colors (green, red, beige, blue and grey), went on to sell 9,000 units.
1950's	The Maicoletta motor scooter of the 1950s was one of the largest motor scooters produced by any manufacturer in that era. The engine was a single cylinder 247cc piston port 2-stroke (277cc for use with a sidecar), with four foot operated gears and centrifugal fan cooling. This was fitted to a tubular frame built on motorcycle principles with long travel telescopic forks and 14 inch wheels. The Maicoletta had a top speed of 70mph which was comparable with most 250cc motorcycles of the time.
1960	After the war, Germany again saw its aviation industry dismantled. Heinkel kept his company in business by building bicycles and motorbikes. Heinkel produced the 'Tourist' motorscooter in the 1960s. A large and relatively heavy touring machine, it provided good weather protection with a full fairing and the front wheel turning under a fixed nose extension. The 'Tourist' had effective streamlining (perhaps unsurprising in view of its aircraft ancestry), and although it had only a 175cc 4 stroke motor, was capable of sustaining speeds of up to 70mph, given time to get there. The Heinkel scoooter was known for its reliability. Zundapp Bella was the most popular scooter manufacturer in Germany in the 1960’s. The Bella was in production for about ten years, the two engine sizes used (150&200cc) would perform all day at a steady speed of 60mph. Extremely reliable and very well made, many of these scooters are still in existence today.

1960	Harley-Davidson Topper motor scooter is introduced and is the only scooter platform the Motor Company ever produced and was manufactured through 1965. The "Topper," a fiberglass motor scooter, was introduced. Harley-Davidson teamed up with Italian manufacturer Aeronautica Macchi S.P.A. to produce a line of smaller bikes including the Shortster and Sprint models. Italian-built lightweights were sold in America under the Harley-Davidson name. The Topper featured a pull-cord starting mechanism much like that of a lawn-mower. It had a 165cc DKW gas motor (a variant of the DKW 125cc gas motor taken by the US from Germany in a war reparations deal). It only went 40mph, but as it had no front brake, this was probably a good thing. Not surprisingly it had very low sales over its 5 year production period.
1962	England's Triumph Tigress was a scooter designed to have good performance and handling for the enthusiast, drawing on Triumph's long experience of building fast motorcycles. These scooters were designed to offer a luxury scooter with motorcycle power. It was available with a 175 cc 2 stroke single, or a 250 cc 4 stroke twin. Both had 4 foot operated gears. The 250 twin sold well and was capable of 70 mph (100 km/h) with efficient suspension and good roadholding despite having only 10-inch wheels. The only problem was build quality; it was sometimes said that a Tigress was a joy to own so long as someone else was paying the repair bills. The BSA Sunbeam was an identical machine with the BSA badge.
1988	Honda came out with a revolutionary new scooter design with their introduction of the 250cc Helix (also called Spazio, Fusion or CN250). This scooter was exceptionally large, derisively called a "Barcalounger on wheels", but it seems to have filled a certain niche market and now many models exist, from nearly all major scooter manufacturers. These have come to be known as "maxi", "GT" or "touring" scooters, because they are designed for riding long distances in comfort. The trade off is that they are bulky to handle at low speeds, like in town. The largest scooter made is now the 650cc Suzuki Burgman, which is known as the Sky Wave in Japan.
1996	Peugeot launches the Scoot'Elec, the first electric moped, based on Peugeot's entry-level gas scooter called the Zenith, with which it shares a lot of body panels and suspension parts. It is powered by a 2.8kW DC motor fed from 3 Saft nickel-cadmium "monoblocs" giving an 18v 100Ah battery. Built around a "double cradle" the frame is different than the Zenith's, and holds the batteries low down between and behind the driver's feet. The electronic controller and onboard charger are housed under the seat which is where you'll find the attached charging cable - a curly flex with a standard domestic plug. A fast on-board charger (1,400 Watt) means that "empty" to 95% is realised in 2 hours from a 230V mains supply, with a further 3 hours to equalize the batteries.