One is the oil, none of our bikes are going to work without oil! Next, we need to keep the battery charged – they are just too expensive for their size to let them go dead. Putting fuel stabilizer in the gasoline before you stop riding is something we have discussed at length already. The last thing is having the right air pressure in your tires.

When you feel the handlebars wobbling in a slow speed corner you can bet that the front tire doesn’t have enough air. And if the front tire doesn’t have enough, odds are that the back tire doesn’t either. Tire pressure is very important to the safety and driveability of your bike.

In the past decade, air became something to sell at a gas station. “Got some change?” “I need air in my tires!” Well we aren’t going there because even paying 25 cents for a couple of minutes of air at a gas station might keep some from checking their tire pressure – and we think that having the right tire pressure is just too darn important for your safety.

What’s old is new again!

We took some time and ran air piping outside the dealership so that you can swing by and check your tires – for free! We do turn the compressor off at night to save energy but when we are in the shop feel free to check this all-important part of your vehicle. Get yourself an air gauge and compare your pressure to your tire inflation plate on your bike.

We sell the air gauges and so does just about everyone else. Come in and grab a gauge but make sure you get yourself some

FREE AIR!

And what we are seeing and hearing from other dealers too was a steady increase in floor traffic starting in June and building through August. For example, we sold one scooter for sure and probably two – one Monday! What is changing? It’s a determined, eyes-opened customer that seems a little tougher than last year or even earlier this year. Less frightened, more committed to a course of action. They are shopping for quality, comparing prices and features but then they pull the trigger.

Here is what I think has changed…

Besides a home purchase, buying a car is usually pointed to as the “second largest purchase” a person makes. I looked over some car ads from local automobile dealerships. 48, 60, 72 month financing is “available” – thanks! Thank-you very much!

Down payments for both automobile purchases and for leases seem to run in the $2,000-$3,000 range. Monthly payments generally start around $200 / month and go up from there.

What I think is occurring is that the average person decides that no economist knows what is going to happen 6 years from today. Consequently they don’t want to commit to 72 $200 monthly payments.

But they know that today, they want something to “Get to work”, “Get to school” or “Get a smile!” A vehicle that makes them laugh! So, they are getting a vehicle – an entire transportation solution – for the same amount of money that they would have to pay to even start an automobile purchase or lease. So, in our door they come!

A breath of fresh air! You can see it in the eyes. Transportation and fun for the down money on a car! We’ve just reduced prices to bang out some bikes – Buddy 125’s for $2300, Buddy Internationals for $2800, new Hyosung’s starting at $3299 (while supplies last). We talk about PA inspections that only cost $25 instead of $70 for cars. Insurance that runs $160/year – with collision and not just liability. Two years of worry-free driving and even roadside assistance with some of our products. All for an average selling price that is the same as the down payment on a car.

Couple that with those price reductions that we just rolled out – and the end result is a number of people are going to have a lot more money to spend where they want and on what they want instead of paying off a loan!

Starting out at around $100 installed, from accent lighting at one extreme to snow and ice melting eyeball burners, Ron can give your bike the ability to be seen from low-earth orbit.

Did I ever mention that scooters and bikes are supposed to be fun?

I thought so.

On October 15th at the Spring Mill Country Club in Ivyland, PA, we’ll have a Buddy 50cc scooter for the HealthLink Medical Center fund raising golf tournament.

Here’s where we need help. We know some groups but we don’t know most of them. Plus, we only have time to reach out to some of these organizations – usually through email. If you know of a group (or better, a person in that group) that we should contact, please give us a call and let us know. Thanks!

Philip McCaleb, the President of The Genuine Scooter Company (GSC) always seems to know what adds real value to his products – beyond just a great scooter. Roadside Assistance is one of those benefits the new owner of a Genuine Scooter gets when they join the GSC family.

When a GSC scooter purchaser ran out of gas, I’d get a plaintive call – “It just stopped!”. Since no other brand MPG Motors carried before GSC offered roadside assistance, it took me some time to get into the habit of saying “just call Roadside Assistance”.

As a dealer, I love it! When someone has problems, we want to hit the klaxon, drop everything, run out the door and race to the stopped scooter. But, in the past, I would have to wait until we closed to get there – often late at night, to pick up the bike.

As a customer, they love it! With the Genuine roadside assistance, you get picked up on your schedule and we get the bike often before we could get it ourselves.

So let’s talk about our other brands and how you can get roadside assistance if you’re not “Feeling The Love, It’s Genuine!”.

Rider Rescue is the company that SYM recommends. You can get a 15 mile towing contract as a rider for as little as $29.94 / year. A number of our riders use Progressive for their motorcycle insurance. Progressive will add roadside assistance to a policy for less than $1/month – it doesn’t get much cheaper than that! AAA in Allentown will cover whatever a named driver is driving so you can have roadside assistance on your bike or in your car.

Some things to consider, *ALL* of our motorcycles and some of our scooters do NOT have kick starters. If the battery takes a dive, a scooter without a kick starter will not start! And, if you haven’t ever bump started a bike, the first breakdown is a tough time to have to learn how!

One other thing to keep in mind. Most motorcycle towing services are able to tie down your bike using hooks on the handlebars. On a scooter that means they put the hooks on the handgrips.

…the handgrips are glued on…

Consider buying a Canyon Dancer from us for about $30 and putting it under your seat in the storage compartment. It just might keep your scooter from going on an even bigger ride if the hooks pull the grips.

These are dedicated scooterists that have succeeded in their business and the industry by putting their customers first and focusing on selling only quality products. Here at MPG Motors, we try to do that as well and are proud to be a member of this elite group.

On the AMSA website, there is a list of what the AMSA considers to be quality scooters. All members agree to adhere to a set of top quality customer practices. The AMSA also involves themselves with industry suppliers, rider training, scooter clubs, and anyone who is actively promoting the fun of riding a scooter!

The bottom line is that the AMSA is a non-profit trade association dedicated to the task of promoting the general welfare of the motorscooter industry in the United States.

That is a mission statement that MPG Motors supports 100%!

In the past year, 283 Hyosung fuel injected GT250 and GV250s were distributed to various Navy, Air Force, and Army bases all over the US. The following video shows footage on the Navy offering a female only riding course using the Hyosung GT250’s and GV250’s as the training tools.

Click here to view the video!

The end result is that MPG Motors can now offer two bikes with two very different personalities: the classic cruiser ST7 and the GV650 performance cruiser. This gives the GV250 owner two distinct options to upgrade and stay in the Hyosung family of products!

The ST7 – it’s here now with an MSRP of only $7,299!

Hey take advantage of some Hyosung discounts and make a good deal better – it’s your money!

Make it $6,999 by just signing up for the Motorcycle Safety Foundation Course – details here!
Military (Thank-You for your service!) – get the Hyosung military discount and also pay $6,999!
Check Hyosung’s website for all the promotions!

Why do we need a Ride to Work Day? Marketing Ace, Jill Kahlenberg (Marketing Management Solutions) sent me this fascinating factoid from City-Data.com for Bucks County that shows us maybe not as many people ride as we thought.

Drove a car alone: 251,994 (83%)
Carpooled: 25,277 (8%)
Bus or trolley bus: 1,056 (0%)
Streetcar or trolley car: 42 (0%)
Subway or elevated: 442 (0%)
Railroad: 6,806 (2%)
Ferryboat: 19 (0%)
Taxi: 120 (0%)
Motorcycle: 204 (0%)
Bicycle: 553 (0%)
Walked: 5,079 (2%)
Other means: 1,202 (0%)
Worked at home: 10,792 (4%) (City-Data.com)

So, motorcycles beat out the Taxi, the Streetcar and we crushed the Ferryboat as ways to get to work. But there is nothing but a growth opportunity for bikes when compared to other modes of transportation in Bucks County.

All kidding aside, getting folks from here to there, quickly, efficiently and with a smile is what we believe we do. Everyday I leave Doylestown and drive to Sellersville. Almost everyday, traffic coming down Rt 313 is stop and go. Sometimes the stop and go traffic begins before Dublin. SEVEN miles of traffic! Almost *all* the vehicles have one person in them.

Many of them are not smiling.

Contrast that with this video from Taipei, Taiwan.

It might help if I explain how I look at this video. I don’t see a comparison of cultures, countries, money or politics.

I see how many people make it through a green light versus how many get through the average traffic light here. I think it’s stunning.

The winning hand for a “I want to move folks from here to there” scenario is traffic density. You can just put more scooters and motorcycles in a given space. Every scooter beyond a 50cc will accelerate and keep up with most all other vehicles in an urban setting.

We can just fit more people in the same space with bikes. We proved that a long time ago here. Nine bikes and scooters fit in the same space the MPG Motors F-150.

The future modes of personal transportation in SE Pennsylvania will include more scooters and motorcycles. More people will live in this area over time and funding for new roads will probably not keep pace.

With our bikes, we will be able to do more with the same roads.

You, and apparently pretty much you alone for now, are leading the way! Mark your calendar, reach out to your elected officials and get out and ride to work on June 21st.