Flyscooters

Infobox_Company
company_name = Flyscooters Inc
company_
company_type = Private
slogan = Discover Life
founded = 2006
location_city = flagicon|USA Emeryville
location_country = USA
key_people =
industry = Powersports
products = Scooters
type = Private
homepage = [http://www.flyscooters.com]

Flyscooters is an American company that specializes in distribution and marketing of street legal, gas-powered motor scooters assembled in China. The company was founded in 2006 in Florida. Flyscooter’s headquarters is located in Emeryville, California. Flyscooters scooters comply with the Environmental Protection Agency EPA laws for powersport vehicles, meet California Air Resources Board CARB and Department of Transportation DOT standards.

Their factory is located at Taizhou Zhongneng Motorcycle Co. Ltd, China, also known in the industry as ZNEN which produces roughly 4,000 scooters for Flyscooters per year. The company sources parts for their scooters from China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan and USA.

History and Manufacturing

In the scooter industry, Chinese scooters have a negative reputation due to an initial flood of low quality products [San Francisco Times Herald, September 26 2008] . Flyscooter’s Il Bello model became one of the first Chinese scooters to break the mold because Flyscooters applied its American standards and chose customized parts. Flyscooters use clones of the Honda GY6 Engine [San Francisco Times Herald, September 26 2008] . With it's popularity, Flyscooters captured attention of newspaper and radio media alike.

Discontinued Scooter Models

* El Capitan 250
* X808 150
* Seba 150
* Swift 150

Current Scooter Models

* Cadenza 150
* Il Bello 50, 150
* La Vie 150
* Swift 50

Flyscooter Terminology

Noun: Instead of traditionally referring to their scooters as a “Scoot”, owners call their scooters “Flys”.

Nickname: Owners are also known for calling themselves “fly” [San Francisco Times Herald, September 26 2008] which means “cool” and nicknaming each other “fly girl” or “fly guy”.

Verb: Riders will say they will "fly to the market" using the verb to fly instead of to ride.

Riders, Popularity and Culture

The demographic breakdown of Flyscooter riders is roughly half riders trying to go green and be eco-friendly while the other half is made up of senior citizens and an equal ratio of female to male riders.

Flyscooters riders are active on forums, participate in community rallies, and form clubs dedicated to Flyscooters, like Scooter Squadron. Flyscooters is known for strong dealer support, dedication to customer service and encourages good will and philanthropy that range from teaming with Avon fire fighters to raise money for a relief fund [http://www.wickedlocal.com/avon/archive/x223019840/Avon-firefighters-to-raffle-scooters ] , to donations to a Marlborough School silent auction hosted by actress Jamie Lee Curtis, and community activities like the Yelp anniversary prom [ http://blog.yelp.com/2007/08/index.html Yelp Blog, August 2007 ] .

Dealerships

As of October 2008 there were 105 Flyscooters dealerships in the USA. Unlike most Chinese scooters, the Flyscooters vehicles are only available from brick and mortar dealers , and cannot be purchased online or drop shipped [San Francisco Times Herald, September 26 2008] . The strict maintenance and care from dealers mandated by Flyscooters is considered "necessary for good service" but some argue it is restricting because alterations to the scooters may void warranty.

References

* The Phoenix Republic, August 8, 2007
* [http://blog.yelp.com/2007/08/index.html Yelp Blog, August 2007]
* ScooterWorld, Oct/Nov 2007
* Dealer News
* [http://www.patriotledger.com/news/x478787148/Avon-firefighters-to-raffle-scooters Patriot Ledger newspaper]
* [http://www.wickedlocal.com/avon/archive/x223019840/Avon-firefighters-to-raffle-scooters Avon Local paper]
* [http://www.scooterbbs.com/bbs/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=11&topic_id=51290&mesg_id=51290&page=5 International Scooterists BBS]
* [http://scootdawg.proboards59.com/index.cgi?board=review&action=display&thread=7554&page=1 ScootDawg Scooter Forum]
* Asia Media, Journal of Culture and Commerce, March 7, 2008. Vol. II, Issue V
* [http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/audioPop.jsp?episodeId=114748 Just Gotta Scoot, May 2008]
* Scoot Magazine, June 2008
* Vallejo Times Herald, September 26 2008
* San Francisco Chronicle, October 2008

External links

* [http://www.flyscooters.com Official Flyscooters site]
* [http://www.flyscooters.com/scooters-accessories/il-bello Model Specs]
* [http://scootdawg.proboards59.com/index.cgi?board=review&action=display&thread=7554&page=1 Scooter reviews]
* [http://www.yelp.com/biz/flyscooters-llc-los-angeles Yelp Review]