Scooters are getting hard to find--gas prices might be to blame

Gas prices are putting a real crimp in my style of late. I'm seeing the results all around too.

In an effort to reduce my fuel consumption, I go nowhere. Lately, I've searched (in vain) for alternative transportation. The scooter market is heating up because of gas prices.

For the past year I've wanted a scooter. Just in the past month, I've noticed that used ones are hard to come by, unless you're willing to take a Chinese model off of someone's hands. These Chines scooters are nice looking, but lack a bit in the reliability and quality departments.

Scooter prices are on the rise because of greater demand. So, it's kind of a sick cycle (no pun intended...really) where the cost of an alternative to save money is rising to the point where it won't be a cost saver.

The knock-offs are coming in to exploit a demand, but are creating a higher cost in the market in the long run.

What's a boy to do?