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Pocket Bikes Spell Fun for Youths, Worry for Adults

Posted on: Wednesday, 22 December 2004, 21:00 CST

Dec. 23--To many adults, so-called pocket bikes sound like chainsaws on steroids, and couldn't survive a collision with a Geo Metro.

To many young riders, the tiny motorized two wheelers are not only faster than that old Huffy bicycle, but just plain fun.

Most agree that pocket bikes are one of the hottest -- and most controversial -- "toys" of the season.

An electric-powered bike from Los Angeles-based Toy Quest topped the list in recent voting by kids for Yahoo's annual toy Wish List. Toy Quest says on its Web site that the $200 Honda Minimoto Maxii, a miniature racing motorcycle replica, "has tapped into the pre-teen demographic which is currently not being addressed in the toy market today."

Others have seen the bikes add zip to their financial performance. "We were quickly able to discern sales success," when models were first introduced in late 2003, said Chuck Rigby, assistant vice president of merchandising for Philadelphia-based The Pep Boys -- Manny, Moe & Jack.

In October, Pep Boys, best known for selling auto parts, acquiesced to a ban on sales of pocket bikes in Philadelphia. But the company maintains prominent sales displays of the bikes -- along with warnings about safety and legal implications -- in its suburban stores.

Gasoline-powered pocket bikes typically sell for $300 or more, and into the thousands of dollars for higher-end Italian models that have been tweaked for competitive racing.

Accurate industry sales data are hard to come by, because the industry is fragmented. Anita Campbell, editor of Small Business Trends, a newsletter for small and mid-size business owners, said she has heard estimates that 500,000 to 2 million have been sold in the U.S. since the category began taking off two years ago.

By comparison, there are about 4.9 million registered motorcycles in the United States.

Complicating the picture is the fact that there is no standard definition for the pocket bike category -- the designs can be as simple as scooters with a seat and motor bolted on, to the 1/4 scale mini-motorcycles, whose designs mimic those of street-legal choppers and racing-style sport bikes.

Many parents and consumer advocates see pocket bikes as one of the most dangerous vehicles to come down the street in years. Because they can't be registered, the bikes are illegal on public streets, but that hasn't stopped some riders.

Consumer Reports magazine savaged the bikes in a recent review, saying they are difficult for car drivers to see, have brakes that work poorly and sub-par handling. "Even if riders kept off the streets, the inherent shortcomings associated with pocket bikes make them exceedingly dangerous," the magazine concluded.

Such concerns haven't done much to dent sales, or the number of companies pushing sales.

The wheeled contraptions began as "pit bikes" -- personal transports for racers and their crews at racetracks, becoming popular within the U.S. racing subculture in the 1990s. They were an alternative to conventional scooters, which had been used at tracks for decades.

Soon, a sub-culture of pocket bike racers, with souped-up bikes costing in the low thousands of dollars, emerged. It was a cheap way for speed junkies to get their fix.

With prices of mass-produced pocket bikes in the low hundreds of dollars, sales took off. Makers now include Czech, Italian, Chinese and other Asian manufacturers. Power tools maker Nikota, and Razor -- whose foot-powered scooters were all the rage a few years back -- have also gotten into the act.

Online, wholesalers in the U.S. and abroad promise potential retailers profit margins of 50 to 75 percent on quantities of 10 or more.

It's not clear how long the bikes' popularity will last. While Pep Boys expects the category to do well for some time, others think it could go the way of hot toys of holidays past.

"I think as fast as it comes, it will go," said Campbell, the editor of Small Business Trends.

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(c) 2004, The Philadelphia Inquirer. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

HMC, 7267, PBY, YHOO,

Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer

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