*** Despite city ban, suburban pocket bike sales boost profits ***

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — 12/30/2004
To many adults, so-called pocket bikes are so noisy that
they sound like chain saws on steroids and so tiny that they
couldn’t survive a collision with a Geo Metro.

To many young riders, the 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 children 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 preteen 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
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, agreed
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 owners of small and mid-size businesses,
said she had heard estimates that 500,000 to 2 million have been
sold in the United States 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 lack of a standard definition for
the pocket-bike category: The designs can be as simple as scooters
with a seat and motor bolted on, or as complex as the one-quarter
-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 cannot be registered, the bikes are illegal on public
streets, but that has not stopped some riders.

Consumer Reports magazine savaged the bikes in a recent review,
saying they are difficult for car drivers to see, and 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 have not 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 subculture 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 United States and abroad promise potential
retailers profit margins of 50 percent to 75 percent on quantities of 10

or more.

It is not clear how long the bikes’ popularity will last. While Pep
Boys says it 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.

Geneb...Wenatchee,Washington-USA
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