Bill Levy

If the thought of a pack of two-wheeled fanatics prowling along country back roads and scenic routes in the Chattanooga area worries you, you may want to look out for the Fossils gang on your next Sunday outing.

Don’t fret, though; they’re pretty easy to spot. Most of the riders are more than 50 years old, they putter along at a serene 40 mph and they’re all riding scooters.

The Fossils Scooter Club, a group for motor-scooter riders 50 and older, was founded in March by Chattanoogans Bill Levy, 67, his wife, Maxine, 59, and Bill Tracy, 67.

Beginning in October of last year, these three lifelong motorcycle lovers began trading in their hogs for something a little quieter, a little more comfortable and way more gas-efficient.

Other soon followed suit.

Since forming the Fossils club, the group has attracted about 20 members, a number its founders find astonishing since they haven’t started an organized recruitment effort yet.

Staff Photo by Meghan Brown
Bill Levy is a member of Fossils, a local scooter club for riders 50 and older. The group takes regular scenic excursions on their scooters, which are easier to handle than the motorcycles many of them owned before downsizing.

“Everybody that’s in it has just gone nuts about it,” Mr. Levy said. “I’m startled by the amount of people getting into it.”

Swapping in one pair of wheels for something easier to handle is a common occurrence at Scenic City Scooters on Hixson Pike, where many local scooter owners purchase their rides, said owner Hugh Schein.

“What you find is that many of these folks have ridden motorcycles in the past, and the motorcycles are getting to the point where they’re too heavy, too big, but they still want to ride,” Mr. Schein said. “The scooters will give them all the fun of riding in a much more manageable fashion.”

Mr. Levy pointed to the low operating cost of the scooters, which have an average efficiency of 100 miles per gallon, as another feature that is putting more and more older riders behind the handlebars.

“If you go down to (Scenic City Scooters), about half the pictures (of customers) he has on the wall are older people,” he said. “We bought them to get around cheaply, but it’s really changed our lives.

“They’re marvelous machines.”

Three months ago, Mr. Levy, who has owned about 60 motorcycles during 55 years of riding with his wife, purchased a silver-and-black 2006 Bajaj Chetak scooter with a 150 cubic centimeter engine. He later attached yellow flowers to the scooter’s sides, an addition he said he takes a lot of heat for.

Engine size for most scooters averages 250 cubic centimeters or less, much smaller than for motorcycles, which can exceed 2,000 cubic centimeters. But smaller doesn’t mean less fun, said Mr. Tracy, who purchased a red-and-white 2006 Honda Metropolitan with a 50 cubic centimeter engine last October.

“Like a motorcycle, they’re a personal machine,” he said, adding that he uses his scooter to the exclusion of all other vehicles. “When you’re on a motorcycle or a scooter, you’re part of the environment, so to speak. You just sit down on it and zip away.”

The Fossils’ first official club ride was on Memorial Day weekend. For that inaugural journey, about 10 riders left Scenic City Scooters for a four-hour, 80-mile trip along the Tennessee River. Additional rides are planned on a bi-weekly basis, including a trip to Red Clay State Park in early July, said Mr. Tracy, the group’s ride captain.

Although Fossils originally was planned as a club exclusively for older members, the group has been opened to all ages, Mr. Levy said.

That change reflects the widening interest in scooters among all demographics. Mr. Schein said the typical age range of most customers at Scenic City Scooters is 40-60 years old.

“They’re the age category with the most disposable income,” he said. “Before the gas crunch hit, scooters were always more a want than a need.

“The older age group of 40-60 has been a pretty steady part of our business from the beginning five years ago, but it’s the younger age groups that are coming in more strongly now.”

The club’s membership is open to all makes and models, and new members will receive a free custom license plate frame for signing up, which is also free.

Fossils, which started out as a chance to attract more converts to the scooter lifestyle, has become as much a social enterprise as a way to share a hobby, Mr. Levy said.

“We’re also making a lot of friendships, which I didn’t expect,” he said. “Everybody just has a good time, and they all want to talk scooters all the time. It just seems to have taken over everybody’s lives.”