But in the specialist game we can earn a living and, I suspect, a better and better one.motoring independent.co.uk. A former professional race rider, Buell says he got the idea for the innovative Buell CityX (pronounced Citycross) while watching Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator. But not all of us hanker after the images conjured by the films Quadrophenia and Roman Holiday. Experienced riders soon realise that, for serious commuting, a proper motorbike is a better answer.Erik Buell, chairman and chief technical officer of the Buell American Motorcycle Company he founded in 1993 with Harley Davidson, is not the scooter type. Buell thought he could escape from any assailant if he had the right motorbike for rapid urban riding. So he decided to build what he describes as "the world's best street motorcycle".The first thing observers will notice about the Buell CityX is what looks like a translucent blue fuel tank This is not a fuel tank.

First time 'bikers are queuing to complete the compulsory basic training that allows them to ride a small motorcycle as long as they display L-Plates.But the scooter solution is not perfect. Nimble as they are in dense, slow traffic small-engined motorcycles are terrifying when speed increases. The cute little machine that is fun between Sloane Square and Hammersmith is an embarrassment on a motorway. Adolescents, and a growing number of adults, consider scooters cutting edge, especially now that technology has made them safer and more reliable Sales of commuter scooters and mopeds are on the increase. Manufacturers have confronted this problem by building larger, faster scooters.

Demand for fossil fuels would decline and the planet would give a huge sigh of relief.So luminous appear the advantages of travel on two wheels that, even without state assistance, the motorcycle is making a comeback as a means of urban transport. There would be vacant seats in underground carriages at rush hour. Buses would become peaceful havens for parents with young children. Certainly, by sponsoring mass migration from cars to motorbikes the Secretary of State for Transport could help unblock sclerotic ring roads and ease city congestion.