Bob and Nancy Leathers were on holiday on the Greek island of Santorini when the fancy took hold.

ELISSA EUBANKS/Staff (ENLARGE)

With Josh Bunn at the wheel, Casey Britt skied on a piece of cardboard recently at the Deliverance 5 Scooter rally in Atlanta.

ELISSA EUBANKS/Staff (ENLARGE)

Randy Smyre, 32, of Athens looks at scooters at the Deliverance 5 Scooter Rally at the Masquerade in Atlanta, where riders from all over the Southeast gathered recently for rides and best in show competitions.

KEITH HADLEY/Staff (ENLARGE)

When the weather's nice and the distance is short, Nancy Leathers uses her bike for errands.

KEITH HADLEY/Staff (ENLARGE)

"Scooter Babe" Nancy Leathers of Decatur likes to run errands — to the library and dry cleaners, for example — on her red and silver Urban Sporty 150 model.

American Honda Motor Co., Motorcycle Division (ENLARGE)

With colors that include Salsa, Kiwi and Orange Ice, the 49 cc Metropolitan II gives off an air of fun.

BY THE NUMBERS 161,284: Motorcycle and scooter registrations in metro Atlanta as of September 19: Atlanta's 2005 national ranking for scooter sales, up from 23 in 2004 17: Percent increase in scooter sales nationally, 2004-2005

They'd seen people zipping around on scooters during their travels before, but only as tourists observing what seemed to be a European phenomenon.

Now, here they were — zipping around on them, too. Into town, out for dinner, from village to village.

"We had so much fun," Nancy Leathers said.

That did it.

As soon as they got back to Decatur, Nancy Leathers, the mother, became Nancy Leathers, the "scooter babe" and yet another American in love with the two-wheeled, low-powered vehicles.

The proof, said Robert Pandya, a spokesman for the Cycle World International Motorcycle Shows, is in the numbers.

Scooter sales in the United States grew more than 17 percent, to 56,900, from 2004 to 2005, said Pandya. Add to those numbers lower-end bikes from China — which are not reflected in that total — and the numbers double.

While metro counties don't break out scooters from the motorcycle category, overall registrations have increased to 161,284 as of September from 143,284 the same time last year.

Cars still rule in Atlanta, but we did move up the national scooter sales rankings from 23rd to 19th last year.

Which may explain why Steve Sher, owner of Scooter Steve, believes Atlanta "is becoming a scooter city."

"I know from talking to other people selling bikes how big this is — and when I try to get stock from my suppliers and they don't have bikes because they've sold out," said Sher.

His sales have nearly doubled, from about 10 scooters a month to closer to 18.

Other Atlanta dealers report similar sales increases.

Fran Ramsey, general manager of Moto Bravo in Atlanta, said scooter sales have shot up so much it's been hard to keep up with the demand.

"Anything with two wheels is very popular," she said, especially those that do not need a license plate or special driver's license.

Sales have increased at least 20 percent a year since gas prices rose above $2 a gallon. For instance, Ramsey said, Moto Bravo is now selling 30 bikes a month, compared with 20 bikes a month before prices started their upward march.

"A lot of times we run out, and the showroom is empty until we can get more," she said.

While gas prices are falling at the moment, Sher said, people are still buying "because they're afraid it's going to go up again."

Within days of returning from vacation in Greece, Bob Leathers began the search for his wife's scooter. It would be a present for her 61st birthday.

He found it at Scooter Steve not far from their home: a red and silver Urban Sporty 150. And a few weeks before her birthday, he handed it over to his wife.

Nancy Leathers avoids rush-hour traffic but rides her scooter all over their Decatur neighborhood: to the library, her garden club meetings, to take their son to the MARTA bus stop.

"This is fun," she said. "I'm surprised they're not more popular."

Transportation accessory

In the United States, scooters are hardly limited to college campuses and the courier business, as they once were.

As cities become more congested and gas prices rise, scooters are becoming a transportation accessory that for many people, like the Leatherses, supplements their cars, especially when the weather's nice and the distance is short.

Two things, Pandya said, draw people to scooters: pragmatism and fun.

They're known for low cost, high gas mileage, being easy to park and easy to ride. And they're just a lot of fun and fashionable.

Scooters come in all shapes and sizes. The ones with smaller engines — around 50 cubic centimeters — can cost as little as $1,500 and typically get 50 to 120 miles to the gallon.

But the biggest sales boom is in middle-weight machines, Pandya said, which have 150 to 600 cc engines, are highway legal and still deliver around 50 miles to the gallon. The price ranges from $4,800 to $7,000.

An early itch

Mark Etheredge, 41, bought his first scooter six years ago.

"My parents would not allow it when I was growing up," he said. "So the year I turned 35, I started looking."

"It wasn't exactly a midlife crisis, just something I always wanted to do," he said.

It was hard to even find a scooter in Atlanta, but he eventually bought a 1979 Vespa. Since then, he has bought two more.

For his daily travels to work and elsewhere, Etheredge — a member of Imperial Scooter Club and of Scootlanta — uses his 2004 model.

"Unless there is an absolute downpour or I need to haul something," he said, "my car may sit in my driveway for weeks at a time. I ride my scooter year-round."

Just for fun, he also bought a 1953 collector's item, just like the one Audrey Hepburn rode in "Roman Holiday."

"It's my parade scooter," he said. "It's a showpiece."

He also thinks scooters are a great vehicle for meeting people.

"It's a community," he said.

This month, Etheredge was one of nearly 200 scooter fans from across the country who turned out for the Deliverance 5 Scooter Rally, hosted by the Imperial Scooter Club.

The four-day event at Little Five Points featured some offbeat scooter events, such as best in show, gymkhana competitions and an over-65 ride.

Another Atlanta group, the all-girls Scarlett Fever Scooter Club, also was in attendance.

Nancy Leathers, a retired registered nurse, said she worried about the safety of her new vehicle at first and wondered if she wanted to risk her life.

She took a three-day riding course in Alpharetta and a few weeks ago got her license to drive. She says her scooter is a great way to stay young and keep up with daughter Laura and her 30-something friends.

"I can do anything they can do," said Leathers. "Water-ski. Rock-climb."

Her new scooter, though, put her in a league of her own. She's a scooter babe.

"I'm just having a ball on it," she said. "My daughter wants one now."