The boom in motorbike sales is continuing with scooters being snapped up in large numbers, according to the latest figures.

Motorcycle sales soared by 61% in October, 1997, compared with the same month last year, according to Motor Cycle Industry Association figures.

Sales between January and October this year rose 37% compared with the same period last year.

Scooter sales rose by 51% in October 1997 and by 43% so far this year. Overall bike sales are now running at 82,000, compared with 59,500 in January-October 1996.

Last week at the opening of the International Motor Cycle Show in Birmingham, the Roads Minister, Baroness Hayman, stressed the importance of powered two-wheelers as a valuable part of the transport mix.

She announced a special consultative group to discuss the scope for motorcycling in an integrated transport strategy.

Motor Cycle Industry Association chairman, Monica Dickman, said: "This positive attitude by the Government has coincided with a genuine revival in public interest in motorcycles and scooters.

"Scooters, in particular, are being used more and more for commuting and leisure travel in congested towns and cities.

Also, the inexorable rise in the popularity of sports motorcycles continues."
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