Alex99232
Make motorcycles and mopeds as popular in present-day Europe and North America, as they are in East Asian countries like Vietnam. They need to be the default mode of private road transportation instead of cars.
Make motorcycles and mopeds as popular in present-day Europe and North America, as they are in East Asian countries like Vietnam. They need to be the default mode of private road transportation instead of cars.
Make motorcycles and mopeds as popular in present-day Europe and North America, as they are in East Asian countries like Vietnam. They need to be the default mode of private road transportation instead of cars.
A low level of wages making the car out of reach for most working class families?
One obvious problem here? Winter. A moped might be an enticing choice when its nice and sunny outside, not so much when it's below freezing and the roads are iced over. Considering those conditions can hit pretty much all of Europe, a deep penetration of mopeds into the consumer market seems doubtful.Make motorcycles and mopeds as popular in present-day Europe and North America, as they are in East Asian countries like Vietnam. They need to be the default mode of private road transportation instead of cars.
In World War One, squads of large-wheeled all-terrain motorcycles are pioneered by an American officer interested in mobility and speed for purposes of reconnaissance, communications, and, ultimately, pinpoint raids on strategic targets. The specialty motorcycles and their riders are glorified in the press and in penny-novel dramatizations.
Returning American servicemen and those that would emulate them (even though far from the majority of the doughboys rode the specialized vehicles, they nonetheless are tied to their dashing image, and they don't really mind) are excited about procuring for themselves the very best (and often the only good) part of the war: Those go-anywhere do-anything hellbent for leather motorcycles.
Yeah, the climate (Especially in Northern Europe) is really going to hamper the use of mopeds. Bikes might also be kind of terrible to drive in such weather, but they also represent a smaller investment, so it's less of a loss when you can't use them. The ability to take them with you on trains is another major bonus.As a person who used a motorcycle as regular transportation for 40 years, I have some insight. It'll never be universally acceptable.
How high are you thinking? Because the rate is about 200% in Denmark, and we still don't drive around on mopeds.2. European governments raise car taxes much more drastically in response to both the oil crisis and environmentalism.
Did that lead to anything like we see in Thailand nowadays?3. A poorer Europe likely being caused by a much more severe WW2, or the lack of a Marshall-plan aid from the US. In OTL Communist European countries, a locally produced moped or small motorcycle was the best in private motorized transport an Average Joe could hope for, while even the worst cars like Trabants were considered somewhat luxurious things, reserved for better-off families and state services.
Excellent idea. The USA squander 1 billion USD (100 billion to 1000 billion in today's terms) on airplanes that largely did not see combat service. So if the USA decides to go with some "mobile breakout explotation" strategy using motorbikes, we would have many 10,000's of bikes trained service men to use them, along with factories gear to make them. Maybe 100,000's of bikes.
MG42 in WWI???Hundreds of GIs on motorcycles exploring the french countryside? A MG42 machine gun team dream come true...