Local businessman looking to turn a profit on Segway Human Transporters

By BENNETT HALL
Gazette-Times business editor

This is the future of personal transportation? A two-wheeled electric scooter that looks like George Jetson's push-mower, tops out at a barely-more-than-pedestrian 12.5 mph and may or may not be legal to ride on the sidewalk?

Rick Bennett thinks so, and he's putting his money where his mouth is. He's opened the first free-standing dealership in the state for the Segway Human Transporter, the battery-powered, gyroscope-balanced, futuristic marvel that debuted with a splash of publicity in 2002.

"It's such a great people mover," he said. "It gets people from point A to point B."

Bennett, the owner of Corvallis Fitness Center, has invested a little over $100,000 in the venture so far, with most of the money going for inventory — 25 Segways. He plans to open a showroom in early July in his women's fitness location on Kings Boulevard, with a smaller one at his main gym downtown.

It looks like it should tip over, but a built-in computer system keeps the Segway balanced at all times. Lean forward and it rolls smoothly and quietly ahead; lean back and it stops. Lean back some more, and you're in reverse. A handlegrip control turns the unit left or right.

A Segway will run for about 10 miles (or 11/2 to 2 hours) on a single battery charge, and it can be recharged by plugging it into a standard electrical outlet.

Bennett got his first ride in March, during a business trip to Las Vegas.

"That got me hooked," he said. "Once I tried it, I fell in love with it."

So far he's sold one Segway, to Salem optometrist Jim Randolph.

"I commute to work on it every day," said Randolph. "And I ride it to church on Sundays."

Randolph, who covers the 3.5 miles from home to office in the bike lane, wears a helmet and an orange safety vest when he rides. He said he's run into no problems so far but gets plenty of attention.

"People toot their horn, they wave at me, they stick their thumbs in the air," he said. "A delivery truck went by and the driver was leaning his head out of the cab of the truck yelling, ‘It's here! It's here! It's here!' "

Just who can ride a Segway — and where they can ride it — is a subject of some confusion. So far, 40 states have enacted legislation governing their use, including Oregon. But the vehicle is still so new — and so unlike anything else out there — that there appears to be widespread disagreement over just what rules apply.

Rep. Jeff Kropf, the 17th District Republican who sponsored Oregon's law in the state House last session, said the idea was to allow people to ride their Segways on the sidewalk, with no driver's license required.

"It just seemed to me that this was one of those common-sense changes in the law that was the right thing to do," he said.

Local governments are free to enact their own ordinances governing Segway use, but it seems that, in many cases, regulatory issues are still being sorted out.

City officials in Corvallis and Albany, for instance, pointed to state law governing motorized scooters, which are restricted to the roadway — even though the Kropf bill put Segways in a new classification called "electric personal assistive mobility device," which also includes electric wheelchairs.

David House, a spokesman for the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles, said Segway owners don't need a title or registration for their two-wheeled transports, but beyond that, the law's a little murky. The proliferation of motorized skateboards and other hybrid vehicles, he said, has a lot of communities scratching their heads over enforcement.

"Where you really run into trouble," he said, "is there are different laws by local jurisdictions."

Segway of Corvallis is actually the second place in the state where Segways are sold. The Brookstone store in Tigard's Washington Square has been carrying the people-movers for about two months, and they've been moving steadily.

"We've been averaging about one every other week," reported assistant manager David Wright.

Segway LLC, the company founded by inventor Dean Kamen, appears to have recovered from a recall last year, when early adopters got a free software upgrade to correct a flaw that caused some instability at low battery levels.

Overall, however, sales have been disappointing. Segway had projected sales of 50,000 to 100,000 units by early 2003. To date, however, only 10,000 have been sold.

James Safronek, the company's Northwest regional manager, said Segway's original business model relied too heavily on Internet sales. But few people were prepared to shell out $4,000 for a product they couldn't try out first.

"You actually need to touch and feel it, so you get not only the fun factor but how you can use it in your daily life," Safronek said.

After a disappointing rollout on Amazon.com, the company shifted gears, putting Segways on display in Brookstone stores around the country. Now it's building its own dealer network, with 20 dealerships in place and hopes for 60 by year's end, possibly including more in Oregon.

Bennett insists he's not worried about the competition. In addition to gearing up for local sales, he's been marketing the Segway to golf courses (there's a new golf bag attachment available) and resorts in Central Oregon.

"I have talked to a couple of people at Sunriver who rent bikes, snowmobiles and so forth," he said. "They're very interested."

But whether it's a big seller or not, Bennett says, he still believes in the product.

"I think you're going to see these things as part of the mainstream of transportation," he said. "I have no idea what kind of numbers I'll do. I'm just having fun."