Somewhere between the “putt-putt” of a mo-ped and the “vroom” of a Harley, is the hum of a scooter.

It was a sweet sound to about 40 moterscooter owners and admirers who gathered Saturday in Buford M. Watson Jr. Park for Lawrence’s first scooter rally.

Owning scooters is a growing trend, said Falestine Afani Ruzik, co-founder and president of KU ScooterHawks, a group for Lawrence’s scooter enthusiasts.

“A couple of years ago there were only a few,” Ruzik said. “But now, there has to be well over a hundred zooming around here.”

Ruzik, 20, a Kansas University senior from Minneapolis, Kan., formed the club with Luke Middleton, 26, a KU Policy Research Institute economist.

The club sponsored Saturday’s rally, which featured about 20 scooters. People ogled scooters ranging from retro to racy, from makers such as Honda, Peugeot, Yamaha and Vespa. There was even an electric scooter, driven by Lawrence resident Dave Dierker, and a custom-made West Coast Chopper-style one, put together by a mechanic from Subsonic Scooters.

Among those taking it all in was 13-year-old Sam Davis. He was tagging along with employees from Vespa Kansas City, a dealership in Overland Park where his mom drops him off to test drive scooters on a weekly basis.

Davis is meticulously saving for either a mint green or light blue Vespa. He has mowed lawns, skipped out on movies with friends, walked dogs and taken allergy tests — all to earn money for the scooter of his dreams, he said. So far, he has saved $617.73. That’s still several thousand dollars short of what he’ll need, but he said he aimed to buy the scooter sometime in the next year.

Tristan Groves, 1, daughter of Ismael Grover and Kari Dorow, Lawrence, gets a look at a Vespa scooter on display in Buford M. Watson Jr. Park. The KU Scooter Hawks, a club for scooter and mo-ped enthusiasts, had a scooter rally Saturday.

But scooters aren’t just attractive to young people.

Mark Cason, a 54-year-old bus driver for the Lawrence Bus Co., said scooters were his favorite mode of transportation. His affection for scooters stems from his time as a Benedictine monk in Atchison where another monk rode a scooter on their campus, he said. Now, he uses his gold-colored Peugot to get to stores and work.

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“It’s so cheap and convenient,” he said. “Everything else seems so cumbersome in comparison.”

He has spent $3.95 in gas on his scooter since he bought it three months ago, he said.

“On a scooter, you feel free,” he said, grinning. “Even for a big guy like me, you feel like there’s nothing closing you in. You just can’t beat it.”

Mike DeGraw owns Subsonic Scooters, 19 W. Ninth St., which sells a variety of European- and Asian-made scooters. His best sellers are made by Twist 'N Go and Kymco.