I got to ride today, that's the good news, practiced doing circles and turning left and right in my street, a bit afraid to make really small circles, but for now I can make a normal left and right hand turn.
Bad news, when storing my helmet, I noticed it wont fit, the seat of the buddy stays barley open, i kept pressing on it, but it wouldnt close, kneeled down to look closer, and it doesnt fit. My helmet has these 2 "fins" at the top which let out hot air from my breath, nice feature, but, that's the part that makes the buddy not want to close all the way
I'd recommend getting a metal T-Bar helmet hanger, typically sold in pairs for like $7. Put it in a vise with cloth protection to save the chrome plating and then bend it c. 90 degree's near the hole.
These aren't as secure as the underseat storage, but if your's doesn't fit anyway it's a whole lot MORE secure - and saves storage space in the pet carrier.
When you lift up the seat, you will see 2 pegs underneath the seat just in front of the storage compartment. The pegs are located under the seat near the seat hinge. If your helmet’s chin strap has metal D rings for tightening the chin strap then you can hang the helmet’s D rings on one of the Buddy’s pegs and when you lock the seat your helmet is secured. The helmet is dangling outside of the storage compartment but the only way that a thief can steal your helmet is by cutting the chin strap in which case they will have a useless helmet. This is the way that I secure my helmet to the Buddy and then I save the underseat storage for other things.
Wayne
The safest rule, no ifs or buts
Just drive like everyone else is nuts! (Burma Shave)
I don't have enough length on my chin strap of my ff helmet to hang the D ring from the peg. Any suggestion or do I have to order one of those metal extenders?
Good idea! I never thought of using those pegs to carry something, I was told once they come in handy if you have groceries (as a emergency spot to put them)
Thanks for all the advice! I slid into the snow somehow by accelerating too much (still not used to it, just the slightest move and the bike wants to go more than 10mph) so then I ran into the snow, got the front wheel stuck, tried to get off the pull the bike out of the snow (just 2 inches on the side of the road) but my glove somehow got caught on throttle and my bike lunged forward and I got both tires stuck in the snow! (still had hands on handle bars except my right hand, glove got caught somehow) so then I was super stuck, couldnt get out and was down the street from my house! Finally, I just used the side stand to "sit" the bike there and kicked all the snow out of the way, once I got the front tire on solid road again, rolling it off was easy.
jfrost2 wrote:I got to ride today, that's the good news, practiced doing circles and turning left and right in my street, a bit afraid to make really small circles...
Good deal. Don't overdo the small circles, you don't want to fall over. The idea is to get a feeling for balancing the scooter at low speed. You'll know it when you get it. It's like learning to dance. You know you got it when you can do it without looking at your feet. Same deal with riding slow. You'll know you got it when you stop thinking about it and just flow around on the scooter. The key to the whole thing is to drive with your eyes. Lightly trail the rear brake, balance with the throttle, look where you want to go and the scooter will follow. I know this sounds very Zen, but you're going to get so good at it, that you won't even remember that person who couldn't do it.
I have no problem with balance, I'm used to riding a bike in my neighborhood alot, so I could easily stay balanced even when the bike wasnt really moving (no feet on ground (made complete stop at stop sign, didnt even bring feet down to stay balanced))
I guess going from 26" tires on a bike, to 10" on a scooter, turning is different, alot different. I feel like I should try going past my stop sign, I've confounded myself to just my little cauldasack (I cant spell it right)
Funny thing is, I can make a sharp turn easily (u turn) when driving down to where it's almost 1 and a half lane's width, but when I head back to the large area of the street, it's like my turns arent as sharp and I almost go aginst the border, well, I guess practice makes perfect, tomorrow starts day 3 (and my first msf class day!)
Going from a tiny scooter to a 250cc bike will be a bit odd.
