Remember when...

[sunshinen]

...you didn't have to post the year of your Buddy, because it was the first year they were out
... and you had to wait on your dealer to get Buddies not because they had sold out, but because they had never sold any?

That was a good year!

So for those "old timers" out there:
1. How many miles do you have and how are the 06 Buddies hanging in there?
2. How has your scooter changed you as a person?
3. How has your lifestyle changed?
4. How has your riding perspective changed with a couple years of experience?
5. How do you use your scooter?
6. What has been your favorite scooter moment?
7. What has been your worst or scariest scooter moment?
8. What's the most outrageous thing you have done or carried on your scooter?
9. What's the single best thing about having a scooter?
10. If you could go back, what would you do differently? Or what are you glad you did the way you did it?

Feel free to answer all or some or make up your own question!
(Not an advice thread, a reflections thread!)

[ScooterDave]

I guarantee you do not want me answering most of these questions.

[illnoise]

Funny, I just wrote this up because I was bored at work, same general idea:

http://2strokebuzz.com/index.php?p=4265

[ScooterDave]

Funny, I just wrote this up because I was bored at work, same general idea:

http://2strokebuzz.com/index.php?p=4265

Wow. That brings back memories.

I was/am that bald guy in a flight jacket. Although I have graduated from Docs to Grinders. I am wearing my Somba's right now.

[schlagle]

I remember when I could read every new post for the entire day in one sitting. Not I'm lucky to get through a couple of threads. And that was only a few months ago!

Congrats to ericalm for the success of this site. I know there was a post about the number of users, was there a traffic update or # posts update available also?

[illnoise]

to answer your questions (though I'm not a buddy owner)

1. Not nearly enough, it's kind of sad actually.

2. I have a better set of tools now.

3. I've made hundreds of great friends.

4. The more you learn, the more you realize there is to learn. MSF and gear are a must.

5. 90% recreation 10% utility

6. Riding a friends' Vespa Ciao through cornfields for hours while totally hammered on bourbon and gingerale.

7. Getting chased after flipping off a dude in an LTD who cut me off. He forced me to sideswipe a parked car, then I escaped, dropped the bike behind bushes, and watched from a balcony as he circled the block several more times looking for me. All this with his wife and (un-seat-belted) kids in the car.

8. A cameraman when we were shooting the Breeders video:
http://www.coudal.com/breeders.php

9. Nothing that wouldn't be better with two scooters. Or three. Or four.

10. Take the MSF on day one, wear a fullface and better gear from day one, to have gone to more rallies before I got married and had a kid.[/quote]

[SteMer]

Ah yes! A post just for us original buddy owners. Thank you!

1. I'm just over 4000 miles (I have a short commute and a new family so don't get out much) and it's holding up great. No issues at all.
2. Not much change - just enjoy my commute a lot more each day
3. I have a new outlet and hang out with some cool new friends, people I wouldn't normally have met if I hadn't started scooting - the local scooter scene is pretty diverse. I've also wasted way more time than I ever thought I would reading through scooter forums.
4. Have a lot more confidence in riding.
5. Commuting, group rides (1-2 times a month), 1-2 rallies a year.
6. One of my favorite moments was riding around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as part of the inaugural Gasoline Rally.
7. Haven't had too many bad moments.
8. Haven't done much that would be considered outrageous - other than spending a weekend with some Vulcans
9. Not driving in a car.
10. I might've considered buying a Stella.

[gt1000]

My 06 is still going strong. It's got about 3500 miles on the ODO but it's not my only bike. Over the course of these same two years, I've put an additional 6000 miles on two other bikes. My daily commute is a short 8 miles roundtrip and that's what the scoot is for, along with running errands and other odd jobs.

The Buddy's been perfect, except for a loose battery connection that I fixed myself. So far, it's been the most reliable scoot I've owned.

The one big change in my life that can be attributed directly to scooting is that it rekindled my enthusiasm for motorcycles in general. I'd taken a "sabbatical" from riding for quite a few years and then bought an Aprilia Mojito 50 when we moved from the suburbs to the city. It didn't take long for the bug to bite big time.

So really, it was our lifestyle change that prompted the scooter purchase, not vice-versa.

[sunshinen]

To answer myself.

1. 7200+ miles, the orange interior has faded, the seat is looking not-so-new, but otherwise in fantastic shape.
2. As an introvert, I talk to a lot of people I otherwise would never talk to.
* I realize that getting places quickly isn't as urgent as I thought it was.
* I commute with a very different mindset: if you don't like your commute, change it! And I apply that principle to other areas of my life, too.
3. I got rid of my car, moved even closer to work, buy much less unnecessary junk, shop for groceries on a more regular basis, throw out fewer rotten vegies.
4. I'm a much more relaxed rider. I realize that it's not quite as crazy as reading all these forums (with many scared, new riders) and stuff made me think it was. I realized that most people do see me and give me room. I always am looking for the exception to that rule. But it is the exception. And usually a very predictable exception.
* I don't take being cut off or passed as personal affronts on my scooter. I've noticed all these things that as new, (emotionally) defensive rider I attributed to my being on a scooter, also happen to my boyfriend in his jeep.
* I give cagers the benefit of the doubt... and plenty of room.
5. I use it for everything. It's now my only motorized vehicle.
6. Crossing the ferry and riding through the countryside for several hours to get to another city. It was just gorgeous and serene. And something I would never have done if trying to get where I was going in a car. I would have taken the short, very trafficy, urban route.
7. 2-way road, one lane each direction, very thick traffic. All I saw was a deer landing in front of a minivan in the oncoming lane. The van locked up it's brakes. I stopped so fast and hard I jammed my wrists. Thank god for practicing emergency stops!
8. Not that outrageous, but a week's worth of camping gear.
9. The new outlook that affects so much more than transportation.
10. I'm glad I started with the MSF, that I started with a policy of not riding in the rain, that I kept my car for nearly 2 years before going scoot only, that I slowly pushed the envelope of what people thought should be done on a scooter. And very glad I got rid of my car.

[polianarchy]

1. How many miles do you have and how are the 06 Buddies hanging in there?
6200 miles, and I've had only a few things get busted. Not too shabby!

2. How has your scooter changed you as a person?
I'm much more patient than I used to be.

3. How has your lifestyle changed?
I can get around at night again, just like when I lived in cities that weren't Philly

4. How has your riding perspective changed with a couple years of experience?
I didn't think anyone could be worse than Lexus drivers, but then I started riding a scooter around SUVs

5. How do you use your scooter?
As often as possible. Daily driver.

6. What has been your favorite scooter moment?
Winning Best Modern Scooter at the Philly RBSC Plastico Fantastico Rally

7. What has been your worst or scariest scooter moment?
My psychobilly freakout riding home from NYC

8. What's the most outrageous thing you have done or carried on your scooter?
Hmm...either riding to NYC by myself or carrying an extra-large bolt of upholstery fabric home from the flea market.

9. What's the single best thing about having a scooter?
Having a scooter, FINALLY! I had waited YEARS for this moment.

10. If you could go back, what would you do differently? Or what are you glad you did the way you did it?
I would have reported the sexist pig at PennDOT who nearly caused me to fail my motorcycle permit. I'm glad I stuck with it and took the MSF course instead of just taking the test.

I wish I had brought a Vespa (clone?) home with me from Benin.

I wish I hadn't waited until 2006 to buy my first scooter. I really could have had a 2003 Stella, yeah? Sigh. There's no way I could have gotten financing back then. But still...I'm glad I got a Buddy, but I REALLY want a Stella! Sigh.