Stella = Primary vehicle now!?!?!

[cmac]

Long story short:
My father is probably going to buy my car from me, leaving me carless.
So that means my Stella will be my primary vehicle!
I've only used a car whenever it's raining anyways, but that is because I didn't have any rain gear.
But since I have acquired some frog toggs I think only snow can stop me from riding now. (And since I live in FL I dont think that will be a problem)

Does anyone who uses their scooter as a primary have any tips/advice for me?

PS. Does anyone know where I can get a black rack for a stella. I can only find chrome ones.

[jmazza]

It can be done- though this isn't the week to say "I don't have to worry about snow in Florida!!" They are saying even we had some flurries yesterday!

It does take some great rain gear- Frogg Toggs makes great stuff. I never stayed completely dry with the cheap FT's I had so I ended up with this rain jacket paired with some FT pants and it's been great even in heavy heavy rain.

It also takes a lot of advance planning sometimes, and some ride sharing.

There's a lot of tips that pop up here from time to time if you check back through a few pages of threads. Most recently, this thread had a lot of great info in it.

Good luck!

[jmkjr72]

i got mine from scooterworks thru my dealer but from my understanding all the black parts are discontinued but yet they keep poping back up on the web site every now and then

[Sparky]

I use my Metro (Buddy) 125 seven or eight months out of the year for commuting; the rest is spent on public transport during the snowy months.

My experiences of about six years of off-and-on commuting with only a scooter:

* Rain sucks, but is manageable. As long as your tires are good and you are careful about speed in the corners, scootering on wet asphalt is safe. The usual caveats about metal manhole covers, paint strips, et al apply.

* Get to know your route. There can be quirks you won't expect. F'rex, my route is on a service road next to a large "sunken" autoroute. At certain points, cars rushing off off-ramps will cut over several lanes in haste to get into position. Learn traffic patterns and alternate routes.

* Have a variety of clothing to match temperatures. In hot and sticky humidity, I use a Draggin Jeans K-shirt (woven kevlar) in lieu of my usual heavy armored jacket. Winter and summer weight gloves help when temps dip or rise when the seasons change.

* Maintain your scooter with frequent spot checks. I check tire pressure every morning before I start the engine, and oil level at each weekly fuel stop.

* Be rested during a morning ride. My weak spot, I'm often short of sleep...

[ericalm]

I was scooter-only for almost 2 years.

It helped to have some kind of alternate means in case of weather, scoot in the shop, whatever. For me, that was mass transit (train), coworkers who lived close by and a wife with w car. So my advice: always have a backup plan.