Hi Skully! I chose the Oxford Green... I think that is what the dealer called it
@whale_hunter: good luck on the hunt! Hope you get yours soon, the weather is wonderful! And definately let me know when you get it... well setup a meet @ woodfield
Welcome! You definitely chose a great scooter and a great place to learn/talk about it!
There's tons of stuff to check out here. I'd start with our Posting Guidelines. We don't have many rules but there are a few helpful things in that post.
Yeah, Chicago doesn't have any big clubs, there are a few smaller ones that are mostly just old friends, a couple small vintage clubs, and maybe a couple newer ones in the burbs. (I know there's one that's mostly older dudes with highway cruiser scooters, and the crazy custom Honda Ruckus club seems to be growing). It's easier if everyone has their own club, ha.
I'd definitely suggest coming to Amerivespa (Lake Geneva, WI, this year) and Slaughterhouse (in the city, Labor Day Weekend) to meet people and see what's going on. "Mods and Rockers" is amazing, too, but that's mostly vintage. Scooterworks/Genuine do occasional rides too. There are a couple Yahoogroups where events are listed, i have links to the groups and a calendar on my site, 2strokebuzz.com
Just show up at events, be helpful and be yourself, and you'll meet folks. A lot of newbies get put off by the 'cliques' but you gotta remember, a lot of us have been riding for 10, 15, even 20 years, so we are set in our ways, but (just about) everyone is pretty friendly. (The best way to endear yourselves is to offer to lend a hand and/or a beer. Rally organizers LOVE that.)
2strokebuzz: When news breaks, we put it under a tarp in the garage.
@JoeMazza: Thank you for the welcome. I actually visited this forum often for the last 3 months before my buddy purchase. This forum helped me out tons... definately Gald its around and active.
@Maximus: Sheridan by Wrigleyville? I was thinking on driving by there and having lunch, as its a very very cool place, I like and andersonville area too. I'm just waiting on purchasing a Xena disc alarm before I head onto Chicago.
@Ericalm/illnoise: will definately visit some of the meets. I'm a shy person, but will definately talk to folks and be helpful as you suggested. I totally get the cliques as you said 10-20 years... friends of mine that long, I consider family already. I'll be looking into your calendar and the sites you listed.
I'm a very shy and reclusive person naturally and it definitely took me some time to get into the scooter community. Being involved in real-life groups like that helps me to overcome some of that shyness.
We recently had someone complain about our scooter group that we're "unfriendly." We have almost 800 members, over 200 of whom are active. The complainer had only attended two of our meetups and hadn't actually ridden with us, just met us at the destinations. It takes time to become a part of any group, but there's a huge diversity of scooterists out there these days and almost anyone who's patient, open and willing can eventually find their niche.
Some of my best scooter friends are people I don't have a lot in common with and who I wouldn't know if not for scootering.
Eric // LA Scooter Meetup Group // Stella 4T // Vespa LX // Vespa LXS // Honda Helix // some, uh, projects…
@Maximus: Sheridan by Wrigleyville? I was thinking on driving by there and having lunch, as its a very very cool place, I like and andersonville area too. I'm just waiting on purchasing a Xena disc alarm before I head onto Chicago.
The same Sheridan, but when you go north of Chicago and up through Evanston and the North Shore suburbs the ride is nice, even a bit of twisties through a ravine, and the best part is you dont have to stop every block for a stop light! You can follow this all the way into Wisconsin but once you get passed Lake Forest, its not nearly as nice.
Hopleaf in Andersonville is phenominal!
You should check out the Southport corridor as well (Southport between Belmont and Irving Park)
