Hello - Another Newbie Here

tsanpakit · Post by **tsanpakit** » Fri Jan 13, 2012 1:54 am

I've been lurking on this site for the past 3 months and want to say thanks to all who contribute and help educate virgin scooterists such as myself.

I bought a used scooter 3 months ago. I had never ridden a motor bike before and just wanted a fun way to commute the 2 miles everyday to/from work. I also didn't know anything about the scooter I had purchased. Google-ing "Buddy 50" brought me to this site and now I'm loving the scooter lifestyle, and I'm proud to be part of the Genuine family. I'm learning something new on this site everyday.

Within 3 months, I've replaced the mirrors (the previous ones were rusty), changed the seat to a khaki one, added a chrome rear rack and yesterday, I bought the coolest accessory for the Buddy 50 -- an avocado green 2009 Stella 2T with 8 miles on it!

Thanks again for sharing your experiences and stories.

Uncle Groucho · Post by **Uncle Groucho** » Fri Jan 13, 2012 2:17 am

That's some accessory... yep, that's how I'm going to tell the missus when I buy my next one.

But congrats and welcome!

viney266 · Post by **viney266** » Fri Jan 13, 2012 2:46 am

Congrats on the stella!!!. and welcome to the site

...I like it here ,too!

GrittyTacoman · Post by **GrittyTacoman** » Fri Jan 13, 2012 4:33 pm

Welcome! Will be interested to hear what you think of the Stella in comparison to the Buddy.

tsanpakit · Post by **tsanpakit** » Fri Jan 13, 2012 4:57 pm

Thank you for the welcome.

Unfortunately, Chicago got hit with a few inches of snow the day after the new Stella came home so I wasn't able to further appreciate the new ride. After riding around and taking her home (about 10 miles total), here's my initial review.

First off, the Stella was a whole new experience from the Buddy 50 (in a good way). The Stella made the Buddy 50 feel like a toy. If anyone's thinking of graduating up from a Buddy 50, do it!

The shifting was brand new to me so I had to ask a motorcycle-riding friend to meet me at Scooter Works to show me how to deal with the clutch and shifting before heading home. I'm still somewhat shaky at shifting but I think the shifting just adds more fun to riding a scooter. I don't think I'll have any issues getting used to shifting. I had a little difficulty finding the gears and figuring out which gear I was in but I think this just comes with time and it'll be second nature eventually (I hope).

The 150cc vs. the 50cc was night and day. With the Buddy 50, I was usually in the right lane in case traffic was going too fast and I needed to get out of the way. Not the case with the Stella. I was planning to ride home taking side streets and avoiding the heavier streets. Once I got going down Ashland Blvd., which is a busy street, I was cruising at the same speed, if not faster than the flow of traffic. I stayed on major streets all the way home.

Hopefully, we'll have some nice days coming up so I can take her back out for another ride.

agrogod · Post by **agrogod** » Fri Jan 13, 2012 5:48 pm

Welcome and many miles too you. Use the Stella for your daily and VooDoo the Buddy.

Raiderfn311 · Post by **Raiderfn311** » Fri Jan 13, 2012 6:15 pm

agrogod wrote:Welcome and many miles too you. Use the Stella for your daily and VooDoo the Buddy.

Starting w/mods already, lol.

agrogod · Post by **agrogod** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 12:11 pm

Raiderfn311 wrote:
agrogod wrote:Welcome and many miles too you. Use the Stella for your daily and VooDoo the Buddy.
Starting w/mods already, lol.

Not surface voodoo, [sparkly magic]real voodoo[/sparkly magic]