Modern Buddy

I've had my Buddy less than 24hrs and wondered what the proper parking etiquette is for parking lot and street situations.

I was going to go to the store today, but wasn't sure if I should take up a whole parking space just for my scooter. Is it rude?

Also, what does everyone do for street parking? Do you pull parallel to the curb just like a car, or would parking vertically be better?

Any input would be appreciated!!!

I don't have my scooter yet, but have been wondering the same thing.

As a licensed motor vehicle, you are entitled to an entire parking spot regardless of any other factor. If motorcycle parking is available and convenient, then courtesy (and only courtesy) would dictate that you use the MC parking instead. Legally, though, there's nothing at all preventing you from parking in a full-sized spot.

That said, many people (myself included) "get away" with parking in the triangular areas in the corners of parking lots, on sidewalks, and in spots where a car can't fit -- some of them even with red-painted curbs. Illegal, yes. I haven't gotten a ticket yet, though, and even if I did, I would still keep doing it until the cost of the parking tickets made it prohibitive.

i live at the beach and here you can pretty much park anywhere.
sidewalk parking is no problem so long as you don't block the walkway or a doorway.
scooters have free reign........sweet....

Speaking of parking. Am I supposed to put something between the side/center stand and the ground? I am asking that because one time I noticed that the asphalt actually sunk in after I parked there for two hours... I felt real bad.

The MSF instructors recommended parking facing "out" from the curb, and at an angle so as to take up more of the space and be more visible to others (which makes sense, in that I've almost pulled into spots with a motorcycle present just because its big fat bumper wasn't sticking out).

They also gave each of us a flat disk/puck to put under our side stand to keep it from sinking into the ground. Probably available from your local cycle shop.

In most states, when 'parallel' parking, you must put your rear tire in contact with the curb and park perpendicular to the cars that would be parking there.

I tend to park in between meters in many cases.


I have friends who park on sidewalks or right out in front of places, but I tend to keep mine to the areas that Jess mentioned.

There's a mall nearby that has a loading sort of area, and there's a nice little wooden fence that keeps it gated; there's about 8' of that fence before there's a gate. On that fence, there's a sign that reads 'No customer vehicles beyond this point' and I took that to mean 'customer vehicles can park directly underneath this sign' (even though I have to ride across a small area of 'sidewalk' to get there). I've done that a few times.

Like many of y'all, I haven't figured out what the 'appropriate' or even 'legal' way to park my Buddy. Are there different rules if you have a 50cc vs a tagged 125cc? So far, without issue, I have been parking on the sidewalks. I make sure not to block doorways and ensure someone in a wheelchair or pushing a stroller can get by. I also have been parking at bike racks. No one's complained yet! I know the Atlanta police could care less. Are there different laws depending on whether your scooter has a tag or not? While mine is a 125cc, I've removed the Buddy125 stickers and haven't registered it yet... shhh...

I know there are certain streets and shops in Seattle that have designated motorcycle parking, but not in my neighborhood.

The problem I foresee with parking in a regular parking spot, let's say at a grocery store, is the typical person with their ginormous (yes, that's a technical term) SUV. They pull into the space without really thinking that there may be a vehicle too small to see from the side in that space... and there goes my Buddy.

Good stuff about the street parking though! I'll start parking like that now.

Parking laws are applied with various rigor depending on where you live. It will even vary by neighborhood sometimes. Here's some info/pointers culled from postings on other sites and from my own somewhat limited experience:

• Parking on public sidewalks: In some states this is legal for 50cc & under scoots. You can't, of course, obstruct doors or other traffic. In L.A., I have seen numerous bikes (always crotch rockets, go figure) ticketed for parking on the sidewalk.

• Street parking: To be avoided when possible! I say this not just because my scoot was knocked over while parked on a quiet, residential street. Parallel parking is where your bike is least visible and most vulnerable. That said, the best way to go is to park at an angle and leave as much room as possible for cars to get in/out. If you're at a parking meter, take up a whole space.

• Parking lots: For most parking lots (grocery store, shopping center, mall, etc.), enforcement is up to private security or owners. It's often "anything goes" in these areas. Park anywhere you see a motorcycle. As always, look for the most visible or out of the way location... make it as hard as possible for an errant SUV to crush your Bud beneath its tires.
I often find parking inside red zones, near bicycle parking, in the triangles Jess mentioned, at the side of the building, and at large shopping centers or Target and so on have no problem parking on their usually extra-wide sidewalks. They never call the cops.

Here in L.A., a lot of parking is in multilevel garages. These have tons of little hidden safe spots. MOST don't charge scoots from parking in them. Those which do are jerks (you hear me, Arclight Theater?).

• One other caveat: People will want to look at your scooter. Children will want to touch it. A couple kids actually almost tried to climb on mine once before stopped by their parent. They should be grateful he got to them before I did. Not only is there a risk of some kid knocking over your Buddy, but also a danger to them if the muffler is still piping hot from your ride.

Thanks for the tips ericalm... that helped tremendously! You are the guru of all things scootery.

NarMeowZippy wrote:Thanks for the tips ericalm... that helped tremendously! You are the guru of all things scootery.

Thanks. But I can't take too much credit. As I said, lots of info from other boards. And after having my beloved scoot knocked over I got kind of obsessive about this.

castleton wrote:The MSF instructors recommended parking facing "out" from the curb, and at an angle so as to take up more of the space and be more visible to others (which makes sense, in that I've almost pulled into spots with a motorcycle present just because its big fat bumper wasn't sticking out).

They also gave each of us a flat disk/puck to put under our side stand to keep it from sinking into the ground. Probably available from your local cycle shop.

A smashed Pop Can works too!

Rizzo sezA smashed Pop Can works too!

The MSF instructor said that some guys used a smashed beer can, but warned us against going into a store/bar, buying & then drinking the beer just to smash it for this purpose! (he smiled when he said it!)

Re: parallel parking--that's true, you need to park out from the curb, parallel with the other cars. When I mentioned parking at an angle so as to be more visible, I meant in a store parking lot. But I like all these other suggestions much better!

Here in Cottonwood, AZ., if you park in one of the 'triangles' left over from the angle parking spots delineated in shopping center parking lots, they will ticket you. You have to park either in designated motorcycle spots or take up a whole car space. Me? I just thumb my nose at 'em and park wherever I think it'll be safest. But then, I'm an ol' poop.

--Keys

castleton wrote:you need to park out from the curb, parallel with the other cars. When I mentioned parking at an angle so as to be more visible, I meant in a store parking lot. But I like all these other suggestions much better!

I just took the permit exam in PA, and the manual here says you park at an angle with your rear tire against the curb.

But that might be a local thing.

There's not much parallel parking available around here, so I really don't know for sure re: what to do with a motorcycle (legally). It just makes sense to me to take up as much space as possible with the scoot, and be facing out in a manner that makes it easy to drive off with little fuss.

A quick warning about sidewalk parking. Here in the DC area at least, parking a licensed scooter on any sidewalk area -- whether or not it's out of the way/not blocking anything -- can earn you a $100 ticket for "parking a motorcycle on the sidewalk." I found that out the hard way just last week when I locked my Buddy to an out of the way bike rack on a hardly ever walked area of sidewalk. Of course, if I didn't have a license plate on my scoot (legally required for anything 50cc or higher), they wouldn't have issued me the parking ticket because they would've had no way to track me.

Ok, so if I park in a parking space or in a metered spot, I can't lock my bike up to anything. That would worry me.

I guess it comes with the territory.

I guess I could get a wheel lock.

I bought one of these as per someone's suggestion elsewhere:

http://www.bikebone.com/page/BBSC/CTGY/GRIP

You could still load a scooter up on a truck (or 2 skateboards!) but it does make it difficult to steal otherwise--locks up the throttle. Between this and the steering lock, I feel pretty safe (but I'm not in an urban area, either).

I also fell prey to the ticketing fairies today... A Piaggio LT150 right next to me did not get ticketed, because 1. He doesn't have it registered and 2. he ripped off the "1" in his 150.

I'm considering taking my plates off... thoughts?

There is a bit of a Catch-22: I live in DC, where all scooters must have plates. I work in Maryland, where 50 CCs or less can park on the sidewalks, and they also do not need to be registered/plated as long as they stay off 50+ MPH roads.

The smart answer would have been to rip my 125 sticker off LAST NIGHT when I first read this thread. I could always put the plates on for my ride and take them off to park... ech.

Phuket wrote:I also fell prey to the ticketing fairies today... A Piaggio LT150 right next to me did not get ticketed, because 1. He doesn't have it registered and 2. he ripped off the "1" in his 150.

I'm considering taking my plates off... thoughts?

There is a bit of a Catch-22: I live in DC, where all scooters must have plates. I work in Maryland, where 50 CCs or less can park on the sidewalks, and they also do not need to be registered/plated as long as they stay off 50+ MPH roads.

The smart answer would have been to rip my 125 sticker off LAST NIGHT when I first read this thread. I could always put the plates on for my ride and take them off to park... ech.

I have heard of (but certaiinly don't endorse!) people using velcro and other means to stach their plates when parking on the sidewalk. It's not legal n CA for a 50cc, so that trick's of no use to me. I have noticed that you can get away with it in some neighborhoods but not in others...

sparty wrote:Speaking of parking. Am I supposed to put something between the side/center stand and the ground? I am asking that because one time I noticed that the asphalt actually sunk in after I parked there for two hours... I felt real bad.

Try carrying a "smashed"pop can with you. It can be placed between the asphalt and the kickstand.

dahuffy wrote:

sparty wrote:Speaking of parking. Am I supposed to put something between the side/center stand and the ground? I am asking that because one time I noticed that the asphalt actually sunk in after I parked there for two hours... I felt real bad.

Try carrying a "smashed"pop can with you. It can be placed between the asphalt and the kickstand.

I use a stack of 3 CD's glued together. Thin enough to store under a motorcycle seat, easy to store anywhere on a scoot. You can also pick up a "puck" at any motorcycle or scooter supply store, sometimes for free.

I got some kind of parking puck as a parting gift after passing the test at the MSF Basic Rider course last year. Haven't had a need for it yet since 72 is about the warmest I have had an opportunity to ride.

My favorite place to park!

I got a parking puck in a rally pack at last year's "Skull Valley Rally". The ride is put on by the Scarabs Scooter Club out of Phoenix and our fourth annual bash is scheduled for May 18th, 19th and 20th. Overnight in Prescott on the 19th at the historic St. Michaels Hotel downtown. Old west ambience at it's best! Some of the best scooter roads in the world!

If you would like more info on the rally just let me know either on the board here or PM me.

--Keys

It took me a couple of months after getting my Buddy to find good parking at all my commonly visited locations. I used a number of strategies.

1. Covered lots. Go in and take a ticket, go out through the pedestrian exits. I don't take up a spot, just park in a unofficial motorcycle area.

2. The head of maintance has this sweet little parking area that is mostly for handicap but he has a reserve spot. Turns out he sometimes rides a bike, so there is a bike rack. AND he loves scooters. So one day he walked by and asked about my pride and joy (parked elsewhere on that day). He told me about this sweet spot and said he tell parking patrol that it was his. So now I get to park ten feet from the main entrance. Because I was nice and talked to the guy.

3. Talked up my buddy a ton when I first got it. (Could help myself.) I was also new to OKC, so I didn't know anyone. Before I knew it, all these scooter riders were getting in touch with me. They let me know good places to park, how they ticket at work, etc.

So talk it up!

L