Modern Buddy

Hey guys and gals, congrats on all the new Stella 4T purchases!

I've asked a few questions on ModernVespa but figured I'd ask it here to... just to set myself straight haha.

I'm currently shopping for a scooter and have loved the Stella ever since I started doing research about 2 yrs ago. I'm in a toss up between a Stella and a Vespa S150 or possibly a bigger Vespa. I keep coming back to the Stella cause it's a manual and I love the look. Plus the price helps out a lot as well haha.

I have yet to test drive the Stella as no dealership has the 4T where I am located. I'm looking to mostly do back roads and county road riding. I live in a rural area about 70 miles out of NYC. I'd like the ability, if needed which I don't for seeing being much, to be able to get on the highway. I'm 6'2" and 235 lbs. Based on sheer gerth, most people are pushing me in a used GT200 or GTS250 direction. Are there any "bigger" guys riding Stellas? If so do you have any complaints?

Any input would be extreamly helpful. Just want to know if I should abandon my Stella persuit or not. lol

My understanding is that the Stella is not highway legal.

The dealership in CT said they were.

Keep in mind I'm not looking to take my life in my hands on say I-95. I'm looking at more local highways. Usually between 55-65 mph speed zones

Hi- I have a 2t stella, and ive only taken it on a quick highway on-off ramp to get to another road. You can technically drive it on the highway- as in CT its legal for 150cc motorcycles and above. However, i would say you would not feel safe on a standard highway driving at 55mph. Most of the time on the stella you are riding at about 30-45mph on normal roads and major roads topping out at 55. I would say if you want a highway ability, go with a new or used Vespa 300.. you;ll be able to go easy 70-75mph without issue.

my 2 cents!

You'd have to check locally, but in Oklahoma, they're legal on highways, just not interstates and turnpikes. I'd be inclined to say yes because I have friends in NYC who ride to out of state rallies quite often.

Yeah, like I said I'm not looking to do any large amount of riding on highways. Maybe 5-10 minutes at a time just to get to another road.

I'm more concerned tho with the pickup and torque being a bigger guy and all since the sales guy and a few others are pushing me to bigger scoots.

I'm 6'-2", 200lbs and my stock 2T has no problem pulling me around. Sometimes it has a little too much torque and I find myself on one wheel. Go with what you like, I owned a Vespa before and wasn't happy with it so I sold it and bought what I really wanted.

150 is legal in NYS but i would highly recommend not taking the stella on a major highway. If its just 1 exit id think it would be fine, but short of riding in a large group, STAY OFF the major highways.

From what I know, 150 scooters are highway legal in most states - but you should check your state DMV regs. Having said that, my exoerience with the 2T Stella is that I would not term it highway capable. I ride an LX150 (sister to the S150). I certainly wouldn't take it out on the Interstate either.

Ack, so much to think about and consider haha.

Thank you for the help guys.

I've not ridden the Stella 4T; I have ridden some on my son's 2T. But I have an LX150 (11-inch front wheel) and a GTS250 (12-inch wheels) and I'd have to agree to NOT ride a 10-inch wheeled bike on the freeway. Even if you could keep up with traffic (which you won't be able to), the smaller wheel diameter of the Stella will make it feel really shakey, especially if there is uneven road surface (like those big joints between concrete slabs). My GTS is just barely rideable on the freeway -- I can do it and feel relatively safe, but I don't enjoy it. But even going a mile or two between exits on my 150 is harrowing and very not fun.

On the other hand -- it's a challenge to plot routes that avoid the freeways. I love doing that and have discovered all sorts of cool neighborhoods and sights that I've missed by always hopping on the freeway in my car. So get the Stella and a GPS (which you can set to "Avoid Highways") and have some fun!

-Dan

dchernikoff wrote:...On the other hand -- it's a challenge to plot routes that avoid the freeways. I love doing that and have discovered all sorts of cool neighborhoods and sights that I've missed by always hopping on the freeway in my car. So get the Stella and a GPS (which you can set to "Avoid Highways") and have some fun!

+1!

if you get the stella- in addition to learning/practicing to shift, you will learn/practice to get to places while avoiding highways- even out of the way detours.

my 2 cents:
We all buy 150cc scooters with the small idea-even if just a small pinhole in the back of our mind- they we maybe - in a pinch - would drive it on the highway. then at a later time. we each seem to make a personal rule that "I will not take this on the highway". It might come after the 1st test drive- it might come after months of experience- it might come after a close call- or it it might not come untill after we finally have a scooter accident on the highway... but it's my experience that we all eventually draw the line for highway use to be beyond 150cc.

the 4t listed high speed is 56 mph and that is really after break in. you don't want to go that fast too soon and I don't want to either.

220i Blur, Maybe? that'll go on the highway. do I want to own a blur? no.

One of the choices I made for the stella was "Looks" over "highway Capable"
I chose the Stella

I have the Stella 4T, a Vespa PX 150, a Vespa GTS 250.
I only weigh 150, and the only one out of that lot that I would comfortably take on roads where traffic is cruising at 60mph is the 250.

10 inch wheels get frisky at that speed...

To each their own. Next month, a bunch of members from our all-girl scooter club are riding from Tulsa to Eureka Springs for a rally. I ride a stock Stella 2t, one rides a stock Bajaj Chetak, there's a Buddy 150, a Vino 125 and a maxi-scooter. FWIW, we won't be riding country roads all the way there.

Lovelandstella wrote: the 4t listed high speed is 56 mph and that is really after break in. you don't want to go that fast too soon and I don't want to either.

Hmm... the specs say 60+, and Eric bears that out with "around 60" in his long-term review, and he's a big guy like me. Mine isn't broken in yet, so who knows?

At any rate, as with my Vespa LXV, I wouldn't hesitate to jump on a limited-access highway for an exit or two, but have no interest in riding on one regularly.

It depends on what you mean by "highway" Four lane divided with limits of 55-60 mph? New York State Thruway? Interstate highways?

BuddyRaton wrote:It depends on what you mean by "highway" Four lane divided with limits of 55-60 mph? New York State Thruway? Interstate highways?

It would range between regular roads, four lane divided and maybe Route 17. Not the thruway or interstates at all. I'm not crazy haha

I have a couple roads I ride on that are 55mph roads but they have stoplights every mile or two pr four. They make me nervous, but more aware newvous than scared nervous. I am pretty comfortable running 50 on the speedo, but again, it is intense riding. 40-45 is much more fun.

SO, if you need speed, don't buy Stella. But, like Bob from Scooterville in Minneapolis said to me, 'if a scooter is calling you, then answer that, dont try to talk yourself into something else." For me it was Buddy v. Kymco People 150 v. Stella. Now, I cannot imagine riding anything else as a first scooter. I might be interested in a bigger vespa or Kymco people 250 at some point...(but, nah, if Im gonna go bigger, its gonna be a cafe racer of some sort)

Anyway, listen to your heart and if you really want to shift, go Stella and a GPS unit. You will have a blast.
Good luck

Silver Streak wrote:

Lovelandstella wrote: the 4t listed high speed is 56 mph...

Hmm... the specs say 60+...

Sorry, I was quoting the owners manual, I had just read it.

Stella 4-STROKE owners manual wrote:(page 11) Maximum Speed 56mph in 4th gear...

but it also says:

Stella 4-STROKE owners manual wrote: (page 13) ...There is 26 gallons of petrol kept in the reserve in your tank for any fuel emergency...

Apparently a "fuel emergency" = Need to travel 3640 miles after you switch to the reserve.
so anyway, I guess there goes the accuracy of quoting the manual.

Ha! I was just reading my owner's manual and noticed the same things. I got the 60+ mph spec from the Genuine website.

That owner's manual has to be the most understated document on the face of the earth... like they were going through the motions just to have one.

Especially liked the description of the "elegantly designed instrument panel."

Silver Streak wrote:Ha! I was just reading my owner's manual and noticed the same things. I got the 60+ mph spec from the Genuine website.

That owner's manual has to be the most understated document on the face of the earth... like they were going through the motions just to have one.

Especially liked the description of the "elegantly designed instrument panel."

It's actually a pretty nice manual compared to the modern Vespa manuals. My LX and GTS manuals piss me off every time I look at them. They are littered with CYA text all over the place, in big bold letters and in boxed text, with only minimally useful real information sandwiched inbetween. Warning! Caution! Don't do this! Don't ride it you'll kill yourself! Very annoying. They don't even have the usual "feel good" text about "You've bought a quality vehicle, yada yada yada". Nothing. A real waste of trees to produce it, and you walk away from it thinking you've made a grave error buying a dangerous piece of crap (which I don't believe, but apparently the Piaggio writers do!)

The Stella manual has a minimum of that, and actually quite a few useful tidbits. More like the vintage vespa manuals from 30 years ago, which are fun to look thru.

Oh, I definitely agree about the legal boilerplate. What amuses me is all the self-evident stuff in the Stella manual, like: "For night driving use headlights."

And under the heading of "APPLICATION OF BRAKES," this gem:

"Bring the accelerator throttle to its normal position.

Press the clutch lever and change gear to the neutral position.

Use foot pedal brake and hand brake simultaneously for the most efficient braking."

While I certainly agree with the recommendation to use both brakes, this section would lead the rank beginner to think he needs to clutch and shift into neutral any time he needs to apply the brakes!