Modern Buddy

I am not even a scooter newbie, I've never ridden one. The last two years I've toyed with the idea of buying one, but never did.

A little over a week ago I saw the Aprilia Scarabeo 100 on craiglist went right into the local shop to see it. I liked the Stella as much, but being so new thought the automatic and 100cc were best.

I passed on the Scarabeo unless they could find a small windscreen. seemed important to it's style. Now I am looking at the Stella.

I have never done mechanical things, but I don't want the thing to to break. Am I biting off more then I can chew? (I would have a 2 year warranty)

I enjoyed driving a standard transmission in the Connecticut hills, and I think I want that with this scooter. Still I can't get my head around how to shift a scooter. I will take the MSF class. Got my M class learner's permit today. I guess I will buy a Stella and drive it up the hill to the big, empty church parking lot.

I have to learn well. Tourists on Cape Cod where I live define aggressive driving.

If you can shift a manual geared car you can shift a Stella no problem!

cookiesftw wrote:I enjoyed driving a standard transmission in the Connecticut hills, and I think I want that with this scooter. Still I can't get my head around how to shift a scooter. I will take the MSF class. Got my M class learner's permit today. I guess I will buy a Stella and drive it up the hill to the big, empty church parking lot.

I suggest that taking the MSF course is the first thing you should do, not something to do later. You have no experience with scooters. You think you want one. You think a shifter would work for you. Okay, take the MSF course (typically given on a small shifter motorcycle). See how it goes and see if that tells you that you are on the right path.

I agree on taking the MSF class first. I got my Stella for a steal from a lady who hated the manual shifting and only put 47 miles on it in three eyars before selling it to me.

Over 40 years of scooterists all learned to ride for the first time on shiftys, most of which worked pretty much like the Stella does. And it's not like every motorcycle rider out there is a genius.

I have a lot of appreciation for both shifting and the benefits of the automatic scooters. For your first scooter, you will have fun with either. But if you want to shift, I recommend learning that first. And definitely take the MSF before buying anything.

I had a tiny bit of motorcycle experience decades before buying a scooter, but riding the Stella has actually helped my motorcycle riding! Shifting is no problem from one to the other.

I actually think the action of twist shifting on a scooter feels more natural and makes more sense than the foot shifter on a motorcycle. I have no idea why motorcycles never adopted this.

cookiesftw wrote:I have to learn well. Tourists on Cape Cod where I live define aggressive driving.

Learning well and experience are key!

A Stella is great but it's still based on a very old design. It doesn't handle the same as larger, taller-wheeled modern scooters or even scooters such as the Buddy. It certainly doesn't brake the same! Despite having a lot of riding experience by the time I got a Stella, I made a lot of rookie mistakes. There are scratches in the paint and a few dings to prove this.

Yeah I was discussing the vespa shifter on Reddit in r/motorcycles and everyone thought it was such a smart design, also they were wondering why nobody adapted it for riders missing a left leg.

I you've been driving quite a while but have concerns about learning a standard shift, you might want to consider an automatic (CVT) scoot.

Depending on your individual skills, etc, it may be easy or difficult to learn how to clutch & standard shift on 2 wheels as opposed to learning with a car.

Its a personal thing and difficult to give advice about.

Shifting is no biggie. Absolutely get the MSF course first.

With that said, I did not follow my own advice. I lurked around the scooter store for over a year before buying mine. Then walked in one day, put my money down on the table, signed all the paperwork, and said, “Ok, somebody has to teach me how to ride this.” Couple laps around a near by movie theater parking lot and I was good to go. The one and only time I have ever ridden two up with another dude.