Stella questions

[JLB]

Greetings from Florida.

I'm an avid scooter rider, and have been one since riding a brand new '81 Honda Passport in college. I've stuck mainly to Hondas, so am very familiar with all of their offerings, and currently have 4 in my garage, including a 1984 Aero 125, and three Elite 80cc of various years.




About 4 months ago, I bought myself a 2007 Vespa 250gts, and after always wondering what the hype was about, I can now plainly see the quality and smooth ride is definitely equal to the hype, but maybe not the retail price. I got a great deal on mine, in the mid $4k range with 200 miles on it, so I did not pay retail.



With the cruising capabilties of the Vespa GTS out-classing the smaller 80c bikes I have, and with the 125 two-stroke Aero being more of a fun bike, I've been casting my eye around for a suitable scooter for my wife to be able to keep up. I'm looking for quality and dealer support first, performance second, and value last. I am not a "Vespa snob" who turns up his nose at anything that isn't Italian, and I realize that Honda has a huge hole in their lineup now that the Reflex is gone. I will not buy a Chinese scooter because of the weak dealer support, but know that there are good bikes coming out of Taiwan and Korea with better dealers backing them up.

After checking around, the name "Genuine" kept popping up, and I can see the lineup is a combination of new retro-designs, and the the Stella bike, which looks like a classic Vespa.

What I want to know is where the Stella has diverged from the Vespa design. I can see it has front disk brakes, so that's great. Does it have a footbrake, or left handbrake?

They describe the tranny as a "4-speed manual with "twist grip" shifting". Tell me how the 4-speed gearbox works, in particular. Is it a left grip clutch with foot shifter, or is it like the old Honda Passport/Cub, where you simply lift off the grip-twist, and pop it into the next gear with your foot?

[fiver1971]

I don't own a Stella, but seriously considered buying one of them. I decided on the Buddy instead due to ease of riding as it's an automatic transmition. However, from what I remember, you clutch with the left hand while turning the left grip away from you through the different gears and then back towards you to downshift. It seemed not too difficult a concept, but I didn't try to test drive one either.

[fiver1971]

I don't own a Stella, but seriously considered buying one of them. I decided on the Buddy instead due to ease of riding as it's an automatic transmition. However, from what I remember, you clutch with the left hand while turning the left grip away from you through the different gears and then back towards you to downshift. It seemed not too difficult a concept, but I didn't try to test drive one either.

[irishtim]

I got a great deal on mine, in the mid $4k range with 200 miles on it, so I did not pay retail.

[


After checking around, the name "Genuine" kept popping up, and I can see the lineup is a combination of new retro-designs, and the the Stella bike, which looks like a classic Vespa.

What I want to know is where the Stella has diverged from the Vespa design. I can see it has front disk brakes, so that's great. Does it have a footbrake, or left handbrake?

They describe the tranny as a "4-speed manual with "twist grip" shifting". Tell me how the 4-speed gearbox works, in particular. Is it a left grip clutch with foot shifter, or is it like the old Honda Passport/Cub, where you simply lift off the grip-twist, and pop it into the next gear with your foot?

Great buy on the GTS!

The Stella is essentially an Indian-made (Lohia Motors Ltd aka LML) late 70's PX150 with some improvements: front disk, reed valve, elec start on all and separate oil res. on all, etc.

It's a left hand clutch/twist shift gear selector(one forward and three back) & is a fully manual transmission -unlike the Cub., right hand is frt brake, right foot is rear brake.

[jfrost2]

You shift like a bicycle on the stella, the entire handle bar itself on the left moves down.

Heres a great video on how you shift gears on a p150, but works 100% same on the stella since they are both the same bike.

http://scootinoldskool.wordpress.com/20 ... and-asked/

Thanks to illnoise for finding it.

All you do is let off the throttle, pull the clutch in and shift the gear, get some throttle back on, and let go of the clutch and continue to speed up/ride.

[JLB]

You shift like a bicycle on the stella, the entire handle bar itself on the left moves down.

Heres a great video on how you shift gears on a p150, but works 100% same on the stella since they are both the same bike.

http://scootinoldskool.wordpress.com/20 ... and-asked/

Thanks to illnoise for finding it.

All you do is let off the throttle, pull the clutch in and shift the gear, get some throttle back on, and let go of the clutch and continue to speed up/ride.

That is fantastic. I would have never imagined it working like that, even with the descriptions.

Is it possible to pop the clutch and get a slight wheelie on one of these? I would think the two-stroke torque and rear weight biased engine would make that a breeze.

[jfrost2]

If you get the rpm's right, you can pop a wheelie, but it being "vintage" styled, I wouldnt do it unless you're some stunt junkie. I've seen videos and pictures where people get too much power and let go of the clutch, and they fall back, or during the wheelie, they grind the back fender and wrench the bike in a crash.

[DennisD]

If you get the rpm's right, you can pop a wheelie, but it being "vintage" styled, I wouldnt do it unless you're some stunt junkie. I've seen videos and pictures where people get too much power and let go of the clutch, and they fall back, or during the wheelie, they grind the back fender and wrench the bike in a crash.

Oh wow, that is soooo cooooool!

[AxeYrCat]

I have a [recently-acquired] Stella, and it's a lot of fun, but it's very different from a modern scooter.

Keep in mind that the technology on them is old school, and they're pretty much a vintage scooter as far as most things are concerned...



I like it a lot, though, and it'll keep up so long as you're not planning on going up any hills at 50 mph.

Stock, anyway.

[NathanielSalzman]

I had a 1979 Vespa P200 before getting my Blur and rode a Stella for the first time this weekend. To broadly answer your question, the Stella is essentially a Vespa PX-150, built by LML in india with an updated 5-port 150cc 2T engine, a catalytic converter, a beefy front disk brake, and an upgraded suspension. It's been re-badged and painted in its ice cream color palette just for Genuine. The Stella frame is stamped out of a slightly thicker gauge steel than it's Italian brethren., which makes it a tad stiffer, but that's a good thing. Apart from the engine and the speedometer, the Stella is about 90% off-the-shelf Vespa parts in terms of interchangeability. This is really advantageous in that you get all the character and fun on a classic shifter Vespa, but the parts availability is as good as any other scooter out there and you're able to have the bike new. You could bolt on essentially any accessory, any windshield, any cargo rack, any cowl guard from a vintage P-series Vespa and vice versa. Scooterworks in Chicago (the stand-out vintage Vespa parts supplier in N. America and Genuine's parent company) even drops the LML motor directly into old '60s Vespa VBAs, VBBs, and VBCs they sell in their shop.

As for the ride, it handles...well, like a brand new old shifter Vespa ought to. You're still dealing with 30 year old technology, even if the parts are brand new. It's a little bit butt-heavy, which on its 10" wheels can make it feel a little twitchy compared to a more modern twist-and-go scooter. The brakes are much better than the old Vespa I had, as is the suspension. So it will actually corner and will actually stop. The biggest thing, if you're not used to riding a shifter bike, is simply the extra level of attention you have to pay to what gear you're in, to clutching smoothly, and to being intentional about balancing your front and rear brakes. It's a lot of fun and the wife and I are considering adding an orange one to the fleet!