New, anxious, and an old noob :)

[hyperfae]

Hi, another noob here! Sadly I'm not a younger person on a first adventure...I'm pushing 40. Haven't ridden a scooter since my '87 Elite. Haven't driven a car since I was about 17. I was starting to think I was too old to get out there and enjoy not waiting in the -2* temps for a public bus, and then I found forums like this...and out of them all, you guys seem to be the most down to earth, & easy- going so I joined up. I'm nervous, but I'm getting a scooter in about 3 weeks when tax returns come back. 

I fell walking home from a 13hr shift at the hospital. I'd have been safer riding instead.It's a 5 minute ride by scoot, and I know a back way that's less congested, but this is new territory to me. Hopefully I'll learn enough to relax and enjoy being free and in control rather than uptight and frozen at a bus stop....maybe? Lol.

Nice to meet you guys,
Lilli

[Rebel]

Welcome to the forum. You will have to stop thinking of yourself as old, a lot of us are old enough to be a parent to you.

What scooter are you looking at to spend the refund money on.

[hyperfae]

Oh, man...great question, and why I took to online hunting! So at the mall they now have a persian guy with a scooter store. My husband gets excited, takes me there, and the guy knows *nothing*. Not who makes them, where to get parts, nothing. I sat on a few, fell for a Stella knockoff. Can't call it a proper name, it didn't have one..not anywhere. Just numbers and chinese stickers, but nothing in the way of english words - so Le Knockoff it is

I found another guy near me, he says he has new Bashans for 849.00. I went today and looked, but what he has isn't what I saw on the website (body styles had changed since the site was made). There's two I love. What they're called? apparently the names are different for each site you go to. One has been dubbed the : italian, classic, euro, retro and the cruiser. Looks like a small Stella.

The other has been called the classic (big surprise, euro as well), smooth, venita, and citi. Looks like a small would be vespa. Either way, 50cc and retro is me Well, if I can find one!

[hyperfae]

Side note - the ones he has aren't on the Bashan website, yet the motor parts and sticker placement is right. Do they make others that get vended under other distributors/names?

[Rebel]

Yeah, there are dozens of labels put on very similar scooters. They get built in a few factories to individual importer specs and parts are very interchagable.

[hyperfae]

Which is better - buy online or local? Online has more options, cheaper sometimes, and usually more variety of body styles. Locally you can see it, less options, higher markup - and likely will have to wait whil it's bought online by the dealer anyway..cause I live in NW Arkansas, and scooter shops aren't big on stocking 'on hand' around here. Unless, of course, you can afford better than I can - then there's options galore

[Rebel]

Sure, you can save money buying online. If you can not work on it I would strongly suggest buying from a local dealer. Buying it from the local guy will assure you that you have a shop to go to for any needs. Chinese scooters have a lot of shortcommngs, they need a good dealer prep, sometimes hoses really are no good and need replacing, the oil that comes with them is shipping oil never intended for running the scooter on so it needs changing, some come with poor quality spark plugs and need changing the list goes on so having a local mechanic that actually knows them is best.

[arcanum70]

Let me welcome you to the forum. Rebel is right, buying from a local dealer is the way to go. Oh, and don't think of yourself as old. I purchased my first scooter at 42.

If I may make a suggestion. Even if you are only getting a 50cc, take the MSF course. There are things that you will learn there that help regardless of bike size and speed.

Safe scootering, and please post pics of what you get when you get it. We are a great community here that loves to help each other out...so welcome again.

[bagga]

i would spend more money and get a honda or a yamaha. parts are a lot easier to get and if you can't fix whatever is broke the dealer can fix it for you.

[Rebel]

Bagga is offering good advise, the higher quality scooters will have netter support, everything has a price tag and where you spend on quality you save in repairs.