OK… I may have a scooter site, but obviously I am not an authority on everything scooters. When I bought my Genuine Buddy a year and a half ago, I really thought I would ride it year round. After all, I live in Boise, Idaho, where snow is supposedly not a problem in the city, and where temperatures are fairly temperate a good 9 months out of the year.

However, as I said in my previous post, for the past 2 winters, we’ve actually had a fair amount of snowy, icy roads. And that’s a not a good combination for a casual scooter. Now, if I were using my scooter to commute to work, perhaps I’d push through the crappy weather and ride anyway. But I work at home and usually run errands at night with my significant other in the truck we own.

So, my scooter rides are mostly for fun, and somehow it doesn’t seem fun to go out and risk sliding around on slushy roads or freeze my tushie off in the cold wind. OK, maybe I’m just a wimp. But anyway… my scooter’s been on mothballs since late October/early November. Last year, it sat for a few months, but still started up just fine come spring.

But, a couple of days ago, we had a beautiful, sunny, spring-like day that seemed perfect for a little scooter ride. But, alas, it was not meant to be… my scooter would not turn over. I really did not know might be the problem… battery? starter?

The Buddy handbook is useless, no troubleshooting guide, nothing. Ditto for the Genuine Scooter Company website. So, I Googled some terms and eventually found info on the Modern Buddy discussion board that talked about “gunky” gasoline and also battery draining during long periods of inactivity for a scooter.

Apparently, you’re supposed to put Stabil (gasoline stabilizer) in the tank whenever you think you won’t ride for a while. Also, you should hook your battery up to a tender (trickle charger) for the same reason. Who knew?

I didn’t anyway. No one ever told me this was standard maintenance procedure for a motor scooter. I know now, though. I went out and bought Stabil and luckily my partner (who drives a motorcycle) had a trickle charger. So, we put these things to work, and the next day, my scoot started just fine.

So, let that be a lesson to you, scooter maintenance is important!