Modern Buddy

babblefish

The CB350 looks great, but a 350cc single isn't much to get excited about. If Honda brings it to the US, they will need to price it very aggressively to compete with the Himalayan and other lightweights. That's true. This new CB350 has a 348cc engine making a little less than 21 HP. The original CB...

babblefish

New Honda 2021 CB350. Looks great to me. I might want one of these if the price were right and available. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WTJWeZyoIzU" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; enc...

babblefish

You have to do something special when you turn 100,000! Any plans? I might try to get a video of it rolling over, plus lots of pictures. Then I might go for a ride. After that I have a lot of maintenance and repairs to do. The bad part is the owner's manual doesn't have the 100,000 service recommen...

babblefish

Stock rollers are 6 X 6 gram. I usually go with 6-4 gram Dr. Pulley Sliders. I swapped them with 6 - 4gram tech pulley sliders for my test. I have a set I'm installing in my Burgman next week when I replace the belt. As a heads up to others, I bought a set of the TechPulley rollers that were suppos...

babblefish

Out is richer, in is leaner. At least thatâ€™s what I carefully made a point of writing down in my notes when I last was fiddling with the carb. I guess the idle mixture screw for a 50cc engine is different from the 125/150cc engines. On my 150, the mixture screw adjusts air flow so turning it IN r...

babblefish

These are worth a look: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Tech-pulley-Flying-Slide-roller-16x13-6g-for-GY6-50cc-139QMB-Scooter/333671402876?hash=item4db05d8d7c:g:8VwAAOSw2jdfI~Lh I did a short test comparing stock rollers, Dr. Pulley Sliders and these new Tech Pulley. GPS varified. Stock-38mph, original Dr....

babblefish

You might have to put a little bit of rubber safe lubricant on the sealing lip before assembly. It'll help it make a good seal.

babblefish

babblefish

I'd upload pictures of the scooter but apparently I've permanently reached my upload limit. No more How-To's and other tech postings for me I guess. Have you looked into a photo hosting site like https://postimages.org That's how I post pictures to this site. They seem to do a decent job, though th...

babblefish

A recent addition to the San Francisco scooter scene is the appearance of a new electric scooter rental company. Placed all over the city, these Revel electric scooters are available to rent via an APP through your smart phone. The scooters themselves look really nice and well made. I'm tempted to r...

babblefish

$4100 plus tax, title, plate and whatever fees your local Honda dealer piles on. At my local dealer, I'd expect to pay $5500-$6000 out the door. Nice bike? Sure. $5500 worth of nice? Not for this fellow! Yikes! Yeah, no thanks. I'll go on Craigslist and find a nice used Trail 110 instead. Plenty of...

babblefish

I love it! It would be a great utility bike for getting around town and shopping. I'd buy one if the price were right.

babblefish

How about putting a rubber washer under the nut then tightening just snug enough to squish the washer but not crush the snot out of it?

Another idea is to wrap the threads of the mirror with thread tape, also known as plumbers tape.

babblefish

Excellent info. Thanks for posting.

babblefish

That tube usually falls off a short time after birth. Surprised your scoot still has it.

babblefish

babblefish

This is going to be high on my wish list! I'll have to pop on over to my closest Honda dealer. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3O_5VW-ebxQ" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; pic...

babblefish

Since you can't secure the scooter to anything, may as well save some money and just get a good front brake disk lock. If someone really wanted your scooter they're just going to pick it up and load it onto a truck anyway.

babblefish

Starting the engine would normally charge the battery, if you ride it long enough. The problem is though, lithium batteries don't like to be totally discharged. There's a high chance that your battery won't charge again, even with an approved lithium charger. Doesn't hurt to try though.

babblefish

Did you charge your new battery? Not all batteries come pre-charged from new. It can take quite a while to fully charge a battery with just a battery tender. They're mainly used to keep an already charged battery topped off. If that's all you've got then you'll have to keep it on the battery for a l...

babblefish

I've been able to bring a battery back by leaving it on a trickle charger for several days. No guarantee, but it couldn't hurt to try.

babblefish

If I'm not mistaken, the idle mixture screw should be turned 1-1/2 turns out from fully closed as a starting point. The final adjustment is pretty close to that.

babblefish

Wheee! Your Buddy is having one heck of an adventure. Great pictures.

babblefish

tenders wrote:So...don't buy them there. NCY pads, $25 via Amazon. I saw another manufacturer's set for $20.

https://www.amazon.com/NCY-1000-1314-Pe ... 00GBJZ2WK/

eggsalad was talking about a caliper. You're talking about brake pads.

babblefish

Did you try adjusting the idle speed screw?

babblefish

Welcome to the fold and congrats on an awesome purchase. I think you'll find that the Buddy is superior to the Met in almost every way. Not sure when Genuine starting installing Nautilus horns in Buddy's but are you sure your Buddy doesn't already have one? My 2008 has one.

babblefish

What are your plans for it? Restoration or leave it as is? It would look great restored and sitting in the living room. With plants all around it.

babblefish

Dooglas wrote:Riding a Buddy at 60 mph is enough to cause the rider to give some thought to the stability of 10" wheels. Riding a Metropolitan at 60 mph should be enough to induce stark terror.

That's for sure. The suspension on a Met is...interesting...
And as for the brakes....
YMMV.

babblefish

Michelin S1 tires are OK, but they are only rated for 60 mph and their tread area is very soft and thin. My last rear tire was an S1 which got punctured by a screw when it had about 600-800 miles on it. I tried using a plug to repair it but the tread was too thin to support the plug correctly so it ...

babblefish

Just check for any visible cracks and splits in the rubber. If there are none then wipe them down with some rubber treatment and then do as scootERIK said. I've never had any problem doing that. And if you're a conservative rider then more the better (for the tires). I'm not a conservative rider...

babblefish

Here's a bargain for anyone living in the Bay Area who wants a Yamaha C3: https://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/mcy/d/menlo-park-yamaha-c3-2007/7159432805.html "I bought this in 2009 but only drove it a few times. It's been sitting in my garage for 10 years. I did not have time to clean up the garag...

babblefish

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2007-Genuine-B ... SwdxFcPmc8

babblefish

To get more speed you'll need to either increase the engine's RPM capability or change the gear ratio in the transmission. Mechanical physics don't lie. Lol.

babblefish

That sure looks like an NCY front fork on that thing...

babblefish

Yeah, no clip on the stock needle. I adjust mine by using thin flat washers on the needle as shims. Most of your standard metric flat washers are around 0.5mm thick.

babblefish

My 2008 Buddy 150 was $450.

babblefish

Just for comparison:

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/mcd/d/ ... 67583.html

It's a 2017 Buddy 170i for $1699.

babblefish

You should put some lubricant on the sealing lip of the diaphragm before assembly. When dry, even if it looks like it's seated correctly, there can be a vacuum leak. All it takes is a tiny, tiny leak and the slide won't work correctly. I went through this a couple of years ago and it drove me crazy ...

babblefish

1 liter is more than enough. And you don't have to use motorcycle specific oil because the GY6 type engines don't have a wet clutch.

Sounds like you don't have an owners manual:

http://www.modernbuddy.com/pdf/G-MAX_OWNER.pdf

babblefish

Wow! The Ace 400 looks amazing. Looks just like a Triumph Truxton. I'd like some of that!

babblefish

I assume you've set the float level correctly? If so, then I'd say you may not have cleaned the carb well enough and there's a passage that feeds the float bowl gummed up. I would also make sure that the rubber diaphragm for the slide is sealed well when the black plastic cover is screwed down. It h...

babblefish

I don't have a 50 but the pictures I've seen show at least two different muffler shields and neither one looks like there's anything behind it. If it makes you feel any better, the plastic shields on both my Buddy and Blur have not had any melting issues.

babblefish

I have no answer for you but I'm not sure I'd want something acting like a big sail on something as light as a Buddy doing 60 mph. Even without the sail the stability of a Buddy is pretty iffy at 60 mph.

babblefish

Actually, for all we know that could be a rendering and not an physical object. Either way, I kinda like it. But wheres the rear rack? I like my scooters to be useful.

babblefish

I have a Givi topcase for my Buddy. It's kinda big (not sure of the size) but it sure holds a lot and I can put my medium size modular helmet inside with ease. Same helmet won't fit under the seat. Looks a little ridiculous in my eyes. I've routinely carried 20-25 lbs of stuff in it without issue. W...

babblefish

I've never worked on a Stella engine, but if the starter motor has a centrifugal clutch to engage the starter motor pinion to the engine during startup, the clutch may not be functioning correctly.

Maybe the service manual will be helpful:

http://www.modernbuddy.com/pdf/Stella_4 ... manual.pdf

babblefish

For $100 I'd convert my Buddy's charging system to an 11-pole alternator and HID lighting. HID bulbs have a very similar light pattern as an incandescent but produce more lumen using significantly less power. I'd then have a really bright headlight and extra power for any accessories I care to plug ...

babblefish

Mine has been fine. Beam pattern isn't too bad. I've had other conversions that were not as good though. The best was an HID conversion but the Buddy charging system can't support the power drain so the battery eventually dies.
Works well in my Blur though.

babblefish

i wish they made a larger/better rear rack that could support more weight...even if it had to tie into the rear crash bars...i realize that it throws off the balance but i'd like to put stuff back there without worrying about cracking the frame...the 11lb capacity of the prima rack is weaksauce htt...

babblefish

wheelbender6 wrote:Looks nice but I would prefer a larger storage area below the seat.
- Very appealing, but the covid oil price crash will prevent this one from being offered very soon.

Oil price crash? Why are we still paying $3.50 and up per gallon then?

Modern Buddy

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So will we see this new Honda in the US?

Looks like the US will be getting something fun from Honda!

Yamaha C3 - $500!!!