Modern Buddy

Hey what is the farthest you would live from a Genuine Dealer before you would have to skip the buddy and choose another brand? I have a neighbor who has been saving for a buddy but we just found out are only Dealer is dropping Genuine for lack of sales.Were in loser city Ft.Wayne.I think it is well over 100 miles to the next nearest Dealer. I realize everyone will have different opinions but just curious is all.

Are you losing your only dealer of any kind? I bring my Buddy to a Vespa shop for service because they are so much closer and do a great job. They are conscientious enough to check specs on the Buddy and they respect that it's different than a Vespa and they treat it accordingly. If you could get that kind of a relationship going I wouldn't worry about losing a Genuine dealer except for the fact of warranty work.

jmazza wrote:Are you losing your only dealer of any kind? I bring my Buddy to a Vespa shop for service because they are so much closer and do a great job. They are conscientious enough to check specs on the Buddy and they respect that it's different than a Vespa and they treat it accordingly. If you could get that kind of a relationship going I wouldn't worry about losing a Genuine dealer except for the fact of warranty work.

No,we do have many other brand dealers like,Piaggio,Vespa,Yamaha,Honda, Harley,Suzuki etc. Oh ok,it comes down to weather or not another brand dealer is willing to work on the Buddy.Just one thing,if the other brand dealer needs parts from Genuine,is Genuine cool with that? Details,if you know please.Thanks.

I'm with jmazza on this one. Ask around at other scoot shops to see if they're willing to work on the buddy.

If you need parts deal with scooterloungeonline.com my nearest dealer is 50 miles away other shops in my area will do oil changes & tires and thats about it kinda on my own on the Maint

There are some places around here with dealers on every street corner – but I wouldn't let them work on my scooter.

kneil67@yahoo.com wrote:If you need parts deal with scooterloungeonline.com my nearest dealer is 50 miles away other shops in my area will do oil changes & tires and thats about it kinda on my own on the Maint

So they won't take your money should you ever need something done thats more extensive? Would that be more to do with not wanting to be responsible should something bad happen as a result of their work,you think?

italiaguy wrote:There are some places around here with dealers on every street corner – but I wouldn't let them work on my scooter.

Why? Are they inexperienced? Don't Care?

In my case, the Vespa dealer I go to is part of a network in the tri-county area and the other two dealers in that network do carry Genuines so they are sort of "part of the family." But I would imagine any dealer can get a part from Scooterworks just as you or I could. When I think it's about time for belt/rollers, I might just order them myself and bring them in to the shop so there is no confusion. With all the different options out there I'd probably do that anyway.

The service manager at this shop told me "We're not allowed to sell Buddys but I love 'em and that doesn't mean we can't work on them" and they were obviously happy to have my business so I felt good about it. They are so close to me it's ridiculous so it really made sense to start going there.

Also, while there are always little tricks and quirks to every bike, it's not like a Buddy is some crazy new technology. It's a 4 stroke mostly GY6 scooter. I have found that there is more info on ModBud than some mechs have even at authorized dealers. So, armed with the knowledge and tips you get here, I think you'd be fine (again with the exception of a warranty issue) with any shop mech you trust.

Good luck!

BuddyLicious wrote:

italiaguy wrote:There are some places around here with dealers on every street corner – but I wouldn't let them work on my scooter.

Why? Are they inexperienced? Don't Care?

Since I don't know about scoots (yet) I will have someone else do it. But when I had my 65 mustang...NO ONE could touch it. Guess it's like the old saying "you can't get good help these days....so I'll do it myself"

It was my bad attempt at humor (the "dealers" on every corner being a drug dealers). I actually go to a great shop nearby – POC (Pride of Cleveland) – wouldn't have it any other way.

italiaguy wrote:It was my bad attempt at humor (the "dealers" on every corner being a drug dealers). I actually go to a great shop nearby – POC (Pride of Cleveland) – wouldn't have it any other way.

I didn't catch it the first time

jmazza wrote:In my case, the Vespa dealer I go to is part of a network in the tri-county area and the other two dealers in that network do carry Genuines so they are sort of "part of the family."

I'm in a similar situation: the dealer where I bought my Buddy is in a city 40 miles away, but has a new location in town which isn't authorized to sell Genuines or do warranty work on them because of a conflicting franchise in town. But they can and will service the bike and of course they can get parts through the out-of-town location.

Genuine answered my question relating to this,their reply on top:

Hi Tim,
Our sister company Scooterworks Direct deals with the wholesale parts and accessories of the business for Shops who are not in our dealership network. They will be able to send parts to any non Genuine Shop.
I hope this info helps,
Dean

TIM HYDE wrote:
> Hi,
> Our only Genuine Dealer is parting with you guys due to lack of sales.(Ft.Wayne)My question is,if I buy a used buddy and in the future it would need work done,do you guys send parts to the dealers? I'm talking about dealers that sell other brand scooters and motorcycles.Thanks.
>

If I was to have someone else touch my bike, I'd only let my dealer or someone I know who is qualified and skilled in repairing bikes.

I wouldnt let anyone experienced or not that I dont know work on my bike, not those "work on all bikes" scooter shops.

I've read about enough accidents from know it all mechanics touching buddy's and then messing something up because they apply their knowledge and mess around to improper specs, then something goes wrong the way home.

In your email to Genuine you say that the Buddy will be used, so finding someone to do warranty work isn't an issue because the warranty on the Buddy doesn't transfer.

As for the dealer in Ft. Wayne dropping the Genuine line I'm sure they will still be able to do qualified work on the Buddy. Since they were once a dealer their mechanics will have experience on working on Genuine scooters.

I'm just trying to help my neighbor(JD) get all the right facts before buying. He isn't much into computers/internet where info can be found quickly.I owe him some back favors as he has helped me out working on my cage.Ok one last thing,there is an ad for a very low mileage 09 buddy 125.The poster says most of the 2 yr warranty is still intact and transferable.I contacted him about how I was pretty sure warranties are not transferable.He said the reason his is transferable is because he did not sign the warranty card. Is this TRUE? Can you leave the card un-signed and later transfer that card/warranty to a new owner? I can't wait to hear the answer on this.Why would anyone do this anyway? Thanks to all you fine people.

BuddyLicious wrote:.The poster says most of the 2 yr warranty is still intact and transferable.I contacted him about how I was pretty sure warranties are not transferable.He said the reason his is transferable is because he did not sign the warranty card. Is this TRUE? Can you leave the card un-signed and later transfer that card/warranty to a new owner? I can't wait to hear the answer on this.Why would anyone do this anyway? Thanks to all you fine people.

No, I really don't think that will fly. There was a pretty long argument/thread on this once here. The fact that the bike will be on record as sold to another will void the warranty. I don't know first hand of anyone who has tried this trick (leaving an unsigned card) so I can't say for sure but I'm am relatively sure the consensus is that no, that won't work!

Original owner signs warranty paper, warranty paper gets sent to genuine. Bike is sold, new owner finds issue, needs repair. New owner takes bike to dealer, dealer calls genuine for warranty information, genuine says warranty was signed for original owner, warranty claim denied.

I have a Genuine dealer near me, BUT I don't trust them to work on my scooter. They are a motorcycle shop that happens to sell a few scooters and it is clear which is more important.

I love my Buddy, but I do not recommend these scooters to folks because it is not just that a dealer exists, but are they a good dealer?

To get to a good dealer I have to drive about 3 hours, I have never scooted the distance, but it would be long.

I do have a local shop with a good mechanic, and I am going to use them for general stuff but anything complicated I am going to be hauling to Cleveland.

-v

The warranty goes into effect the second you take possession of the scooter, whether the card is signed or not. There's not really a loophole there.

As far as parts go, the benefit of a Genuine dealer is that they're more likely to stock some of them. Common parts, such as rollers, tires, belts and other things that frequently wear out, aren't interchangeable with other makes, so would have to be ordered. When it comes to ordering, any dealer can get parts from Scooterworks direct. They're happy to sell the parts, I'm sure.

If I was a first time scooter buyer with no mechanical experience, I'd probably want a dealer within 40 miles or so. Now that I'm a bit more confident… Ah, who can say? If I bought a new scooter with a warranty and roadside assistance, I'd want to be able to easily take advantage of it should the need arise. Otherwise, what's the point?

That said, I have many scooter (and dealer) options where I live. Others don't have that luxury.

BuddyLicious wrote:Hey what is the farthest you would live from a Genuine Dealer before you would have to skip the buddy and choose another brand? ... I think it is well over 100 miles to the next nearest Dealer.

If it's really "well" over 100 miles, I'd skip it. I did that routine with a dealer of a different brand of scooter and it was a pain. People above have mentioned Genuine's roadside assistance plan, but I don't think they would carry you well over a 100 miles. Even AAA will only carry you 100 miles before they start charging you by the mile.

I see that you mention a lot of other dealers in Ft. Wayne, but not Kymco. Do you have a local Kymco dealer? They have an interesting selection of scooters that are great machines. There are quite a few other Modern Buddy members who ride them, so it's not like you are going to be shunned for buying a Kymco. People make scooters cool, not the other way round.

P.S. On the 2006 Cannonball, two of us missed a sign in the fog and ended up being shunted out onto I-469. A couple of 18 wheelers overtook us side-by-side going 35-40 mph faster than we were and almost ran right over us. I totally don't recommend horsing around on 469 on a scooter.

I live in Naples, Fl and the closest Genuine dealer is in Cape Coral, from my house to the shop it is 50 miles. I did alot of research on the scooter I wanted, and the Rattler is the one that jumped out at me, so I purchased it from them. There is a couple other scooter/motorcycle dealers in Naples, but no genuine. The way I look at it is it's an excuse to go for a ride...

jrsjr wrote:

BuddyLicious wrote:Hey what is the farthest you would live from a Genuine Dealer before you would have to skip the buddy and choose another brand? ... I think it is well over 100 miles to the next nearest Dealer.

If it's really "well" over 100 miles, I'd skip it. I did that routine with a dealer of a different brand of scooter and it was a pain. People above have mentioned Genuine's roadside assistance plan, but I don't think they would carry you well over a 100 miles. Even AAA will only carry you 100 miles before they start charging you by the mile.

I see that you mention a lot of other dealers in Ft. Wayne, but not Kymco. Do you have a local Kymco dealer? They have an interesting selection of scooters that are great machines. There are quite a few other Modern Buddy members who ride them, so it's not like you are going to be shunned for buying a Kymco. People make scooters cool, not the other way round.

P.S. On the 2006 Cannonball, two of us missed a sign in the fog and ended up being shunted out onto I-469. A couple of 18 wheelers overtook us side-by-side going 35-40 mph faster than we were and almost ran right over us. I totally don't recommend horsing around on 469 on a scooter.

Thanks Jrsjr,

We have a Kymco dealer(Heeters) about 37 miles away.Yea I'm aware of Kymco and it's not out of the question.One last thing JD has to decide is, the X buddy dealer will still work on JD's buddy's should the need arise.Only thing is according to them they have only sold 2 buddy's since last Nov. So the question kinda pops in one's head,do they have enough experience? The kymco dealer has been around for ages so no problem there with servicing/repairs etc.JD did call kymco on a price for the Agility 125.Price OTD is 2240.00 Of course there's other Kymco scoots too.Well it'e out of my hands now as JD will have to make the decision. Thanks again to all.

I'm 400+ miles from the nearest Genuine dealer. I have access to Honda, Yamaha, and a Kymco ATV dealer who has no idea about scooters.

ERik3tb wrote:I'm 400+ miles from the nearest Genuine dealer. I have access to Honda, Yamaha, and a Kymco ATV dealer who has no idea about scooters.

Wow! You may very well live the farthest from a Genuine dealer of all Buddy owners.I take it you are more than handy with tools/mechanical ability.

nope, I work computers and have very little mechanical inclination.

I do, however, have a brother that built his own custom bike and build his a '67 Harley from parts he bought at auction.

I live 250 miles away from my closest Geuine Dealer. In two years I have never had a problem with my Buddy. I take it to my local Yamaha dealer for the inspection sticker; and the head mechanic has taken a good look at the Buddy because he was interested by it. He tells me that the same company that makes alot if not all of the Buddy parts also makes Yamaha parts so it is a good quality engine and if I ever had a problem with it to take it to him and he would source whatever parts for me and fix it.
In short I believe the Buddy to be a good buy and a reliable engine. Although some motorcycle dealers might discriminate against scooters or brands they do not sell, the Yamaha mechanic I talk to insists he can source parts through his Yamaha network. For all we know it could even be the same engine in the Zuma 125.

Tim,

We've had our Buddys for about a year. One bought used, the other at Speed City in Indy.

We have used Chris @ the former FW Yamaha / Genuine dealer for service. He's a good mechanic and they have been able to get parts from Scooterworks. I've also taken parts to him before they became a Genuine dealer.

- Don

We're 163 miles from our motorcycle dealer. No big deal.
Most people can change lubricants once they know where the drain plugs are.
And if not, any bike service mechanic could handle that for you.

You mostly need the dealer for a catastrophic failure. Right?

We bought a vette from a dealer 7 hours away. $5000 discount was a big incentive to take the ride.

Beamster wrote:You mostly need the dealer for a catastrophic failure. Right?

There are still a lot of parts which need replacing every 4K-6K that most owners would need a dealer for or which a non-Genuine dealer would have to order. Other scooter dealers may have some (oil filters) but not the proper rollers, belts, even tires. Motorcycle-only dealers will be somewhat clueless about many of these things. I sure as heck wouldn't trust a motorcycle shop to go near the CVT transmission on a modern scooter.