Not being able to set off the road sensor that tells the intersection lights that you are there? I will sit at a left turn red light for a long time before someone in a "real" vehicle pulls up behind me and sets it off. It is kind of a bummer, looks like I"m going to have to up my meals and calorie intake
Also, that switch above the horn on the buddy. It has a light bulb. What the hell is that? I have sat there with the engine running, flipping it on and off and nothing I can see changes. The owner manual says something about the headlight/tailights, but those stay on all the time... I am confused.
By the way, I'm brand new here. I just bought a Black Buddy 125 on Tuesday and have fallen in love with it. I look forward to my commute every day now. I actually bought a Vino 50 only about a month ago. I drove it for about 2 days before deciding to sell it. (it just was not fast enough for the roads out here) Anyway, I ended up losing about 300 dollars on the whole deal. But it was for the best because I ended up doing a TON of research in fear of buying the wrong scoot again. After hours of deliberation and reading various reviews I had narrowed it down to the Buddy125 and the Kymco Agility 125. The day before I was about to give in to the Agility because of it's six hundred dollar less price tag, someone listed my new buddy in the local online classifieds, with 25 miles on it, for much less than a new Agility. I had purchased it within a matter of hours.
Anyway, there is my intro. I'm glad to be here. Buddy rules!
you can buy a couple of different devices to trigger the sensors at those neverending red lights... im sure someone will chime in with a link...
and the switch is to turn off the headlight, and is disabled on the u.s. model...
enjoy, and ride safe...
Congrats on the new Buddy and welcome to the boards! Getting a Buddy was definitely the right move. Oh and the switch is for High Beams and Low Beams. During the day ride with your highs on. At night, if you're riding behind someone, switch to your lows. After you past them you can switch back to your highs to see farther ahead.
If you haven't seen it already here's a collection of some really good topics and resources to help get you started: topic1354.html
the light sensors that look like metel bars buried flush with the pavement in big square with extra crosses at the corners are triggered by metal. i sit the bubby battery right on top of them. It works for all the lights except 1 persnickity place. some people buy magnets made to trigger those. i don't know of any that are triggered by weight in my area.
Hmmm...question about that switch since here in the states it's disabled.
Could you modify the bike with running lights and use that switch to turn them on at night and off during the day...if so I think I know another mod I'll do!!!
Oh, welcome. Wow apprently last week was the week to buy a Buddy!!! Please post photo's and tell us any modifications you've done or plan on doing with the bike.
There have been many mixed reviews about the various signal triggers, magnets and other devices which supposedly set off lights. I have no first hand experience with these, but do have a method which works well for me:
Just stop over the circular cutout in the street and tap your metal center stand on the pavement.
I'd advise giving it a try before going out and buying some gadget.
Eric // LA Scooter Meetup Group // Stella 4T // Vespa LX // Vespa LXS // Honda Helix // some, uh, projects…
ericalm wrote:Just stop over the circular cutout in the street and tap your metal center stand on the pavement.
i don't remember circular cutouts in LA (lived there 9 years, 10 years ago. btw i want to ride over mulholland on my buddy. i used to drive it everyday for 2 or 3 years between hollywood and encino)...but
...snap, that kick stand thing is a great idea. that's probly what's been working for me, not my battery. in alabama we have metal bars that trigger the lights.
Tbone wrote:Hmmm...question about that switch since here in the states it's disabled.
Could you modify the bike with running lights and use that switch to turn them on at night and off during the day...if so I think I know another mod I'll do!!!
.
it's a dot thing. law says you have to ride all the time with lights. anyway you want to be as noticealbe as possible...right.
louie wrote:it's a dot thing. law says you have to ride all the time with lights. anyway you want to be as noticealbe as possible...right.
What I meant more would be to use that electrical system that is set up(or is it on US bikes?) and the switch to turn off/on lights on the side cowl of the buddy.
I would be commuting most of the time in low light hours so I WOULD want them on 90% of the time-if the electrical system is in place and I wouldn't have to mess with it much. Me and electronics don't mix well!
Sorry my wife worked on the legislation that banned those in CA (Except the approved emergency vehicles) or for being shipped into the state.
Great product but can't have it here.
Nope, they aren't banned in CA. What is banned is the infrared device (MIRT) on emergency vehicles that controls lights, not the under carriage magnetic devices that trigger vehicle sensors. FAQ
Q: Does the Trigger make the light change to green like the gadget on emergency vehicles?
A: No, it just lets the sensors know you're there so you get your fair turn.
Q: Is this one of those MIRT light changers I've heard about?
A: No, it's not. The Green Light Trigger isn't the MIRT device that forces the light to change. It just lets the controller know you're there so you get a green when it's your turn.
It is legal in all 50 states, and it was actually specifically exempted from the terms of a law recently passed in Illinois meant to forbid the use of MIRT's. The Trigger is a passive device, that only announces your presence to the detector. It has been used by over 40,000 people so far, including many police motorcycle officers.
Tbone wrote:Hmmm...question about that switch since here in the states it's disabled.
Could you modify the bike with running lights and use that switch to turn them on at night and off during the day...if so I think I know another mod I'll do!!!
You theoretically could wire the dead running lights on the Buddy and connect them to this switch (or another switch situated here), but no point in turning them off during the day, really...
Eric // LA Scooter Meetup Group // Stella 4T // Vespa LX // Vespa LXS // Honda Helix // some, uh, projects…
"All these things - like telly witch-doctors, and advertising pimps, and show business pop song pirates - they despise us - dig? - they sell us cut-price sequins when we think we're getting diamonds."
Tbone wrote:Hmmm...question about that switch since here in the states it's disabled.
Could you modify the bike with running lights and use that switch to turn them on at night and off during the day...if so I think I know another mod I'll do!!!
You theoretically could wire the dead running lights on the Buddy and connect them to this switch (or another switch situated here), but no point in turning them off during the day, really...
Point taken. But if it's a "switch" I like having the options.
If one were inclined to wire up the running lights to the dead switch, would one need a bigger battery or DEFINTILY have the tender?
Man I don't even know if I'm getting a buddy yet and can think of 3 or 4 mods right off the bat!
Tbone wrote:If one were inclined to wire up the running lights to the dead switch, would one need a bigger battery or DEFINTILY have the tender?
Nope, not at all. These lights actually work in the Euro/Asian versions of the Buddy running the same battery. A tender is always good to have, though.
The comparable LX150 mod is to turn the working running lights into turn signals and lose the DOT-required bubbles. Motorsport sells a kit for this (around $50).
Eric // LA Scooter Meetup Group // Stella 4T // Vespa LX // Vespa LXS // Honda Helix // some, uh, projects…
One trick I've found to work with some reliability is touching your center or side stand to the pavement. There is a trick to placing the bike so you can get close to the wires, but it works most of the time for me.
I don't know what this light's deal is, but the stand touching didn't work. I usually hit this specific light pretty late at night so I was able to move my scoot all over the square and hit every foot or so with the stand. I don't mind just waiting for traffic (usually there is almost none anyway) and going when it's clear. Just kind of frustrating that it doesn't work properly.
I'm not sure it's any more effective than duct-taping a big chunk of metal to the bottom of your scoot. Which might work, actually.
There already IS a big hunk of metal on the bottom of your scoot - the engine and CVT. It just isn't big enough to trigger the vehicle sensor. The "Green Light Trigger" and its imitations use rare earth magnets to make your scoot look like a much larger hunk of metal than you would be able to ride.
Since the 'trigger' is made from rare earth permanent magnets it is fairly light and requires no power. But I'm sure an engineer could come up with a lightweight electromagnet that would make your scoot look like a Bradley, and would only need to be energized when at the problem intersections.
