Modern Buddy

I've got a Genuine Buddy 125 that has started having some intermittent issues starting. I bought it new and have had it about 1.5 years. I ride about 4-5 days a week, usually about 20 minutes each way.

The issue started when it got a bit cold recently by California standards (low 30s) and I keep it in a garage over night, but I didn't have trouble in Georgia when it'd been as cold or colder and it was left outside. The past few times I've tried to start it first thing in the morning, it won't start with the electric starter. I've just kick started it and headed off and when that's happened, it's started ok at the end of the day after 7-8 hours of sitting. Leaving it on a trickle charger overnight seems to address it, but I'd rather not have to do that daily. Any chance it could be the cold? Maybe a bad battery? Something else I should check with those symptoms?

The scooter seems pretty new to have battery issues, but you never know. I would remove the neg. and pos.. leads to the battery and shine up the battery posts and the lead endings with a piece of sandpaper. This is simple and is a first step. Those areas seem to "oxidize" (not sure if that is the word) and can really make a difference in getting good electrical connection. I would think the battery should be under warranty. You can have a load test done on it at a battery store. Should not have to kick start a 1 1/2 yr. old scooter.

As far as I know, the batteries on the Genuine scooters are not covered under the warranty. We have seen them go bad after just one year of use - and some like my Buddy 125 have been just fine for 5+ years. I notice that the Yuasa 7A batteries with purple/pink lettering seemed to go bad quicker than others. I put a 9amp in my Hooligan as it has more compression than the Buddy...