Modern Buddy

I was thinking about getting my fiancé a scooter so we can ride together. I've got a de-restricted Buddy 50 and there's a used 2014 Zuma 50 in my area on Craigslist. It's also de-restricted. My question, to those of you who may have some experience with them, will she be able to keep up? lol. I've never ridden a Zuma but I've read a lot about how they're not too peppy. I really don't want to have to ride around, doing 38mph and holding traffic up if I don't have to and that's what I've heard they top out at.

If you tune the 2014 Zuma correctly, The Buddy will have a hard time keeping up with it. 3 valve, fuel injected and water cooled. Same engine that was in the Yamaha C3. How many miles does it have? Is it the Yellow one w/ single headlight?

DeeDee wrote:If you tune the 2014 Zuma correctly, The Buddy will have a hard time keeping up with it. 3 valve, fuel injected and water cooled. Same engine that was in the Yamaha C3. How many miles does it have? Is it the Yellow one w/ single headlight?

I find them to be adequate and thats about it. Idk how you intend to "tune" it. I've worked on a fair few 4 stroke 50's including yamaha, vespa, and chinese and any gains when tuning the transmission is minimal. When I worked on them I use a measured distance and make before and after runs. I would recommend a test ride to see if it would work out.

I've been working on these engines for the last 7 years. 4 years ago it was all C3s, now for every C3 I work on, I do 3 Zumas. My C3 just hit 22,000 miles. It's the second one I've owned. I traded my first one when it hit 20,000. I can get an honest 45 on a long straight away, and hills I would struggle at 18mph on the stock bike, I now pull at 35. All I have done is tune the intake and the CVT. No big piston, no expensive black box ecu, nothing but allowing the bike to transfer the most power possible from the stock engine to the back wheel. Outside of ordinary maintenance, in 22k miles, I have only had to replace the cooling system temperature sensor. All of this while getting 115mpg. Yamaha did a great thing when they kept this drivetrain for the new Zuma.

While I prefer the 2 stroke Zuma's (currently have 2) I respect the 4 stroke Zuma's. Reliable, quiet, economical and supported. If the price is right, go for it. If you were closer I have a 03 with a 09 motor. Leo Vince ZX exhaust. MultiVar variator, hits a solid 47mph and only $400. Clean and mint!

DeeDee wrote:If you tune the 2014 Zuma correctly, The Buddy will have a hard time keeping up with it. 3 valve, fuel injected and water cooled. Same engine that was in the Yamaha C3. How many miles does it have? Is it the Yellow one w/ single headlight?

Yeah, it's the Yellow one with a single headlight but it's stock, sans restriction. I know it's de-restriced because I asked the owner what he/she got on flat ground and they said anywhere from 35-40 based on the rider.

As far as tuning it, I don't know a scooter engine from a toothbrush (though, I am going to learn) and don't have the money right now to have things done in a shop so, this would all just be a stock, de-restriced Zuma 50.

I really just wanted to know if it could keep up with my de-restricted Buddy 50 because I can get 47 on flat ground and 55 going down massive hills (not GPS so probably more like 42-51). I really don't like the idea of having to putt my way around town just so she can keep up with me.

sc00ter wrote:While I prefer the 2 stroke Zuma's (currently have 2) I respect the 4 stroke Zuma's. Reliable, quiet, economical and supported. If the price is right, go for it. If you were closer I have a 03 with a 09 motor. Leo Vince ZX exhaust. MultiVar variator, hits a solid 47mph and only $400. Clean and mint!

Man... if only lol. Seems like every decent scooter I see is hundreds of miles away from where I live. Sometimes, I'll just hit craigslist and search every major city, knowing I shouldn't because every time I do, there is always one or two cherries on the other side of the country just laughing in my face lol.

That 2014 stock should hit 38 on the Speedo dead stock with a 200 lb rider. If you remove the Variator washer (derestrict it) you can hit 43 downhill, but it kills your take-off and mid range. You basically trade your 1st gear for a 5th gear by removing the washer and doing nothing else. For about $50 in parts and an afternoon worth of work you can increase your top speed by over 10%, have great off the line take off, and greatly increase your mid-range. The Zuma is heavily restricted to keep it under 40 for US low powered scooter laws. I like the single headlight. CL post doesn't state the miles. Looks like a good buy for what he's asking.

Just track down another Buddy 50 Nintari! Keep it simple by having the same brands. Again, if you were closer.... My friends wife is selling a pink Buddy 50 for $450 (bottom line price). It is really mint on top of it. Bone stock and, as crazy as it sounds, its STILL restricted! I've offered to de-restrict it but her husband does not want to ride it over to my house. To manly to make the scooter safer for his wife I guess.

Had a 50cc Zuma 2T as my first. Great machine, but needed more oomph.

The 4T ones are dogs stock, but follow DeeDee's direction and you'll have a very dependable form of transport.

It might be a good thing to putt around for while , and let her get used to it. Than de restrict.

chuckklr98 wrote:It might be a good thing to putt around for while , and let her get used to it. Than de restrict.

^^^this...like buying a 250cc or 500cc motorcycle before buying a big motorcycle

chuckklr98 wrote:It might be a good thing to putt around for while , and let her get used to it. Than de restrict.

That is true and I've thought about that a lot. There was old 90's Razz for sale that sold before I could have a look at it which would have been good for her to learn on since those things top out at like 27 mph lol.

I think I may just end up buying another Buddy, probably a 170 for myself and let her use my 50. It's fast but, I think I may just take her to a big empty parking lot and let her practice for awhile that way before hitting the roads. She's really scared which, as we all know, is just asking for trouble. I sat her on my 50 the other day and told her to barely give it throttle, go about 100 feet and then turn around. You should have seen the fork wobble... I was like, ok... this is going to take some time lol.

sc00ter wrote:Just track down another Buddy 50 Nintari! Keep it simple by having the same brands. Again, if you were closer.... My friends wife is selling a pink Buddy 50 for $450 (bottom line price). It is really mint on top of it. Bone stock and, as crazy as it sounds, its STILL restricted! I've offered to de-restrict it but her husband does not want to ride it over to my house. To manly to make the scooter safer for his wife I guess.

I'm going to get a 170 for myself and let her ride my 50. I have ridden a 49cc scooter my whole life but lately, I've had a few times where I wanted to go on some backroads and do some long cruising where the speed limit is 40mph, which SHOULDN'T be a problem considering how fast my Buddy goes but people think 40mph means 60mph apparently. I think a 170 would eliminate that problem for me and allow me to pretty much do everything I want.

As for the guy not wanting to ride a pink scooter, I don't blame him on that, though it seems a bit excessive to let something like that not even allow for one or two single trips over to your house lol.

Does SHE actually want to ride scooters with you? Or do YOU want her to ride scooters with you?

If she's that scared and timid to ride a 50cc scooter, I fear this might not turn out well.

Does she ride a bicycle? If so, perhaps you both should be riding bikes around for a few years to get her 2 wheel skills up before graduating to a scooter.

I often find people who are uncomfortable on scooters are also uncomfortable and awkward on a bicycle too. It usually turns out they haven't ridden 2 wheels for a decade or more and need time to get used to it again. So a bike is a lot safer than a scooter to re-learn those skills.

k1dude wrote:Does SHE actually want to ride scooters with you? Or do YOU want her to ride scooters with you?

If she's that scared and timid to ride a 50cc scooter, I fear this might not turn out well.

Does she ride a bicycle? If so, perhaps you both should be riding bikes around for a few years to get her 2 wheel skills up before graduating to a scooter.

I often find people who are uncomfortable on scooters are also uncomfortable and awkward on a bicycle too. It usually turns out they haven't ridden 2 wheels for a decade or more and need time to get used to it again. So a bike is a lot safer than a scooter to re-learn those skills.

She's scared of them but wants to ride. I've been riding her double on it for awhile and she's gotten the "itch". I think it's basically like training wheels stage where even though you want to ride really badly, you're scared you'll fall. I told her that it's just like a bike in that you have to trust the fact that you're not going to just flip over etc.

It might be worth having her take the basic rider course. They usually let you do it on a 50cc scooter. What you learn there just might save your life.

Our state had a scooter safety class but it suddenly vanished from the MSF list without any reason. Tried reaching out to see why but I never get a clear answer. Our local "big" scooter shop wants to re-activate the scooter safety class but cant get the state on board. Look into it in your area Nontari. I was also going to ask if she rides bicycles. My friend tried to get his girlfriend on a scooter but she does not even have enough time on a bicycle, so it didnt work out very well. No one got hurt, but her frustration makes her to not want to try a scooter again. Think it thru. Check her bicycle skills and look into a safety class.

70% of all ptw accidents are 1 bike accidents. You can be your own worse enemy. Doesn't matter if it's 3 HP or 80, you hit gravel going into a turn and slam your head against the pavement, you're hosed. 10 of us took the intermediate Rider course set up just for scooters. It's the 2nd time I've done this. Well worth the money.

I took the beginner course, then took the intermediate (mid-level) course, then took the advanced course and finally got invited to the police course. Holy cow, that course was hard! I did pass though. I was asked to become a instructor for the MSF but I dont need the extra money and my time is more important to me. I have done instructing when I drove 18 wheelers for heavy haul and wide loads because I have a easy go lucky vibe when training in high stress environments. DMV has hit me up for the car test to. Now I no longer own a sports bike but want to do a track day type course one day. Will have to rent a bike. Never got my racing license for the 500cc class. No one else wanted to split the cost/driving to go to West Virginia. So go with your girl to some classes and have fun learning!

I had never even thought of using a training course to help her learn how to ride and appreciate the suggestion. I was thinking of just teaching her myself but now that I think about it, my skills are only due to years of riding. I never took any courses myself so, there's probably a lot of technical things that she would benefit from that I can't give her and I'd rather keep her as safe as possible.

Thanks guys. I'll look into it and keep you updated.

Nintari wrote:I had never even thought of using a training course to help her learn how to ride and appreciate the suggestion. I was thinking of just teaching her myself but now that I think about it, my skills are only due to years of riding. I never took any courses myself so, there's probably a lot of technical things that she would benefit from that I can't give her and I'd rather keep her as safe as possible.

Thanks guys. I'll look into it and keep you updated.

You might want to consider taking the training course yourself. I thought I was a good rider but after taking the MSF course I found I had developed some very bad riding habits. It took me awhile to undo them.

Bill in Seattle

Where is the leadership on this site? Click on it, and you see five names. No one is available to remove this spram crap when it hits? I know it's been reported. If you stop caring about your site, the people who visit it will eventually stop caring. What gives?

DeeDee wrote: ↑Tue Apr 12, 2022 12:49 am Where is the leadership on this site? Click on it, and you see five names. No one is available to remove this spram crap when it hits? I know it's been reported. If you stop caring about your site, the people who visit it will eventually stop caring. What gives?

Looks like the spam is gone now.

I believe there is only one active moderator. But most of the time the spam is gone within a few hours of being reported. I also believe that sometimes the moderators don't get sent notifications when posts are reported. I know it has happened on posts I have reported.