Modern Buddy

So this happened. Has anyone ridden these? I'm still on my Stella 2T because nothing made after looks as nice to me but am seriously considering one of these.

I like that color but that seat color reminds me of 70's couch

Nice but I'll wait for the GP200 LC or GT200 LC. Or even better, the GP300LC.

GP/GT200LC: ABS, FI, 4-Valve DOHC, 17.5HP, and liquid cooled.

Why does Genuine always neuter everything they bring into the US?! They take away all the things that make a scooter exciting and interesting and give us ho-hum.

I don't need a motor big enough to tour on just fast enough to get on the big road for a couple of exits. I got a kymco gti300 for a work horse this would make a very pretty back up. I'm wondering if the engine is sourced thru a known manufactor or it's all new in house.
It would make a very beautiful unicorn.

If Genuine needs someone to put a bunch of miles on one to show how reliable it is I would happily volunteer.

This is awesome. I am really excited that Genuine is back in the vintage-style scooter game. (But I hate those bar-end sliders, those turn signals, and that center stand!)

I seem to remember seeing some gossip (not here) saying that Royal Alloy came about from a dispute between Scomadi (who have been making Lambretta-style scooters for a few years now) and a manufacturer. After the dispute, the manufacturer kept making the scooters, branded them as Royal Alloy, and intentionally beat Scomadi to the US market. (This is just a vague memory of a probably unreliable source. Does anyone know more?)

JohnK, that's the story that I heard. The Scomadi / Royal Alloy are the best looking vintage scoots outside of the Stella.

Don't get me wrong, I love my Stella 2T and all, but I keep watching what other things are coming out.

http://www.genuinescooters.com/grandtourer150.html

Yes, it looks like a classic Lambretta, more or less. But it is not a shifty. I'm surprised this would attract many fans of classic P/PX Vespas or manual Stellas.

looks like Genuine didn't learn their lesson from the Stellauto.

at only 125 cc's the Stellauto was pretty much DOA.

Had the Royal Alloy been at 250 - 300 cc's I would've been interested.

Agreed, RoaringTodd. I'm not sure why they didn't they bring in the GT200 LC? That would have differentiated the offering from everything else currently available through Genuine.

I've ridden my neighbor's Kymco 300i. That thing is a blast and you can take it out on the interstate. For the sake of product diversification, a larger displacement scoot would be the logical choice.

Maybe they're trying to also snag the Class L license customers? Does feel a bit like Stella 2.0 though, with the vintage look. Anyone find out what the HP rating is?

RoaringTodd wrote:looks like Genuine didn't learn their lesson from the Stellauto.

at only 125 cc's the Stellauto was pretty much DOA.

Had the Royal Alloy been at 250 - 300 cc's I would've been interested.

The Stellauto failed because they started to break down within a few hundred miles. People don't want to spend $3500 on a scooter that spends more time in the shop then on the road. If the Stellauto was as reliable as a Buddy 125 they would have sold a lot more units.

Hopefully the Grand Tourer 150 is reliable and rides well. If it sells then maybe down the road Genuine will bring over the 200cc version(with ABS.)

easy wrote: I'm wondering if the engine is sourced thru a known manufactor or it's all new in house.

Don't know if it's true, but I heard that it has a SYM engine.
Philly scooters is supposed to have them in a few weeks.

The stellauto had horrendous reliability issues. Not to mention the ECM needed replacement out of the box. Our local dealer had several and had buyers ready but the bikes were just junk. To my knowledge they are all out in the wild being ridden though.

Whew! That is hot stuff. I'm looking forward to seeing one of those close up.

Look at how thin that floorboard is! What kind of construction does the thing use? Traditional tube frame, or some kind of ridged unibody?

Stanza wrote:Look at how thin that floorboard is! What kind of construction does the thing use? Traditional tube frame, or some kind of ridged unibody?

Leaf springs?

Dooglas wrote:Yes, it looks like a classic Lambretta, more or less. But it is not a shifty. I'm surprised this would attract many fans of classic P/PX Vespas or manual Stellas.

Kind of reminds me of a Kymco Like. Nothing wrong with it but it doesn't do anything for me. It's kinda like the New Beetle...meh. Is it plastic? .

Nothing like riding a 74 Lambretta Serveta Jet 200!

Now I would like to take a Scomadi manual out for a ride! I think it's 400cc 4 speed twist shift. That would be fun!

BuddyRaton wrote:

Dooglas wrote:Yes, it looks like a classic Lambretta, more or less. But it is not a shifty. I'm surprised this would attract many fans of classic P/PX Vespas or manual Stellas.

Kind of reminds me of a Kymco Like. Nothing wrong with it but it doesn't do anything for me. It's kinda like the New Beetle...meh. Is it plastic? .

Nothing like riding a 74 Lambretta Serveta Jet 200!

Now I would like to take a Scomadi manual out for a ride! I think it's 400cc 4 speed twist shift. That would be fun!

The GP200 has metal body work while the GT200 has plastic. I don't know what this neutered version of the Royal Alloy has, though I would guess plastic since it has "GT" on the name plate.

I agree, the Scomadi 400 with a 4-speed would be a kick in the pants to ride. Hopefully an importer with vision will bring them into the US in the near future. Personally, I won't buy another scooter with an engine smaller than 200 or 250cc. I'm presently looking at buying either an Aprilia Sportcity 250 (used) or Yamaha XMax 300 (new or used).

The Genuine site says "metal bodied classic."

johnk wrote:The Genuine site says "metal bodied classic."

I saw that but something is a little odd because on one website, they say that the GP series are metal bodied while the GT are plastic in order to save on weight for better performance. Then on Royal Alloys own website it says all models have plastic (ABS) bodies. It also says that the 150's dry weight is 130kg which is about 286lb which conflicts with Genuine's websites 265lb. I have no idea whats what. Guess it doesn't really matter to me anyway since I'm never going to buy one.

i'd wait till they start showing up used...i want to see how they fare over time...

10.7hp @ 265 lbs while my buddy 125 has 9.5hp @ 220 lbs...my buddy has a very slightly better power to weight ratio (basically negligible)...but def doesn't look that sweet...

http://www.scooterfile.com/sf-feature/r ... nd-tourer/

RoaringTodd wrote:looks like Genuine didn't learn their lesson from the Stellauto.

at only 125 cc's the Stellauto was pretty much DOA.

Had the Royal Alloy been at 250 - 300 cc's I would've been interested.

^^^have to agree here...basically brought a different look of the same thing...need a reliable higher cc choice cause the blur was a bust

I have now seen one in the real world at Amerivespa. Nice looking scooter. would like to get my hands on one to see how it rides.

Are there no demo rides at Amerivespa? We need a first-hand account of this new curiosity.

Mr.FixIt wrote:Are there no demo rides at Amerivespa? We need a first-hand account of this new curiosity.

Not sure. The people from Genuine might have just been there to show off the new scooter(it was getting a lot of attention.)

Found out that it runs on cheap gas(87 octane) which is nice. I'm not a fan of scooters that require high octane gas.

scootERIK wrote:Found out that it runs on cheap gas(87 octane) which is nice. I'm not a fan of scooters that require high octane gas.

I give. Why not? Surely you don't mean the cost of the fuel? (I ask as my Vespa GTS runs like a Swiss watch)

Dooglas wrote:

scootERIK wrote:Found out that it runs on cheap gas(87 octane) which is nice. I'm not a fan of scooters that require high octane gas.

I give. Why not? Surely you don't mean the cost of the fuel? (I ask as my Vespa GTS runs like a Swiss watch)

I do mean the cost. Where I live premium gas is 60-90 cents more a gallon. By being able to run cheap gas in my Buddy I have saved over $500 compared to what it would have cost to use premium.

Admittedly I do ride a lot more than most people.

scootERIK wrote:I do mean the cost. Where I live premium gas is 60-90 cents more a gallon. By being able to run cheap gas in my Buddy I have saved over $500 compared to what it would have cost to use premium.

Admittedly I do ride a lot more than most people.

Yes, you do.

On the other hand, that still works out to something under a penny a mile. Something most of us would have difficulty worrying about.
Stop for a piece of pie on one ride and there go your gas savings for months!

babblefish wrote:I agree, the Scomadi 400 with a 4-speed would be a kick in the pants to ride. Hopefully an importer with vision will bring them into the US in the near future.

I've been in communication with Scomadi about the 400 since Jan 2018. They had intended to start production in the 4th quarter of 2018 ~ and then there would have been the whole issue of importing ~ but they ran into difficulties with their Thai production facility. It's been in limbo since then.

Otherwise I completely agree. The 400 would be an awesome scoot to have in the stable! I was on the short list to put down a deposit, but I've only heard crickets....

RoaringTodd wrote:looks like Genuine didn't learn their lesson from the Stellauto.

at only 125 cc's the Stellauto was pretty much DOA.

Had the Royal Alloy been at 250 - 300 cc's I would've been interested.

Agreed. Genuine could have used one of their existing engines from the 170i or 220 Blur to help the Royal Alloy compete. The 125-150cc segment is very crowded.

The 125-150cc segment is very crowded

True. The true vintage look is not easily obtained, few get it right. Its hard to get the best of everything.

Agreed. Genuine could have used one of their existing engines from the 170i or 220 Blur to help the Royal Alloy compete. The 125-150cc segment is very crowded.

That would be easy if those were their engines

dasscooter wrote:

wheelbender6 wrote:Agreed. Genuine could have used one of their existing engines from the 170i or 220 Blur to help the Royal Alloy compete. The 125-150cc segment is very crowded.

That would be easy if those were their engines

You have that one right. The Buddy and the Blur are built by PGO in Taiwan. They build quality engines and are unlikely to loan any of them to Hanway, who I understand builds the Royal Alloy in mainland China.

Yesterday, I found a scooter shop in Groningen, NL with a Scomadi ad in their window. I went in and asked to see one, and they said they had to stop carrying them because they didn't sell. (Nearly all of the scooters I've seen in the Netherlands have been new-model (boring) Vespas, AGMs, and SYMs.)

Here's a video review of the Royal Alloy from That Scooter Thing.

johnk wrote:Here's a video review of the Royal Alloy from That Scooter Thing.

What's the red button in the glove box, I wonder?

I wonder how easy it is to scrape that low hanging pipe in the twisties.

babblefish wrote:

BuddyRaton wrote:

Dooglas wrote:Yes, it looks like a classic Lambretta, more or less. But it is not a shifty. I'm surprised this would attract many fans of classic P/PX Vespas or manual Stellas.

Kind of reminds me of a Kymco Like. Nothing wrong with it but it doesn't do anything for me. It's kinda like the New Beetle...meh. Is it plastic? .

Nothing like riding a 74 Lambretta Serveta Jet 200!

Now I would like to take a Scomadi manual out for a ride! I think it's 400cc 4 speed twist shift. That would be fun!

The GP200 has metal body work while the GT200 has plastic. I don't know what this neutered version of the Royal Alloy has, though I would guess plastic since it has "GT" on the name plate.

I agree, the Scomadi 400 with a 4-speed would be a kick in the pants to ride. Hopefully an importer with vision will bring them into the US in the near future. Personally, I won't buy another scooter with an engine smaller than 200 or 250cc. I'm presently looking at buying either an Aprilia Sportcity 250 (used) or Yamaha XMax 300 (new or used).

The Kymco People S 300 looks amazing.

Here's a video from Cleveland Moto explaining the history and features of the Royal Alloy.

OBX Dan wrote:The Kymco People S 300 looks amazing.

Kymco makes a great scooter with excellent mechanicals. Though that one has the looks of an Aprilia Scarabeo (which is a good thing IMO).

I had a first gen People 250. It was the Scooter Rider Magazine work horse. Great scooter all around but KYMCO seems to come and go around my way, so you always gotta order parts online and fend for yourself with service work. Still like them though. Oh, and I went to Richmond last week for a service on my Liberty (Had to RIDE the scooter there!) and they didnt have a Royal Alloy on the floor. I even forgot to ask about it! Maybe next time.

I was thinking, for all their previous imports, Genuine Scooter has applied their own name to them - Buddy, Blur, Hooligan, Roughhouse, Stella. Why is it that the Royal Alloy is called just that, even though the name means nothing?

OBX Dan wrote:
The Kymco People S 300 looks amazing.

looks like a knock off piaggio bv350 which isn't a bad thing

Dooglas wrote:I was thinking, for all their previous imports, Genuine Scooter has applied their own name to them - Buddy, Blur, Hooligan, Roughhouse, Stella. Why is it that the Royal Alloy is called just that, even though the name means nothing?

That’s a good question. To me, “Royal Alloy� sounds like cheap Chinese mimicry/mistranslation, and an effort to ride Royal Enfield’s coattails, if such a thing exists. I’m not convinced Genuine has built much brand strength out of scooters made outside of PGO/Taiwan. (Was Stella considered a success?) If Royal Alloy helps, it won’t be because of the name.

That Kymco photo with San Francisco Photoshopped into the skyline looks so...uh...�real� isn’t the word I’m looking for....

I found the thread on this board where we talked about the Royal Alloy back when it was still vaporware. If you scroll down to my post, you'll see a link to a UK site Scooterlab.UK where they documented the ongoing legal struggles that resulted in the funny-sounding name.

Starting to get more attractive with a SYM 200 motor in it. I wouldn't mind running a CBR with one and see if I can blow it up!

BuddyRaton wrote:Starting to get more attractive with a SYM 200 motor in it.

Several knowledgeable scooter folks in England have said that it is not true that it is a Sym engine. It is termed a "Sym design" engine by some. I think that is like saying that a GY6 is a "Honda design" engine.

Give me a 300cc version of this and I'm game

closest genuine dealer has 1 in stock...not sure if i would like the glove box over the buddy pocket...

https://southcoast.craigslist.org/mcy/d ... 25436.html