My New Buddy (A Short Story)
Posted: Sun Nov 03, 2019 6:13 pm
I’ve owned many motorcycles, scooters, and mopeds. Ever since I traded a guitar for a Tomos Golden Bullet ten years ago I’ve been hooked. I worked at a shop that sold Buddies back when I first started wrenching so I have been familiar with them since the beginning. I have ALWAYS recommend the little scoot to anyone interested in getting into riding because I had personally worked on at least 50 of them and can vouch for their reliability over the cheaper Chinese alternatives.
“Save up $1000, get yourself a clean Buddy. “ I would tell anyone that asked for my “expert� advise.
So after all these years I have finally purchased one of my own. It’s a 2009 150cc that I picked up cheap, with a clean title, from a friend in non-running condition.
A gamble, to say the least, considering the engine would not turn over and he had no idea what happened.
“It just stopped running. “ he said, with a shrug of indifference and offered a free helmet and help lifting it into my borrowed truck.
But I’ve torn apart hundreds of scooters and knew the worse case scenario was parting it out cheap to make my money back and the best case scenario was worth the risk.
After removing the cvt cover and NOT seeing a shredded belt I assumed the worst. A fin was snapped off the variator in a desperate attempt to free the stuck motor. I assumed the worst and began my favorite process: The teardown.
I spotted some wear in the head most likely due to low oil conditions but everything looked fine. The cylinder even had crosshatching. While moving things around I saw the piston wiggle inside the cylinder.
“What the f***...� I said, as my beer-passing assistant watched without interest.
“So it’s not stuck, isn’t that good?� He said, as I stared at him with my dumb face.
I sat there, drinking my tall boy, puffing on my tobacco alternative, wondering where I went wrong.
“Maybe it was the bagel bites I had for breakfast...� I said under my breath.
“What?�
“Nevermind. Let’s figure this out!� I said with renewed enthusiasm.
The stator? Maybe the stator is stuck? I’ve seen some stators break but never locking the engine. After unbolting the cover it refused to come peacefully.
“F*** that� I said, as I reached for my pry bar.
And there it was, the reason for the stuck engine. The plastic fan bolted to the flywheel had MELTED to the stator cover. I can only assume this happened due to the force of friction during one of its many falls.
I couldn’t help but laugh as I began reassembling the top end of the engine. 30 minutes later it fired up without its exhaust installed and drew some stares from the neighbors across the street. Success. Glory. Immortality. I installed the exhaust and proceeded to take it for a test rip to find out it’s top speed. 64 mph GPS, almost 80 indicated. Both surprising numbers.
It still needs a battery, a tire, an UNI filter, a louder muffler, and some jetting, but it’ll be tearing up my neighborhood and terrorizing the children and elderly soon enough.
I’m excited to share some miles with the scoot until it will be up for sale in the spring.
I’ll apologize now for lowering and stretching the beloved scooter, but it must be done.
Thanks for reading.
“Save up $1000, get yourself a clean Buddy. “ I would tell anyone that asked for my “expert� advise.
So after all these years I have finally purchased one of my own. It’s a 2009 150cc that I picked up cheap, with a clean title, from a friend in non-running condition.
A gamble, to say the least, considering the engine would not turn over and he had no idea what happened.
“It just stopped running. “ he said, with a shrug of indifference and offered a free helmet and help lifting it into my borrowed truck.
But I’ve torn apart hundreds of scooters and knew the worse case scenario was parting it out cheap to make my money back and the best case scenario was worth the risk.
After removing the cvt cover and NOT seeing a shredded belt I assumed the worst. A fin was snapped off the variator in a desperate attempt to free the stuck motor. I assumed the worst and began my favorite process: The teardown.
I spotted some wear in the head most likely due to low oil conditions but everything looked fine. The cylinder even had crosshatching. While moving things around I saw the piston wiggle inside the cylinder.
“What the f***...� I said, as my beer-passing assistant watched without interest.
“So it’s not stuck, isn’t that good?� He said, as I stared at him with my dumb face.
I sat there, drinking my tall boy, puffing on my tobacco alternative, wondering where I went wrong.
“Maybe it was the bagel bites I had for breakfast...� I said under my breath.
“What?�
“Nevermind. Let’s figure this out!� I said with renewed enthusiasm.
The stator? Maybe the stator is stuck? I’ve seen some stators break but never locking the engine. After unbolting the cover it refused to come peacefully.
“F*** that� I said, as I reached for my pry bar.
And there it was, the reason for the stuck engine. The plastic fan bolted to the flywheel had MELTED to the stator cover. I can only assume this happened due to the force of friction during one of its many falls.
I couldn’t help but laugh as I began reassembling the top end of the engine. 30 minutes later it fired up without its exhaust installed and drew some stares from the neighbors across the street. Success. Glory. Immortality. I installed the exhaust and proceeded to take it for a test rip to find out it’s top speed. 64 mph GPS, almost 80 indicated. Both surprising numbers.
It still needs a battery, a tire, an UNI filter, a louder muffler, and some jetting, but it’ll be tearing up my neighborhood and terrorizing the children and elderly soon enough.
I’m excited to share some miles with the scoot until it will be up for sale in the spring.
I’ll apologize now for lowering and stretching the beloved scooter, but it must be done.
Thanks for reading.
