Modern Buddy

I heard from somebody that kick starting is rough on the variator, or something in the cvt. Any truth to that?

50cc or 125cc? On some kick starters you have to press them a bit to engage them first, then give them a solid, smooth kick. I always found P series Vespas a PITA to kick start but eventually got it mastered. My Zuma bug-eye was a 70cc and kick start only. Never had a issue with it in 6000 miles and I rode it everyday. My old Buddy 125 had a wire get broken rendering the electric start dead, and because I was to lazy to fix it, I kick started it for almost a year/10,000 miles. There is a little castle nut that can get worn out (this is the Zuma) and you have to keep the kick pinion greased or the kick start will stick a bit. There was some simple maintenance that I did on the kick starter on the Buddy 125 but I don't recall exactly what I did.

I wouldn't do it a lot, but when you need to, you need to.

I kept my usable in case I did need to, but it's harder on 161cc vs 125cc.

sc00ter wrote: ↑Mon Jan 04, 2021 1:45 am 50cc or 125cc?

Its a Buddy 125. Stock except for exhaust and jetting.
-My scooter model displayed under my avatar before the recent software upgrade.
I need to figure out how to do that again.

The ET and early LX Vespas had a weakness in the casing which could result in the kick start lever failing and sometimes cracking the casing. This lead to advice to avoid kick starting those models except when necessary. That is the only time I have heard advice to avoid kick starting.