Modern Buddy

Love my buddy 125. Fast and light. Watch out for the wind, it'll get ya' Remember the 125 only weighs 222#. I've decided to never get a windshield for safety purposes. read blogs often to remind you that the very fast and nimble buddy will lull you into more agressive driving. Finally, having scraped the center stand during turns I wondered if it, during a lean-turn and if I came down on the centerstand, would it act as a fulcrum and lift my tires off the surface and send me into a slide. My friend (buddy) leaned it over for me while I inspected and you'd have to be in one serious lean to do that. Be safe.

ericalm had that happen to him...

I have ground my center stand... no comments out of your sotied.... several times but have yet to have it act as a lever to lift my tired up off the ground... i just straighten up before it grabs the asphalt too hard...

it is a little nerve bending tho

I had the stand catch and nearly pull me over yesterday, though I was in a VERY aggressive left turn on a back country road. Luckily I got it back up before I went over. Still, I gotta remember I can right turn harder than left

I had mine catch on Sunday, going too fast through an S-curve. I don't know that it picked up the wheels exactly, but I'm pretty sure the change in the friction was enough to cause me to drop the scoot.

No serious damage, but I wouldn't want to do it again.

spinbud wrote:Love my buddy 125. Fast and light. Watch out for the wind, it'll get ya' Remember the 125 only weighs 222#. I've decided to never get a windshield for safety purposes. read blogs often to remind you that the very fast and nimble buddy will lull you into more agressive driving. Finally, having scraped the center stand during turns I wondered if it, during a lean-turn and if I came down on the centerstand, would it act as a fulcrum and lift my tires off the surface and send me into a slide. My friend (buddy) leaned it over for me while I inspected and you'd have to be in one serious lean to do that. Be safe.

One thing that helps a lot in the wind is to loosen your grip and let the bike go with the flow a little bit. It'll help the bike stabilize. Same for gravel. Secondly, a medium windshield will actually help with the wind. What "safety purposes" are you referring to? As for leaning too deep, I highly recommend everybody spend some time in a parking lot finding the leaning limits of their scooter under controlled conditions. That'll help keep you from grinding on the center stand and possibly up-ending your scoot.

Agree with NS, although I don't think a parking lot is the best place. You need a real road, IMO, or you just don't know if you're leaning enough to make a turn. Find a neighborhood road that is lightly traveled and has a decent curve to try.

I was able to find the edge of the center stand on my Blur several times in a parking lot two weeks ago. I'm talking about a BIG parking lot, so I was able to do 30-40 mph turns. And it seems to me that finding that limit on a flat road as opposed to a banked curve (let alone the controlled conditions) is really valuable. And also, the second half of that practice session was done on a nice curvy road, but driving those curves after my parking lot session was simply amazing!

regarding the windshield, rumors have said it could act as a sail, however for that to happen, the cross wind would have to be traveling at a speed 3 times the speed you are traveling...b/c of the fact that the windshield directs wind over and around you making you more aerodynamic...in order for the cross wind to grab the windshield, it'd have to be forceful enough to blow thru the wind blowing around you and still have enough force left over to catch and direct the windscreen in another direction. the faster you are riding, of course, the cross-wind would have to be traveling exponentially faster. Basically, it's can't really happen.

I could have hubs write up the formula if you want, but thats the gist of it.

I do have a windscreen. I've never felt any wind problems. When I had my old scoot that didn't have a windscreen I had a lot of wind problems, mainly centering around my body/jacket becoming a sail and trying to blow ME off the bike, but still never had any handling problems with the bike itself...

$0.02

If someone's really fat, will that add to the surface that the wind can catch and negate some of the windscreen's positive effect?

Has anyone done a turn so tight they scraped the windscreen?

Just some thoughts.

Christy wrote:regarding the windshield, rumors have said it could act as a sail, however for that to happen, the cross wind would have to be traveling at a speed 3 times the speed you are traveling...b/c of the fact that the windshield directs wind over and around you making you more aerodynamic...in order for the cross wind to grab the windshield, it'd have to be forceful enough to blow thru the wind blowing around you and still have enough force left over to catch and direct the windscreen in another direction. the faster you are riding, of course, the cross-wind would have to be traveling exponentially faster. Basically, it's can't really happen.

When I was window shopping for a Vespa a few years ago, the salesman told me that's what windshields did on their Vespas. I was rather skeptical, seeing that motorcycles have them, but figured lil ole me just didn't know her physics good.

sotied wrote:If someone's really fat, will that add to the surface that the wind can catch and negate some of the windscreen's positive effect?

Has anyone done a turn so tight they scraped the windscreen?

Just some thoughts.

what about handlebar scrapes?

chloefpuff wrote:

Christy wrote:regarding the windshield, rumors have said it could act as a sail, however for that to happen, the cross wind would have to be traveling at a speed 3 times the speed you are traveling...b/c of the fact that the windshield directs wind over and around you making you more aerodynamic...in order for the cross wind to grab the windshield, it'd have to be forceful enough to blow thru the wind blowing around you and still have enough force left over to catch and direct the windscreen in another direction. the faster you are riding, of course, the cross-wind would have to be traveling exponentially faster. Basically, it's can't really happen.

When I was window shopping for a Vespa a few years ago, the salesman told me that's what windshields did on their Vespas. I was rather skeptical, seeing that motorcycles have them, but figured lil ole me just didn't know her physics good.

I've not heard of any stability problems with small or mid-sized windshields. The reason some people don't like them is that they redirect airflow and may focus it on the chest or face. You get used to it.

Even small or mid-sized windshields yield performance benefits (increased acceleration and top speed, better MPGs).

Tall windshields are another thing altogether. These are only needed in areas where it's very cold, IMHO. They can catch wind and upset stability.