Modern Buddy

I picked up my 3rd Buddy from a kid in Tallahassee. It had been abused by fraternity brothers, and neglected from any maintenance for the last two years. Naturally, I had to rescue it. Rescuing it only cost me $700.

Here is the Buddy:


And here she is next to her sister, my PCX. They're both 125s, but the PCX is watercooled, so it gets a bit better gas mileage and is a bit quieter.


The scooter has 11k miles, and still needs new tires before I can really ride it anywhere. I've already done an oil change and a gear oil change, both were really, really nasty... Either way, I'm glad to have a Buddy again. I'm going to fix it up and paint it white.

Every single panel is covered in scratches. All black plastic is sun-faded, and there is some surface rust throughout. Luckily, only two panels are cracked. It'll take a lot of sanding and cleaning to get this bike looking good, but it will be worth the effort.

synaps3 wrote:It had been abused by fraternity brothers, and neglected from any maintenance for the last two years. Naturally, I had to rescue it. Rescuing it only cost me $700.

Great find. I bet she's so much happier where she is than with a bunch of drunk fraternity guys.

that's a testiment to the rock solid reliability of the Buddy, the fact that it runs and is still reviveable after 11,000 miles of neglect. Not that I would recommend going that route.

It's like a Buddy barn find!

I just bought all the replacement parts I need from a nice guy named Jimmie who PM'd me here, and the rest through a website. I should have all the parts I need to get this thing looking new in a couple of weeks.

The front headlight cover and the panel around the speedometer were cracked, so I got those two plus a rear rack used for $125 shipped.

I ordered crash bars and passenger footpegs for $60 shipped new from a member.

New grips, new air filter, new tires, and a new sticker that says Buddy 125 to stick on after I paint were ordered as well for $123.12 shipped.

Add a couple of cans of Krylon Fusion from Wal-Mart (under $20) and some leftover bedliner paint to recoat the black plastics, and I'll have a near-cosmetically perfect scooter for just a bit over $1000.

I got started working on the scooter tonight. Here's a few more preliminary pictures:









As I said in the original post, all the paint is faded, there are scratches from getting laid down on both sides, and there are a few cracked fairings -- especially around the headlight.

My wife wanted it in yellow (like rubber duck yellow). She's the main rider, so I'm letting her make most of the cosmetic decisions on it, but I think that rubber duck yellow would look awful. After some discussion and google image searching, I convinced her otherwise. Since I've always loved white Buddys, I showed her a picture, and we agreed to paint it white. After the scooter is fully done, she will add pink or yellow flowers stickers.

I knew it'd start getting dark on me, so I brought the scooter into the living room and started tearing it down.


Nekkid Buddy:


And all the panels:


I've started running panels through the dishwasher. After they're all cleaned up, I'll sand them rough, fill in any pits or etc with bondo, rinse again, then start paint.

I also need to replace both tires, I'll probably do that while the paint dries

I'm going to North Carolina this weekend to ride Deal's gap and Cherohala Skyway again, so I'll keep working on it after then. Stay posted for updates.

synaps3 wrote:
I knew it'd start getting dark on me, so I brought the scooter into the living room and started tearing it down.

That is one understanding wife!

xTomBx wrote:

synaps3 wrote:
I knew it'd start getting dark on me, so I brought the scooter into the living room and started tearing it down.

That is one understanding wife!

I know right!

Oh hunny dont go into the livingroom my scooter is in there and the parts are in the dishwashers. plus the car is parked in the bedroom and i left the toilet seat up.

Great find on the buddy though.

xTomBx wrote: That is one understanding wife!

Yeah, she's awesome.

I might not end up going out of town this weekend after all, so I'll stick around and finish this up if I stay.

Someone around here has a rubber duck yellow Chinese scooter... it actually looks pretty good.

Ew, makes me feel sick just looking at it.

I'm stuck at work still (taking a break to let my brain rest), so it's looking like I'm in town for the weekend. I'll get to painting the Buddy tomorrow.

I'm actually more excited to get this scooter finished than I was to go ride Cherohala Skyway again (although it is an awesome ride), so I'm a bit relieved that I won't get the chance to go. Sadly, I don't have the phone numbers for anyone I'd be meeting up with, so for me to go up there would be silly... I'd probably end up riding by myself, which is a lot less fun.

xTomBx wrote:

synaps3 wrote:
I knew it'd start getting dark on me, so I brought the scooter into the living room and started tearing it down.

That is one understanding wife!

Man that's what I was thinking. My wife would FLIP!!! Thanks goodness we have a really big garage for my projects.

Mulliganal wrote:Man that's what I was thinking. My wife would FLIP!!! Thanks goodness we have a really big garage for my projects.

One day we will. I convinced my wife the next house will have a detached garage for me to do projects in.

Our current house is 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, under 800 square feet, with no garage (only an attached carport), so space is really limited. We're only 23 though, and I got it just in time for the homebuyer's credit last year when I was only 21, so I'm proud of my dinky house. When I've got more money, we'll go bigger.

I got a lot of work done on the project Saturday, not so much today though.

I put down all the parts that needed painted:




And divided them into two groups. The first group will all be painted glossy white:




And the second group will get spray-on bedliner paint:




It was time to begin sanding. I spent over four hours sanding... My hands are still a bit raw from it all...

Parts to be painted with bedliner, post-sanding:



Parts to be painted white, post-sanding (not sure why the picture looks so crappy):



It started to get dark on me, but I wanted to get all the fairings washed and ready to paint, and get the primer coat on the fairings that will be white. So, I set up a light, started rinsing the parts, and got ready to paint. Rinsing all the parts thoroughly and ensuring they were perfectly clean and dry took another hour or so...

I got out the spraypaint:




And started stringing up parts then priming them:




I primed all the panels, then let them dry overnight. This morning, I sanded them lightly, wiped them down again, and hit them with the first layer of enamel paint. I also painted the inner fairings with bedliner. Unfortunately, I forgot to take more pictures, so you'll have to wait until tomorrow for more pics.

Glad to see you making good use of those parts. Will be watching for further work on your project here. Good luck and hard work will make it.

Here's all the parts strung up when I started working today. At this point, they've been primed, sanded, cleaned, then the first coat applied.




Nice, uniform whiteness. Not quite shiny yet though:




And here's the bedliner-painted inner fairings. They look NICE:




So naturally, I took down all the white parts, sanded (this time with a fine-grit , 320 I think), got rid of all surface imperfections and "orange peel," then finally cleaned and put on a second coat. I didn't string them up this time though, just placed them on some pallets.

Pre-paint closeup:




Sitting to dry:




Tomorrow, I'll do one more light sanding, then do a glossy topcoat and let them "bake" in the sun until Friday night.

quite the project!

looking forward to the finished product. i am sure the formerly poor 'lil Buddy also appreciates it!

With all the paint done, I started putting the scooter back together.





I'll get some better pics when the bike is fully back together.

I still have to order a new control set for the left handle controls (blinker, horn). I can't get the current one off, and the horn button doesn't work.

I also need to repaint the kickstand and centerstand, as well as the air blower cover. Finally, when it's all together, I need to take a buffer and some polishing compound to make the paint shine and to get rid of the surface cloudiness in the topcoat.

nice! can't wait to see it on a ride soon!

Based on the extent of the prep work, and the attention to detail you're showing it looks like this is going to be a really nice overhaul. I can't wait to see the finished product.

Looking good

Awesome project! I love it when someone gets their hands into a bike. It's looking fantastic. Can't wait to see the final results!

You know, I am so impressed with how this is turning out that I am thinking of doing this to my St. Tropez once I have another bike to ride while it is being worked on. My St. T has a few scars from 2 falls and now that I can't buy decent white wall tires and am using blackwalls instead, the whole "St. Tropez" vibe is changed. So I'm thinkin', why not? I have always loved the white and black scooter look.

I am curious to see how the paint job holds up once some miles are on it.

Skootz Kabootz wrote:I am curious to see how the paint job holds up once some miles are on it.

Me too. I put 3 coats of clear coat on there, and it seems pretty tough -- not quite brand-new factory paint tough though.

I haven't worked on the scooter all week. The left side control set is shot, so I'm waiting for the part to arrive before I wrap the project up.

A little birdie told me those controls and other goodies are on their way to you. Looking forward to seeing the finished product. For some reason I feel like I've been involved in this one some way.

Hah, well, you have -- a whole lot of parts from this thing came from you.

Hey, any updates?
Don't leave us hanging...

Sorry for leaving you guys hanging so long.

I installed the new left and right controls and got the scooter almost completely reassembled... Unfortunately, I was too busy to finish work on it until today.

I pulled the scooter back out:




And pulled out some polish to get the finish more shiny. I use Turtle Wax, it works well.




I buffed out the front fender and reinstalled it.




Then, I polished the hell out of the front of the scooter. Unfortunately, it was an overcast day, so it's hard to tell that the paint is now shiny. It's not super-shiny, but it is passable as factory paint.




I polished the rest of the scooter up, making the rest of the paint shiny. I installed the rear rack and cowling protectors next.




Installed... Looking good...






I would have installed the windshield too, but the hardware was all rusty and crappy looking. I pulled out my bedliner paint again, and sprayed the hardware for the windshield and the air blower cover.



All that's left is to recover the seat, replace the tires, and install the windshield. After it got dark, I went in search of some marine vinyl to recover the seat. I found a remnant at a local fabric shop for $4.70! Less than $5 to replace the seat sounds like my kind of deal.




My goal is to finish this project by Christmas, so I should be back with another update soon.

looks great!
(I think that horn grille is begging to be black though...)

I just read that Scooterworks has started selling Buddy mirrors in matt black... could be nice

Way to go. Looks awesome.

The seat didn't work out, my staplegun is too crappy to finish the job. So, the seat is on hold for now. But, here's the bike with new tires, a good shine, and completely done other than the seat.

looks awesome! you did some really good work here!!! congrats!

It's looking good. Are you feeling that warm glow of satisfaction for a job well done?

You did a really great job on the scooter! Thanks for all the pictures. It was fun watching your progress. I admire your skill-especially since I am totally without any mechincal skills myself!

Nice work!...I love well "restored" beaters.

Beg or borrow an air stapler and a compressor, or go where someone has one to lend. They do the trick on seats! I would let you use mine

Looks great good to see those parts went to good use.

Finished product looks great.

Absolutely a fine looking job! I noticed the DOT blinkers are missing. Is that an upcoming job?

really nice work on this thing.

love the color scheme!

viney266 wrote:Nice work!...I love well "restored" beaters.

Beg or borrow an air stapler and a compressor, or go where someone has one to lend. They do the trick on seats! I would let you use mine

Thanks for the tip. I just ordered one for $25 on Amazon to use with my compressor. We'll see how it goes...

rkcoker wrote:Absolutely a fine looking job! I noticed the DOT blinkers are missing. Is that an upcoming job?

Nope! I'm using the blinkers integrated with the body. I don't like the way the DOT blinkers look.


Thanks for all the support guys, I appreciate all the comments.

My wife ordered some flower stickers to go on it, so I will be putting them on then spraying another few coats of clearcoat to try to get the bike even shinier. I'll post updated pics when done.

Well I thought I had read in here how many cans of paint and clear coat were used in the revival of the beater Buddy, but I don't think I see it now.

So Synaps3, my question to you is how much paint and such did you go through for this bad bear? ...and have you put stickers on yet? I'm excited to see the complete finished product!

Actually, we never used any clearcoat. My wife prefers it semigloss white, because it isn't blindingly reflective like my other bike (gloss white Honda PCX).

As for usage, I used what you see here, but didn't ever use the clearcoat, and used an extra half-can of the white enamel:


I could have gotten away with only one can of the white, but I wanted better coverage.

If I had done the clearcoat, I actually wouldn't have used the "crystal clear enamel," the clear lacquer paint that Rust-Olem makes leaves a much nicer finish, so I would have used that. You can find the lacquer at Home Depot, Wal-Mart, etc... It probably would have taken 2 cans to do the clearcoat right.

holey something something. that is an awesome job. i am in awe. that is a steal and your restoration job is freakin' awesome!

So this is kind of an old thread, but it seems if anyone would know you would..

How much do you have to take off to get the back panels off? (The ones with the screw holes from the rear rack or handle.)

That is one pretty scoot

z20k wrote:So this is kind of an old thread, but it seems if anyone would know you would..

How much do you have to take off to get the back panels off? (The ones with the screw holes from the rear rack or handle.)

Those are easy, if memory serves correctly, you have to take off the seat, underseat bin, then you can get them off from there. You might have to take the mudflap off too.

Either way, the Buddy is a really easy bike to take apart.

This Buddy is now for sale. I have 5 bikes now and my wife's talking about kids in the next year, so we're selling all but my dirt bike and my PCX. Ad is here: http://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/mcy/3535971457.html

Before



During




After



You can find the rest of the build @ topic24027.html

Well done. Looks like a scooter the Green Hornet would ride.