Modern Buddy

Hello, Took this photo of a young woman's Buddy last week at the beach in Pass-a-Grille, Florida. (Gulf of Mexico side) She got away before I could talk scooters with her.
Her scoot had 4500 miles on it and was dripping rust from every metal piece, body panels were faded, cracked and pitted. The Florida sun and salt air are pretty tough on scooters. (Heard from a fellow Kymco owner who lives near the east coast ocean that one of his Kymcos is doing the same thing, while the other is not. He wondered if it was down to one being Chinese made, while the unrusty one was from Taiwan. Kymco builds them in both places.)

A Buddy must not have alloy wheels....rusting there,too.

That Buddy is in a sorry state! The salt in the air must be murder on them...

That makes me nervous about my Buddy in Savannah, GA! My mirrors started rusting after a month so I used a rust dissolver and ordered a rust protection spray, they already started rusting again and it's only been 2 weeks. I also keep her covered when I'm not riding her and park in a parking garage at work. I'm moving back to New York after graduation in December, so hoping that won't be as much as a problem.

Living on the coast and, even closer to the water, a boat I would say that that scoot has had 0 care and has lived outdoors for probably 3-4 years at the least. No waxing, no cleaning, sits in the rain & sun 24/7/365. You would look pretty rough, too, if you were neglected like that! A little maintenance goes a looong way, especially in a salt-air environment.

Ninjasurfergirl - keep taking care of her and she'll be fine. You might want to do some searching regarding what boat owners are using to keep hull and stainless fittings clean and rust free. Just don't believe the first post you read! Look around, different folks have different ideas and solutions... Re: 'graduation' - you going to SCAD? Good luck & aloha.

oh my...i live in south florida and I just purchased a brand new 2014 buddy 50cc..i have a cover for it so hopefully mine doesn't get like this because i feel so bad for this scooter..

i plan to treat mine like a baby..even if it is in a "sorry state"

Taking care of it will make the biggest difference.

Owners manuals on many Japanese motorcycles used to recommend wiping down all metal parts with a light coat of oil. It may help when you live near the ocean.

Sweet mother of mercy. That is messed up. Sad.

There are many good information and details so I hope you will read carefully and take more information by take a look here.

I live on the coast in Charleston, SC. There have been many days with the dremel getting rust off and polishing. The exhaust... my dear lord it has only been a year and it looks like a Ninja Turtle had diarrhea all over it.

I would like to have more information too, because I have similar situation as earlier commenter. I greet you

The scoot in the OP has been seriously mistreated. Left outside in the sun, wind and rain, everything is rusted and fading.

Cover and wash your scoot to reduce the problem. Care for it.

There's a Buddy 125 in San Francisco that is (as I recall) 12 years old and looks like that. It has spent it's life outdoors on the ocean side of the city.
I was impressed with how well it survived considering the environment.

I recently moved to a place aound 1000 feet from the gulf. My scoots are garaged, but the seats stay damp from sea fog and storms. I have ordered some breathable covers for my scoots, so I hope it keeps that moisture off of them.

Poor scooter.