Need more speed!

[Benjamin.Goldberg]

I just got a 2008 Buddy 50cc, and I absolutely love it. The top speed is around 35mph, Although I've have gotten up to 45 with a little help from a hill. On my day to day commute 35 is fine, but on some of my longer trips I really start to feel like the slow poke on the road. I told myself that I wouldn't upgrade to the 125/150cc buddy's until next year. But I still need some more speed! I'm budgeting about $500 for any upgrades this season. Let me know what you think.

[ericalm]

Do you know if it's been derestricted? That's the first thing to do!

[Lostmycage]

If you plan on getting a 125/150 anyway, save the money and put it towards a 125/150cc. Selling a modified 50cc is tough. It just makes the most sense financially to sell the 50 and take the money plus your "performance" budget and put it towards either a new or used 125 (you could get a used 125 for about what you'd end up with after selling plus the $500).

Is your 50cc deresricted? Are you aware of the moped laws in your area?

Derestricting a 50cc will get it to about 45mph, but in some areas it requires it to be registered after it is able to pass 35mph.

[Benjamin.Goldberg]

Yes it is derestricted. I don't plan on getting rid of the 50cc anytime soon, so resale isn't really an option (The girlfriend is already thinking about what she wants to do to it). It's registered, and I have a motorcycle license. I was thinking about changing the roller weights or some other part of the transmission but I've only seen that with the 125/150cc so I'm not sure if it will work.

[Kaos]

Yes it is derestricted. I don't plan on getting rid of the 50cc anytime soon, so resale isn't really an option (The girlfriend is already thinking about what she wants to do to it). It's registered, and I have a motorcycle license. I was thinking about changing the roller weights or some other part of the transmission but I've only seen that with the 125/150cc so I'm not sure if it will work.

Yep, it'll work, though the variator and rollers/sliders are a different size than the ones for the 125/150.

If you're looking to spend $500ish, get a 70cc Prima kit, the Prima exhaust, a new variator and sliders, and if you've still got any budget left, a bit bigger carburetor.

They'll move pretty good with all that on it. You'll likely get 40-45 fairly easily depending on your size.

[beeporama]

I just got a 2008 Buddy 50cc, and I absolutely love it. The top speed is around 35mph, Although I've have gotten up to 45 with a little help from a hill. On my day to day commute 35 is fine, but on some of my longer trips I really start to feel like the slow poke on the road. I told myself that I wouldn't upgrade to the 125/150cc buddy's until next year. But I still need some more speed! I'm budgeting about $500 for any upgrades this season. Let me know what you think.

I think (and this is pure opinion, take it or leave it) that you would be crazy to put $500 into a $2000 bike if you want to upgrade to a different model next year anyway. Or, you are much more financially well off than me. But I would save that money towards the new bike.

[Skootz Kabootz]

Personally, unless money's no consideration, I would just derestrict then put the $500 towards your new, bigger cc scooter.

[paikkylee]

Unless I misread the posts, there are two riders and one bike (this year). Next year a new bike (the 125/150) to make 2 bikes and 2 riders. It's also fun to see how much you can get out of the 50s.

That said, the 70 kit and pipe will give you a ton more power on that 50, but as was said before the rollers for sure will need to be tuned and maybe the clutch springs to get it dialed in right.

Don't buy the Stage 1 kit (pipe rollers and springs).

[Benjamin.Goldberg]

So I thought I would update... I took my scooter into my local shop for its first tune up under my ownership. Wouldn't you know it, but the scooter wasn't derestricted! I did purchase from a Genuine dealer, and don't want to think that they mislead me, so I'll just be glad that for only $100 I got about 7 more mph! For the first time on the bike I'm seeing speeds of about 47-ish on flat pavement. I've spoken to my local mechanic about the Prima upgrades, but I think I'm going to wait a little bit to see if this is enough speed for my longer trips. Thanks for all the suggestions! I'll update if I decide to continue the upgrades.

[bpatrick5]

My girlfriend has a '09 50 Italia. I have a 150. When I ride hers, as long as it's not windy and I'm on relatively flat ground, I can get it to between 45 and 50. But, it is horrible, horrible, horrible for the first 10 mph. She doesn't ride it often. So, periodically I ride hers to work instead of mine. I'm always worried about the cars behind me when taking off from a light. For a while, I started researching performance upgrades. Specifically, I want bottom end power. This post topic14708.html was very enlightening. For me, it clearly explained the performance replacements. Most important, from what I'm reading and my experience 20 years ago drag racing, is to get clutch springs that are equal to the beginning of the power band. I'm guessing the current springs engage the power to the rear wheel at about 800-1000 RPM, which is probably 1000 rpm short of where the power band is in the stock motor. Personally, I'd start by replacing the springs. The 50 has nice power, but it's just so weak off the line. After that, if I want more power or more top end, I'd look to other upgrades to the motor and exhaust and variators. I'm definitely no expert, but all the principles seem the same as they were with my 76 Camaro and 70 Chevelle in terms of keeping the power to the ground in the power band.

My girlfriend and I have decided our goal is to take scooter camping trips. With the roads we would need to travel (highways, not freeways), we'd need to be able to maintain 55 mph. So, the 50 is pretty much out. We're going to wait a year or so and get her a 125 or 150. Or, ideally, I'd get a Stella 4t and give her my St. Tropez.

Good luck. 50's are a blast. To me, they sound way cooler than the 150. Reminds me of a big angry chainsaw!!

[Kaos]

My girlfriend has a '09 50 Italia. I have a 150. When I ride hers, as long as it's not windy and I'm on relatively flat ground, I can get it to between 45 and 50. But, it is horrible, horrible, horrible for the first 10 mph. She doesn't ride it often. So, periodically I ride hers to work instead of mine. I'm always worried about the cars behind me when taking off from a light. For a while, I started researching performance upgrades. Specifically, I want bottom end power. This post topic14708.html was very enlightening. For me, it clearly explained the performance replacements. Most important, from what I'm reading and my experience 20 years ago drag racing, is to get clutch springs that are equal to the beginning of the power band. I'm guessing the current springs engage the power to the rear wheel at about 800-1000 RPM, which is probably 1000 rpm short of where the power band is in the stock motor. Personally, I'd start by replacing the springs. The 50 has nice power, but it's just so weak off the line. After that, if I want more power or more top end, I'd look to other upgrades to the motor and exhaust and variators. I'm definitely no expert, but all the principles seem the same as they were with my 76 Camaro and 70 Chevelle in terms of keeping the power to the ground in the power band.

My girlfriend and I have decided our goal is to take scooter camping trips. With the roads we would need to travel (highways, not freeways), we'd need to be able to maintain 55 mph. So, the 50 is pretty much out. We're going to wait a year or so and get her a 125 or 150. Or, ideally, I'd get a Stella 4t and give her my St. Tropez.

Good luck. 50's are a blast. To me, they sound way cooler than the 150. Reminds me of a big angry chainsaw!!

Yeah, working on scooter engines is actually much like working on older cars. I have built MANY 50's, 60's, and 70's muscle cars and hotrods and it was very easy for me to transition to scooter-rodding

[TVB]

My girlfriend has a '09 50 Italia. I have a 150. When I ride hers, as long as it's not windy and I'm on relatively flat ground, I can get it to between 45 and 50. But, it is horrible, horrible, horrible for the first 10 mph. She doesn't ride it often. So, periodically I ride hers to work instead of mine. I'm always worried about the cars behind me when taking off from a light.

That hasn't been my experience at all. Maybe the cage-drivers around you are different from around here, but most of them seem to have the reflexes of a giant sloth. If I'm first in line at the light, and rev the throttle right when it turns green, I usually get several car lengths between me and the dolt behind me before he figures out what the change in color means, and he his lead foot catch up with me.

[bpatrick5]

Maybe we have a dud or it isn't broke in yet. It's a dog off the line. In AZ, especially The Valley, drivers are fast and aggressive. 0-10 mph is terribly slow.

[jmkjr72]

the prima kit is a pos
i would recomend the top performance trophy big bore kit for the h/m engine

why is that top performance is the high performance division of motri minerllie the people that desinged this engine

you have to look it up for the yamaha zuma

http://www.spmotostore.com/CYLINDER_KIT ... 909610.htm

http://www.scootercraft.com/


http://www.scooter-attack.com/index2.php?lang=e

this kit works great with the stock carb upjeted and a stock pipe you can then add other parts later as you want more speed

many places in europe have used this kit in dyno runs to compare other parts it is a good reliable kit that will get you moving much faster

with just the kit you will gain about 5 mph

add a varatior touring pipe and you will gain about 10 to 13 depending upon the parts you mix with it

[juice]

Hello all I am a new member . Last winter I purchased a 2009 tangerine buddy with 57 mi. on it for $1000.00 . It had been dropped and has a scratch and needed the carburator cleaned and a new mirror . I too was disappointed to find that it struggled to top 35 mph . Then I found out about the clutch and exhaust restrictions , had them removed , and now I have topped 50 mph . Much better but mine is also slow "out of the hole" . I now have 250 mi. on my buddy and have started using amsoil interceptor oil and non ethanol 93 octane gas . I also own a 2002 Kymco people 50 which is much faster on take off and is much stronger on hills . Although my buddy still faster than many scooters I have ridden I am hoping that the performance will improve as it gets broken in . If any buddy 50 owners have any suggestions or input on this I would appreciate it . Thanks .

[ericalm]

Hello all I am a new member . Last winter I purchased a 2009 tangerine buddy with 57 mi. on it for $1000.00 . It had been dropped and has a scratch and needed the carburator cleaned and a new mirror . I too was disappointed to find that it struggled to top 35 mph . Then I found out about the clutch and exhaust restrictions , had them removed , and now I have topped 50 mph . Much better but mine is also slow "out of the hole" . I now have 250 mi. on my buddy and have started using amsoil interceptor oil and non ethanol 93 octane gas . I also own a 2002 Kymco people 50 which is much faster on take off and is much stronger on hills . Although my buddy still faster than many scooters I have ridden I am hoping that the performance will improve as it gets broken in . If any buddy 50 owners have any suggestions or input on this I would appreciate it . Thanks .

Lighter variator weights. I don't know what's stock in a Buddy 50, though.

[bpatrick5]

Hello all I am a new member . Last winter I purchased a 2009 tangerine buddy with 57 mi. on it for $1000.00 . It had been dropped and has a scratch and needed the carburator cleaned and a new mirror . I too was disappointed to find that it struggled to top 35 mph . Then I found out about the clutch and exhaust restrictions , had them removed , and now I have topped 50 mph . Much better but mine is also slow "out of the hole" . I now have 250 mi. on my buddy and have started using amsoil interceptor oil and non ethanol 93 octane gas . I also own a 2002 Kymco people 50 which is much faster on take off and is much stronger on hills . Although my buddy still faster than many scooters I have ridden I am hoping that the performance will improve as it gets broken in . If any buddy 50 owners have any suggestions or input on this I would appreciate it . Thanks .

Did you notice the difference with 93 octane? I haven't found anything over 91, but I haven't really looked either. If you noticed a difference, I'll give it a try. Sounds like you got a great deal!! Having paid only $1000 with almost no miles, you could justify adding some performance upgrades. Pretty cool.

On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being a super slow, 10 being super fast), how you would rate the Kymco 50 off the line versus the Buddy. I give our Buddy 50 a 2.5 or 3 out of 10 off the line. Compared to my 150, I'd give it a 1.

[jasondavis48108]

I've had my Buddy 50 for two years now and I've run both regular (87 octane) and premium (92 octane) and I've never noticed any difference in performance so I now use the 87 or 89 and never bother with the premium stuff. I have noticed that if I keep the engine clean by running some sea foam in it at least once a month then it runs a whole lot better than the first year when I didn't know about sea foam. I now have a bigger scooter so its time for some serious mods for the Little Italia As for the those who have said that the 50 isn't worth putting the money into, I'd agree that your never going to get a 50cc scooter to do what you could get a 125 or 150cc scooter to do and the 125 or 150 is going to be more reliable stock than the 50 is all modded out. That being said I absolutely love my little 50, I just bought a new scooter and today I took the 50 out for a spin (that says a lot being the the new scooter is less than a week old). 50's are a blast and the mods for them are relatively cheap. If you know your going to keep your 50 when you get a bigger scooter then screw worrying about its resale value and go for it

[juice]

The top end is not that much different between the buddy 50 and the people 50 , but the people 50 gets there at least 25-30 % quicker and taking off into traffic is much less stressful , I would guess again at least 25-30 % quicker . I am still hoping the buddy will improve as it loosens up . It still only has about 259 mi. on it . I am planing to let my 18 yr old son use the buddy mostly so I really don't want it to be too fast lol.

[jmkjr72]

Hello all I am a new member . Last winter I purchased a 2009 tangerine buddy with 57 mi. on it for $1000.00 . It had been dropped and has a scratch and needed the carburator cleaned and a new mirror . I too was disappointed to find that it struggled to top 35 mph . Then I found out about the clutch and exhaust restrictions , had them removed , and now I have topped 50 mph . Much better but mine is also slow "out of the hole" . I now have 250 mi. on my buddy and have started using amsoil interceptor oil and non ethanol 93 octane gas . I also own a 2002 Kymco people 50 which is much faster on take off and is much stronger on hills . Although my buddy still faster than many scooters I have ridden I am hoping that the performance will improve as it gets broken in . If any buddy 50 owners have any suggestions or input on this I would appreciate it . Thanks .

it can all be sumed up to the smog equipment that became mandatory after 2005
even the 2006 and newer kymcos are dogs off the line
for example when yamaha brought back the zuma in 08 they changed the final drive gearing so the smoged top speed would be the same as the non smoged top speed
but the 05s get there faster and untill you remove the smog restriction in the throttle then the 08 gets there jsut as quick and has more top end

[bpatrick5]

Hello all I am a new member . Last winter I purchased a 2009 tangerine buddy with 57 mi. on it for $1000.00 . It had been dropped and has a scratch and needed the carburator cleaned and a new mirror . I too was disappointed to find that it struggled to top 35 mph . Then I found out about the clutch and exhaust restrictions , had them removed , and now I have topped 50 mph . Much better but mine is also slow "out of the hole" . I now have 250 mi. on my buddy and have started using amsoil interceptor oil and non ethanol 93 octane gas . I also own a 2002 Kymco people 50 which is much faster on take off and is much stronger on hills . Although my buddy still faster than many scooters I have ridden I am hoping that the performance will improve as it gets broken in . If any buddy 50 owners have any suggestions or input on this I would appreciate it . Thanks .

it can all be sumed up to the smog equipment that became mandatory after 2005
even the 2006 and newer kymcos are dogs off the line
for example when yamaha brought back the zuma in 08 they changed the final drive gearing so the smoged top speed would be the same as the non smoged top speed
but the 05s get there faster and untill you remove the smog restriction in the throttle then the 08 gets there jsut as quick and has more top end

Does the Buddy 50 have smog restriction equipment? Can it be removed?

[Kaos]

Hello all I am a new member . Last winter I purchased a 2009 tangerine buddy with 57 mi. on it for $1000.00 . It had been dropped and has a scratch and needed the carburator cleaned and a new mirror . I too was disappointed to find that it struggled to top 35 mph . Then I found out about the clutch and exhaust restrictions , had them removed , and now I have topped 50 mph . Much better but mine is also slow "out of the hole" . I now have 250 mi. on my buddy and have started using amsoil interceptor oil and non ethanol 93 octane gas . I also own a 2002 Kymco people 50 which is much faster on take off and is much stronger on hills . Although my buddy still faster than many scooters I have ridden I am hoping that the performance will improve as it gets broken in . If any buddy 50 owners have any suggestions or input on this I would appreciate it . Thanks .

it can all be sumed up to the smog equipment that became mandatory after 2005
even the 2006 and newer kymcos are dogs off the line
for example when yamaha brought back the zuma in 08 they changed the final drive gearing so the smoged top speed would be the same as the non smoged top speed
but the 05s get there faster and untill you remove the smog restriction in the throttle then the 08 gets there jsut as quick and has more top end

Does the Buddy 50 have smog restriction equipment? Can it be removed?

The buddy 50 has several restrictions. The worst being the variator restriction washer and a restrictor in the exhaust.

Both can be removed easily, just search the forum for "derestricted"

[jmkjr72]

the exhasut port is choked down this has even been noticed on some pre smog equipment
and im not just talking about the washer in the gasket but the actaul port on the cyl itself

they are jetted a bit leaner
the big thing is the cat in the pipe the reed valve box that pulls air from the air box and into the exhaust

to get rid of this you need to get an after market pipe and plug the hole that is in the air box for the smog box

[bpatrick5]

the exhasut port is choked down this has even been noticed on some pre smog equipment
and im not just talking about the washer in the gasket but the actaul port on the cyl itself

they are jetted a bit leaner
the big thing is the cat in the pipe the reed valve box that pulls air from the air box and into the exhaust

to get rid of this you need to get an after market pipe and plug the hole that is in the air box for the smog box

That's what I'm looking for. I knew about the 50 cc restrictions to keep it at 35 or less mph, but I wasn't aware of smog equipment that could be removed. Seems funny putting smog equipment on a 2 stroke. That's like putting a filter on a cigarette!

[Thadsgood]

Before anything, if I were you I'd check that both the restrictors were removed. From your performance, it may be that the variator restriction was removed but not the 'ring' in the manifold. I had a 50 and it easily went 45 (on the speedo) and I weighed about 200+ at the time (no more, thank god!).