Hi everyone, just thought I would drop a line. I currently ride a Honda Metro I that I got in April, and now I'm considering "moving up" to a Buddy 125. Actually, I'm quite obsessed with getting the Buddy!
I have some questions maybe some of you could answer:
1) The nearest Genuine dealer to me is about 2 hours away (by car). How dependent will I be on them if I buy a Buddy? Do I need to get all my service done there?
2) Is there a "grocery bag hook" right above the front cubby area? Can't tell on the photos I have seen.
Anyway, hi to all. I know some of you from UrbanScootin --
Hi birdmove!
'Sup Bigcalm?
Hey Crystal - get those Buddy seatcovers made yet??
Hi Jody!
Not sure about the "service" part of your question but the answer to your other question is "Yes" there's a bag hook above the cubby. It's a very substantial one too.
"Cinderella is proof that a pair of shoes can change your life"
I think the first oil change is supposed to be performed in a Genuine dealership as part of the warranty maintainence.
As for the hook... there's one in the front, and I used mostly for fast food runs. The cubby area is nice, I use the left section for fast food drinks. Not sure what I can do with the right side of the basket... it's rather slim.
A little embarrassing thing happended today. I refilled my drugs at Eckerd and put the paper bag in the front basket. After driving around in the street for a few minutes, I noticed the basket is empty and had to backtrack to find my drug... which got ran over several time.... lesson learned is to not put flyable object in the cubby area..
Thanks for your replies. Can't believe the bag bounced out of that front cubby thing -- you must ride crazy! Just kidding.
Couple more questions...
3) What's the fastest posted mph road you would consider riding on for any length of time? I guess I'm looking for top maintainable, cruisable, speed here. For instance if you had a country highway that was fairly sparsely travelled but only 2 lane, and posted 55mph, would you feel comfortable riding it?
4) How much does the Buddy slow down going up hills? My Met slows down to about 20 mph even though I can cruise on the flat at around 40 mph in ideal conditions.
Paige can tell you the story of how she traveled on the Buddy from Oakland to Napa and back. And, she led quite a bit of the way. Oh, and the rest of us were on LXs and GTS'.
That's a grocery bag hook?! I thought it was where I was s'posed to put my sunglasses when I was taking my helmet on/off. (Seriously... that's what I use it for.)
Also, I've found that you can put objects in the left side of the cubby, and then often move them over to the (smaller) right side -- thus making it much less likely for them to take flight.
The Buddy doesn't slow much at all on hills, even fairly steep ones. I've been really impressed by/with it.
After making some phone calls, it seems that if I buy a Buddy, I will have to take it to KC every time it needs service. That would just complicate my life, I need my scooter to simplify my life.
I could get a Kymco I guess, since there is a shop in town that is a kymco dealer and would service it. But those are about $1000 more than the Buddy.
So for now I will keep riding my Met and see what all the companies bring out for next year.
shb wrote:How much does the Buddy slow down going up hills? My Met slows down to about 20 mph even though I can cruise on the flat at around 40 mph in ideal conditions.
My Buddy 125 can carry my 250 pounds up a pretty steep grade (as steep as you'll find in Lancaster, PA) at 50mph. They're really strong.
Hi guys. I just spoke to Brett Ratner at Genuine, and he said that I would need to have the first service done at a Genuine dealer, and any warranty work, but I could have my local mechanic do my regular maintenance.
So, the Buddy is kind of back in the picture. I would just need to find a reliable way to transport it. I don't think I could load it by myself onto something like the versahauler, so I might need an actual trailer of some sort. And I've never towed anything before with my car, so in addition to needing the receiver put on my car, about $300-$400, I'd need to rent or buy a trailer and learn how to pull it.
HI Sarah- might the cheapest thing be to rent a cargo van or pick up (if you do not know any one with one). the scooter shop would help you load and tie down. of course you would need a little help with the unload.
I had a similar problem. The Buddy I wanted was in Bel Air, MD, and there was no way I was going to have my first ride ever be an hour and a half long.
So I asked my dad to come down and rented a UHual trailer for $20. My dad had a lot of fun looking at the scooters, got to spend some time with me, and got a free dinner.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure how I'm going to get it back there for service.
One cool thing is that the guy at Genuine was a) very nice and b) going to contact one of our local dealers and see if they want to carry the Genuine's! That would solve my problems. I'm not gonna hold my breath though.
Have you come over here to start trouble? J/K. So I see the itch went through the weekend. I gave Moxie Scooters a call and Baxter (air guitar) should arrive this Friday. I'm wired for sound right now....
avidgirl wrote:You may also want to consider a rental from Home Depot. They rent for a flat fee so they are sometimes less expensive than Uhaul, Hertz, etc.
Home Depot only rents them out if you are buying soemthing from their store that is too big for your vehicle. Sometime in the last 18 months their insurance changed and they can no longer rent it out whenever you want to only for purchases.
(Seriously... that's what I use it for.) 
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