Air cooled Buddy on a 100 degree day?

pinthea · Post by **pinthea** » Thu Aug 16, 2012 1:58 am

Other than the uncomfortable feeling like riding into a hair dryer, are there any issues or problems with riding the Buddy air cooled engine on a 100 degree day?

Being air cooled, I'd hate for it to overheat and leave me stranded.

I'm more than willing to ride it on a day that hot, I understand dehydration, etc... Just don't want to hurt the scoot.

pinthea · Post by **pinthea** » Thu Aug 16, 2012 2:10 am

Hmm, just found this elsewhere online:

http://www.sportiquescooters.com/index. ... Itemid=145

Modern fuel-injected scooters are often build with heat-sensitive fail-safe circuits intended to protect the engine in cases of extreme heat. Models like the Genuine Buddy 170i will automatically retard spark, causing the scooter to cough and sputter and to produce very little horsepower. Riders often confuse this condition for a failure. In fact, the system is working perfectly. When the fail-safe system kicks in it is time to allow your scooter to cool down. Once the core temp of the engine falls a few degrees, the computer will reset and your scooter will run normally once again.

Drum Pro · Post by **Drum Pro** » Thu Aug 16, 2012 2:20 am

I haven't had any trouble and I live in the Mojave desert where the summers get 111*F....Fingers crossed that I never do...

PIStaker · Post by **PIStaker** » Thu Aug 16, 2012 3:46 am

...Have ridden my 125/161 from San Antonio to Austin and back in the same day on 2 long runs. One up, and one back with one break on each leg.
Total distance according to Google maps (from where I lived in SATX) is 90 miles (ish)
Temps well into 90's. No issues.

In fact, the only heat related issue I had living in SATX was the metal on the nuts that hold my throttle cable. Heat expanded the metal and the nuts loosened a bit, giving the bike the impression that it was idling to high, or too low, depending on how the throttle cable was stretched.

How long of a ride are you contemplating?

pdxrita · Post by **pdxrita** » Thu Aug 16, 2012 3:53 am

I don't know personally about the 170i, but I can tell you that the 150 does fine in those temps. Remember that little heat wave here 2 summers ago when it got up to 107 several days in a row? My Italia handled it just fine. The issue was more with me, as a Portlander. I'm not personally, nor literally geared for those sorts of temps! I've done okay in our 90ish temps so far, but I'm not looking forward to the ride home for the next couple of days. Thankfully, I can stick to a pretty shady route for a good part of my commute, using Terwilliger blvd. But sitting at stoplights in the sun is a killer.

Bluduh · Post by **Bluduh** » Thu Aug 16, 2012 3:55 am

It's been between 100 - 110F here nearly every day for weeks, and I haven't had any problems with my 170i. Others on the forum report the "check engine light" illuminating after long periods at wide open throttle on a 170i. I haven't seen that but I don't ride much at WOT.

The "forced air"cooling on the Buddies seems to be more effective than the ambient air cooling on most motorcycles especially at slow speeds and idle. The forced air cooling fan is ALWAYS running when the engine is running.

Howardr · Post by **Howardr** » Thu Aug 16, 2012 1:26 pm

I'm in Tucson, AZ. Had the Buddy 150 since 2008. 25,000 miles on it. Does that answer your question?

Howard

skully93 · Post by **skully93** » Thu Aug 16, 2012 2:29 pm

my 150 has happily taken me 70 miles a day in the 100+ heat several times.

BootScootin'FireFighter · Thu Aug 16, 2012 7:18 pm

it gets pretty hot and humid around here, usually high 90s, sometimes low 100s... usually the heat index surpasses 100. Only issue I've had was with the stator, but that's apparently just a personal problem that I seems to create.