I'm with babblefish on this one......incorrect plug causing detonation.
When detonation is severe enough, long enough, the ring lands collapse as yours have.
The ring lands are the weakest point of the piston.
The cylinder bore in the photo appears reusable....unless you can catch a fingernail in the scratches in which case I would recommend replacement over a rebore.
If the scratches aren't fingernail catching deep a simple honing would be satisfactory....along with replacement rings and head, obviously.
Your photos show a well maintained engine that suffered a caused failure....but it definately is a fixer since no piston bits made it into the crankcase.
Joined: 12 Jul 2012 Posts: 318 Location: Lake Geneva, WI Buddy 125
Posted: Fri May 13, 2016 12:03 am Post subject:
As of right now it's not looking like my Buddy will be back on the road, at least as long as I own it. The cost of parts, labor and a tow are just too much for me to put into this scooter. I was hoping to find a crashed Buddy to pull the motor out of, but I haven't been able to find one. It's a little bit of a bummer since I was hoping to put some more miles on it.
I've started the search for another scooter, would like to get another Buddy but there aren't any used ones available right now so I might have to look at some other brands, sad face.
Erik,have you looked into new older model year Buddys? You can get a new 2012 buddy 125 (its even black) for $2200 or less if you don't mind driving a few hours away to get it.It still would have the 2 yr warranty as well.
Joined: 08 May 2010 Posts: 1 Location: Fargo 09 Stella
Posted: Sun May 15, 2016 6:01 pm Post subject:
scootERIK wrote:
As of right now it's not looking like my Buddy will be back on the road, at least as long as I own it. The cost of parts, labor and a tow are just too much for me to put into this scooter..
The tens of thousands of miles you have put on that scooter has you at least a couple thousand ahead. I'd have the engine rebuilt and scooter on. It does not matter what it costs. You are better off spending money on your scooter than someone else's. He's your buddy, pay for some surgery and spend some more years with him.
Joined: 12 Jul 2012 Posts: 318 Location: Lake Geneva, WI Buddy 125
Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 8:45 pm Post subject:
luckyscroller788 wrote:
Erik,have you looked into new older model year Buddys? You can get a new 2012 buddy 125 (its even black) for $2200 or less if you don't mind driving a few hours away to get it.It still would have the 2 yr warranty as well.
I'm looking for a used scooter to save a little $$. Ideally with 2,000-8,000 miles. I'm not even worried about a used Buddy with no warranty since they are practically bulletproof if you keep up on the basic maintenance.
Elvisinmypants wrote:
The tens of thousands of miles you have put on that scooter has you at least a couple thousand ahead. I'd have the engine rebuilt and scooter on. It does not matter what it costs. You are better off spending money on your scooter than someone else's. He's your buddy, pay for some surgery and spend some more years with him.
Part of me would like to see if she could get to 100,000 miles. If I could find a parts sponsor I would go for it.
Joined: 12 Jul 2012 Posts: 318 Location: Lake Geneva, WI Buddy 125
Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2017 3:33 am Post subject:
My Buddy has been brought back to life! I bought a crashed Buddy with a good motor that I swapped over. Already have 400 miles on her. 50,000 miles here I come.
My Buddy has been brought back to life! I bought a crashed Buddy with a good motor that I swapped over. Already have 400 miles on her. 50,000 miles here I come.
The donor scooter-
Ouch! _________________ The majority is always sane - Nessus
Joined: 04 Dec 2007 Posts: 2789 Location: San Francisco 2006 Blur 180, 2008 Buddy St. Tropez
Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2017 7:47 am Post subject:
Cool! And you got the new seat that you wanted, too!
What year is the donor scooter and what in the world happened to it? _________________ I'm only responsible for what I say, not for what you understand.
Joined: 12 Jul 2012 Posts: 318 Location: Lake Geneva, WI Buddy 125
Posted: Thu Apr 13, 2017 4:02 pm Post subject:
babblefish wrote:
Cool! And you got the new seat that you wanted, too!
What year is the donor scooter and what in the world happened to it?
The donor is a 2008 that had ~1340 miles on it so the motor should have a lot of miles left in it. I am quite happy to have a fresh seat. Between the "new" seat and the "new" rear shock the scooter rides better than it has in 25k miles. I might even be able to use the fork legs, from what I can tell they weren't affected in the crash.
As for what happened, I have no idea. They lady who crashed it was hurt pretty badly, multiple leg fractures that took 6 months to recover from, and possibly other injuries. I tried searching the internet to see if I could find any info. I found one news report that might have been for the crash(not 100% sure, but it fits the time line) that was at a T intersection in a 35 mph speed zone. If that is the crash then my guess is someone turned left in front of her. I also think she hit a taller vehicle since most of the damage is fairly high up on the front. The front fender only has a few scratches on it. It is pretty crazy the amount of damage and where the damage is, for instance 2 out of the 3 tabs that hold the brake light in place were broken.
Joined: 12 Jul 2012 Posts: 318 Location: Lake Geneva, WI Buddy 125
Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 2:59 am Post subject:
And then at 50158.4 miles the odometer stops working(the speedometer is also not working.)
Not sure what the issue is yet. I checked where the cable connects to the front hub and that looked fine. Tomorrow I am going to pull the handlebar cover off and see if the cable came off the back of speedometer. I have a backup cable in case the cable is broken.
I really hope it is just something minor, it would suck if the speedometer/odometer is broken.
UPDATE: Problem fixed! The speedometer cable unscrewed itself from the speedometer.
Joined: 04 Dec 2007 Posts: 2789 Location: San Francisco 2006 Blur 180, 2008 Buddy St. Tropez
Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 5:47 am Post subject:
Awesome!!! Love how everything came up "5"! Bet you waited for the exact date and time to take that picture You should have that picture printed as an enlargement and frame it. _________________ I'm only responsible for what I say, not for what you understand.
Joined: 18 Aug 2008 Posts: 381 Location: Wichita, Kansas 08 Buddy Italia 150 Prima pipe, Bando CDI and coil, Voodoo BOB adapter *SOLD*, 2015 Yamaha SMAX
Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 1:40 pm Post subject:
Awesome! So go get some gas and ride some more. _________________
Joined: 11 Jan 2015 Posts: 424 Location: North SF Bay Buddy 170i Vespa GTS 250ie Piaggio BV350
Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2017 10:01 pm Post subject:
That is so encouraging. I just rode ~60 miles and rolled over to 8,000 and the thing is just like new. What a great vehicle! _________________ '15 170i Small sport scoot'
'06 Vespa 250ie GTS Medium smooth cruiser
'16 Piaggio BV350 Medium sport scoot'
Joined: 11 Jan 2015 Posts: 424 Location: North SF Bay Buddy 170i Vespa GTS 250ie Piaggio BV350
Posted: Sun Oct 08, 2017 2:21 am Post subject:
Yes, but there's enough incriminating evidence in the way it failed to consider that it would've kept going...
Reading other high mileage discussions supports belief that one of these scoot's will go at least 55k. _________________ '15 170i Small sport scoot'
'06 Vespa 250ie GTS Medium smooth cruiser
'16 Piaggio BV350 Medium sport scoot'
Joined: 12 Jul 2012 Posts: 318 Location: Lake Geneva, WI Buddy 125
Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2017 3:45 pm Post subject:
I feel like I have to try for 101,000+ miles*. At this point I don't really think that anyone will want to buy it.
This "new" engine has about 14k on it so it should be good for 20,000 more miles without needing any work. That will get me to about 80k and then I can figure out a plan for the last 20k. I plan to do a rebuild at the first sign that something is wrong and I am always on the lookout for another engine so I will have a backup.
As for the front of the scooter it is pretty much all original so I will probably have to do some maintenance like new wheel bearings and maybe a new fork or a rebuild.
*I bought it with ~1k on it so at 101,000 I will have put 100,000 on it. But the odometer is about 10% off so I might just have to push to ~111,100.
Joined: 12 Jul 2012 Posts: 318 Location: Lake Geneva, WI Buddy 125
Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2018 12:38 am Post subject:
60,000 miles comes with a little bad news. The second motor is not doing so good. It has a loud rattle at idle(it seems to go away at higher speeds or at least I can't hear it.) After checking all the things I could I took it to the local scooter mechanic. He thinks it might be a bad connecting rod bearing or maybe crankshaft bearing. This motor has always felt a bit off to me(slow and not very peppy.)
The only sort of good thing is that between this motor and my old motor I might have enough parts to rebuild my first motor which would be kind of cool.
Or if anyone knows of a crashed Buddy 125 with a good motor for sale let me know.
Hopefully this is just a small bump on the road to 100,000 miles.
Joined: 12 Jul 2012 Posts: 318 Location: Lake Geneva, WI Buddy 125
Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2018 9:54 pm Post subject:
Quick update, I ended up pulling the engine and swapping in the engine from my backup Buddy 125. Already put 1,000 miles on it. Haven't taken the time to look at the bad engine since it is so hot out right now, and I would rather be out riding.
61k picture plus a bonus picture for anyone who like Buddies and bridges.
Last edited by scootERIK on Thu Jul 05, 2018 10:52 pm; edited 3 times in total
Joined: 12 Jul 2012 Posts: 318 Location: Lake Geneva, WI Buddy 125
Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2018 3:11 pm Post subject:
Been running good for 2 months since I swapped the engine. Only maintenance I have had to do is oil, tires and a new belt, though I need to put in new rollers and a different clutch. From what I can tell the contra spring in this clutch is worn out so acceleration is terrible and it doesn't like to climb hills. If I remember right this clutch has over 30k on it. At some point I need to learn how to change the contra spring.
Also, I might need to swap out the seat. This one is getting a little soft so on longer trips it can get a little uncomfortable. It does have about 23,000 miles on it.
Joined: 12 Jul 2012 Posts: 318 Location: Lake Geneva, WI Buddy 125
Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2018 4:46 am Post subject:
So it turns out that it wasn't a worn out contra spring or bad rollers making the scooter slow. I now believe that the problem is a hole in the diaphragm in the carburetor. I misdiagnosed this same problem before with the original carb from the crashed scooter. I haven't open the carb yet because I don't want risk making it worse, right now it runs but it's slow to accelerate. I opened up the other two carb I have and both of those diaphragms have holes in them. I bet more people are going to see this issue pop up on older Buddies and ones with a lot of miles. It's an easy fix but a bit pricey for a small bit of rubber and plastic, the part is about $40 plus s/h. Other gy6 diaphragms cost $6-10. I took a bunch of measurements and did a little searching on ebay and found one that I think is the same size, for way less money. I will report back if it ends up working out.
Even though it isn't running perfect it was still able to do a 260+ mile trip the other day with no issues. I did put on a newer seat since the one I was using was at almost 25k and was getting a little soft.
I also bumped up the PSI in the rear tire because the rear shock is getting a little soft.
A couple pictures-
And a quick video of two "water crossings" I did the other day-
If you are wondering, yes I got a little wet but that was from the water that came over the top of the handlebars. If you go a little slower you can stay dry while going through fairly deep water.
I was pretty amazed to see how this discussion went from high mileage, to inaccurate speedometers, to engine repair....
But, my scooter just turned over 1k and thought I'd verify speed and mileage. And as posted earlier yup speed is off by about 5 mph. and millage right at 9.8% inaccurate.
So, should I do my maintenance by actual mileage? or by what is displayed on the speedometer?
Although I wonder if the difference is enough to really matter...LOL
Joined: 12 Jul 2012 Posts: 318 Location: Lake Geneva, WI Buddy 125
Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2018 11:13 pm Post subject:
Rayc11949 wrote:
I was pretty amazed to see how this discussion went from high mileage, to inaccurate speedometers, to engine repair....
But, my scooter just turned over 1k and thought I'd verify speed and mileage. And as posted earlier yup speed is off by about 5 mph. and millage right at 9.8% inaccurate.
So, should I do my maintenance by actual mileage? or by what is displayed on the speedometer?
Although I wonder if the difference is enough to really matter...LOL
I do my maintenance based on the odometer. Mainly because that is the easiest way but you could go off of actual miles too that's up to you. I doubt it matters.
Joined: 29 Mar 2007 Posts: 505 Location: Fort Wayne Series Italia 161
Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2018 5:23 pm Post subject:
Rayc11949 wrote:
I was pretty amazed to see how this discussion went from high mileage, to inaccurate speedometers, to engine repair....
But, my scooter just turned over 1k and thought I'd verify speed and mileage. And as posted earlier yup speed is off by about 5 mph. and millage right at 9.8% inaccurate.
So, should I do my maintenance by actual mileage? or by what is displayed on the speedometer?
Although I wonder if the difference is enough to really matter...LOL
10% isn't enough to matter.
I have the same issue with my truck because of oversized tires. I just put a sticker on the speedo - "Speedometer reads low" to imform everyone that borrows it. (Owning a pickup means having lots of friends ).
Joined: 04 Dec 2007 Posts: 2789 Location: San Francisco 2006 Blur 180, 2008 Buddy St. Tropez
Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2018 9:45 pm Post subject:
The odometers on my Buddy and Blur are pretty much dead on, as verified by my smartphone's GPS anyway. The speedometers, on the other hand, read fast by about 5 mph. _________________ I'm only responsible for what I say, not for what you understand.
Joined: 11 Jan 2015 Posts: 424 Location: North SF Bay Buddy 170i Vespa GTS 250ie Piaggio BV350
Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2018 3:31 pm Post subject:
The odometer on my 170i is accurate and the speedometer is off by ~11%. It's easy to calculate and respond to the indicated speed.
My scoot just turned over 12K miles of trouble-free fun! I do ALL of my own maintenance except tire installations. No was am I going to struggle with that task with a private moto repair person close by that I enjoy spending tire changing time with. _________________ '15 170i Small sport scoot'
'06 Vespa 250ie GTS Medium smooth cruiser
'16 Piaggio BV350 Medium sport scoot'
Joined: 12 Jul 2012 Posts: 318 Location: Lake Geneva, WI Buddy 125
Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2018 4:45 am Post subject:
I was right that the diaphragm in the carburetor had a hole in it that was making the scooter run a little slow. BUT that wasn't the only thing wrong with the scooter. It has been slow off the line with bad acceleration from 30-40 mph. I was thinking that the carb was still the problem since the new diaphragm only helped a little and I had just gone through the CVT. But while riding today I felt something let loose. When it happened I thought I was running out of gas since I was on E. I got to the gas station and filled up, but now the scooter was shaking like crazy when accelerating and it was very slow. I figured the belt was going bad. As soon as I got the CVT cover off I could see metal shavings so I knew something wasn't right. I don't know what exactly happened or how, but from what I can see one or more of the variator slides(the 3 little U shaped pieces of plastic in the variator) had broken or fell out. I'm not sure if it was my fault or just old age. After the variator slides broke the ramp plate started to rub the 3 posts on the back of the movable drive face. I believe that the 3 posts wore through today which caused the scooter to start shaking and not accelerate. So the movable drive face is toast as are the rollers(they only had ~2700 miles on them.) Luckily I have two more complete variators, so I installed one of them and the scooter is running great.
It kind of sucks that the two problems happened at the same time, or in a row, and I didn't figure them out fast enough. But I figure I am lucky since I was able to get home and it was an easy fix.
A picture of a good movable drive face and the worn out one, the bad one is on the right.
A closer view but a little out of focus.
This all happened at about 68,973 miles so after I replaced the variator I went out for a test ride and took this picture.
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You should have that picture printed as an enlargement and frame it.
