Generic GY6 starter as a replacement on a Buddy 150?

brettro · Post by **brettro** » Thu May 24, 2012 8:27 pm

Hi everyone,

My 2008 Buddy 150 has been chugging along nicely since I bought it but the starter just went out at a little over 3,000 miles. The battery and starter relay both check out fine.

I'm having a hell of a time sourcing a replacement starter. I can't confirm the 125's starter is the same as the 150's. Specifically I'm looking at this one from ScooterWorks: NCY GY6 Replacement Starter Motor. It says it works for the Buddy 125 and the Blur, but does not mention the Buddy 150.

Can anyone verify a generic replacement starter for the Buddy 150? The dealer is happy to sell me one for $130, which I'd like to avoid if possible.

tortoise · Post by **tortoise** » Thu May 24, 2012 9:13 pm

brettro wrote:the starter just went out at a little over 3,000 miles. The battery and starter relay both check out fine.

Have you disassembled the starter for troubleshooting?

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brettro · Post by **brettro** » Thu May 24, 2012 9:40 pm

No I have not pulled the starter yet. It may be an easy fix but I would still like to source a compatible replacement just in case.

Post by **ericalm** » Thu May 24, 2012 10:16 pm

Call Scooterworks. They'll help you out and point you in the right direction.

bmwbikr1 · Post by **bmwbikr1** » Sun May 27, 2012 9:00 pm

I had a problem with my starter on the 150cc after about 3000 miles. I bought the Nyc replacment from scooter works and the rear plate thats on the new starter dosnt fit. I took my starter apart and found the carbon from the brushes and grease were on the windings, So i cleaned the windings with some Carb cleaner and the inside shell, DRIED it with compressed air and put back together and the starter works better than new. enjoy JOE

JettaKnight · Post by **JettaKnight** » Tue May 29, 2012 5:11 pm

I have a starter with about 3000 miles that I pulled from a 125. PM me if you're interested.

Someone else can verify that the 125 and 150 have the same starter.

kookookeedoo · Post by **kookookeedoo** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 1:22 pm

I was wondering the same thing. I have a Buddy 125 motor I'm using in a swap, and I need a replacement starter. I had one from a Chinese shortcase motor and I can verify that it does not fit. I've seen some nice Gy6 starters out there but I don't want to bother if they won't fit either- and the thought of paying $150+ for one from Scooter Lounge makes me cringe...

tortoise · Post by **tortoise** » Mon Jun 11, 2012 5:03 pm

kookookeedoo wrote:have a Buddy 125 motor I'm using in a swap, and I need a replacement starter. I had one from a Chinese shortcase motor and I can verify that it does not fit.

Just curious . . how specifically are the starters different? Please attach a comparison image.

This is the typical China GY6 125/150cc starter.

This is the China GY6-B 150cc 16" wheel variation.

This is the China GY6 139QMB 4-stroke 50cc starter.

kookookeedoo · Post by **kookookeedoo** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 1:21 pm

Here's a pic of the starter (it's off a "P" gy6 motor)

And here's one of it "installed". As you can see it won't fully go into place-

I had initially thought that the "nose" of the starter was too big. But last night I took it apart, and with the pinion removed I was able to get it into place. The pinion also seems to mesh with the starter gear. But when I put it all back together it's a no-go. I suspect that the pinion in this particular starter is slightly too large in diameter, but I can't say for sure. I have another standard Gy6 starter out of a Roketa longcase motor in storage, when I have a chance I'll see if that one fits.

neotrotsky · Post by **neotrotsky** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 1:41 pm

When it comes to "Generic" GY6 parts, rest assured that anything the Chinese copy will end up in 20 different versions, all different. Of course, wholesale types will always insist that it's "Just like Honda!".

Go with Ericalm's suggestion and give Scooterworks a call. There are so many variations and bad clone jobs that you really need to make sure you're either getting the exact part, or that you are excellent at fabrication.

PNWbuddy · Post by **PNWbuddy** » Sat Jun 01, 2019 3:06 pm

My Buddy 125 kitted to 161cc has an intermittent starting issue. More often than not the starter will give an initial grunt but fail to turn the motor over. Other, less often times it spins the motor fine. I tried a different known good battery with same results. Removed the scooter's battery and jumped the battery cable with a fully charged deep cycle battery, that did better but the scooter battery cables started to smoke. I pulled the starter motor and did the multimeter diagnostics per some youtube videos and everything seemed to check OK. Brushes weren't jammed and had plenty left, no carbon dust or other obvious visual defects. The starter seemed to spin strongly when hooked up to the deep cycle battery off of the scooter. I didn't spin it for long but on one brief test it stopped spinning with a little smoke (still checked OK with the multimeter after that). It seems like the starter has excessive current draw like a short but again the multimeter tests don't show that with the starter disassembled and of course I'm no expert.

I would like to give another starter motor a try but the Buddy starter is too expensive to buy for just a test so I ordered a generic 9 spline GY6 starter and will see if I can make it fit or swap the armature since swapping out parts from a generic starter motor has been reported as successful by a prior poster (a friend of the poster did it for him/her).

Edit:
It ended up being complicated. I had ordered a dbelectrical which I trust for high quality automotive products but had to return the wrong starter that Amazon sent and ended up buying a $15 one instead. That was a mistake. I did swap parts and it did fit and work but because of slightly different diameter of the rear magnet portion of the new armature it didn't work perfectly - there would be a solution. I did get the old starter working but if it fails I wouldn't hesitate to try again with a higher quality generic starter which I trust (but am not certain) that the correct dbelectrical product would be. As an FYI the starter dimensions were the same but the mounting plate that is tack welded on the back of the starter can is 90 degrees off from the OEM which is what caused the fitment problem.

JettaKnight · Post by **JettaKnight** » Mon Jun 03, 2019 4:15 pm

PNWbuddy wrote:My Buddy 125 kitted to 161cc has an intermittent starting issue. More often than not the starter will give an initial grunt but fail to turn the motor over. Other, less often times it spins the motor fine. I tried a different known good battery with same results.

Interesting.

That's happens to me occasionally, when the crank is right there at the beginning of the compression cycle, the starter just doesn't seem to have a enough umph.

A simple release and re-press does the job so I never thought about it further.

I see in this thread I had an extra starter, I wonder if I still do.

Modern Buddy

Generic GY6 starter as a replacement on a Buddy 150?

Generic GY6 starter as a replacement on a Buddy 150?

Re: Generic GY6 starter as a replacement on a Buddy 150?

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