Buddy at track day

[Kevin K]

Matty and Brooke from Minneapolis ran down to Marshalltown, IA for a track day there. They brought a Buddy 125 along with them.
Here's some pics.
-K

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29929939@N00/tags/racing/

[rajron]

Its fun to see the Buddy in anger – fun pics.
So did the Buddy fair well against others in the same class?
Did they run stock tires – pressures?
Was it necessary to remove the DOT blinkers?
Did they crash the Vesba?

[Kevin K]

The DOT signals were probably removed to allow for the tie downs (see first pic), and the stock tires were run. It was an open track day, so there weren't any classes. That's all I got.

Here's a few comments from the riders:

-There wasn't a Stella on the track that could keep up, from what I understand.

-it did better than I thought it would.

-The acceleration or re-acceleration sucks, when you let off the gas then gun it again there is nothing there, but most automatics are like that anyway.

-Suspension isn't ready for the track, way too soft. Kept scraping the belt cover, 12" tires would for sure cure that, but a better rear shock and front fork would help.

-The seating position was actually pretty decent, needed a peg or grip tape to keep my feet in place but other than that is was pretty comfortable.

-If there were a way to stop it from grinding I'd ride it again.

Keep in mind that the comments made were from experienced scooter racers, who are used to racing vintage Vespas and Lammys. IMHO their comments say a lot about the Buddy--mainly, that a stock scooter NOT designed to be a race bike can hold it's own on the track, although it obviously has some limitations. Call me impressed.
-K

[paige]

He was perilously close to getting a knee down. Cool.

[Keys]

It would have gone faster if it'd been black...

--Keys

[paige]

More scooter racing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKlYbO-mqAM