reliability issues

hillbillybear · Post by **hillbillybear** » Fri Dec 25, 2009 12:28 am

Most of the uninitiated would believe the Vespa is the pinnacle of scooters. I'm uninitiated, therefore, I'm ignorant. Does anyone on this forum have the capability to compare the Buddy to the Vespa? I've been on this forum a number of times over the past couple of years and it seems as though some of the Buddy's have had issues with some things. I remember about three years ago some bikes were having problems with a blown seal. Are the Buddys as reliable as the Vespas or not? If they are not, is the $2,500 worth the extra piece of mind? What issues have been encountered with your Buddy? Has the service been good when something has gone wrong? And when the warranty runs out, how difficult is it to perform minor maintenance such as a float valve. I am not the most mechanically inclined person. And finally, what of the labor rates when you take your Buddy in for service? What about the price of parts? Lots of questions, I know. But I appreciate the responses.

jfrost2 · Post by **jfrost2** » Fri Dec 25, 2009 1:04 am

I'm probably biased saying this, but I'd trust a buddy more than a vespa, or really any other brand.

Vespa tried to use slanderous false sales tactics back then because they knew how amazing the quality of the buddy was, so they had to make lies to help people choose a premium price tagged bike instead. There's also a "how to lie to customers" flyer sent out for vespa only dealers showing what to say and what to compare to demonize and belittle the buddy. It was posted on the forums once, but I cant find the link to the PDF anymore. Even members went to dealers and were lied to by the salesman about the "poor" quality of a "chinese" bike.

Both bikes are great quality, just think of the buddy as a toyota, and the vespa as a lexus. Both work and are reliable, but the vespa just has a few more bells and whistles such as a metal body, built in glove box, and a clock by the speedometer.

The buddy is made in Taiwan by PGO Motors, there quality is top of the line. Taiwanese and Chinese are completely different works apart in quality. If you trust something made in Japan, you can rest assured and trust the buddy being made in Taiwan.

Both companies make amazing bikes, but I still would choose from Genuine if I was offered any scooter availible for free.

Anachronism · Post by **Anachronism** » Fri Dec 25, 2009 1:34 am

Worth noting is the superior warranty. 2 years, 1 year of roadside.

The only thing concrete that the Vespa has over the Buddy is a metal body, which ensures that it should hold up better over 20+ years assuming that you never, ever drop it. Drop a Buddy and it looks new after cheap replacement panels are put on. Drop a vespa and $$$.

Also worth noting is that the Buddy's engine parts are based on a Honda design, and many parts are common (and thus less expensive) to MANY other sccoters.

dwayneed · Post by **dwayneed** » Fri Dec 25, 2009 2:26 am

Anachronism wrote:Worth noting is the superior warranty. 2 years, 1 year of roadside.

Minor correction, current roadside is 2 years. Really great!

Lostmycage · Post by **Lostmycage** » Fri Dec 25, 2009 4:16 am

[cough] <a href="forum12.html">FAQ</a> [/cough]

jmazza · Post by **jmazza** » Fri Dec 25, 2009 6:44 pm

Lostmycage wrote:[cough] <a href="forum12.html">FAQ</a> [/cough]

In addition to the FAQ, I'll recommend perusing the first 5-10 pages of threads here in General Discussion for tons of info on the questions you asked. It's always ok to bring up a question but many of the "new owner" type questions have either been very thoroughly covered in the FAQ or sometime in the last couple o' months.

Lostmycage has worked very hard on the FAQ- it's a pretty amazing resource. Wish we had it when I was young. In those days we had to search uphill both ways in the snow,,,,,; and we LIKED it!

hillbillybear · Post by **hillbillybear** » Fri Dec 25, 2009 10:25 pm

Never realized a FAQ could have so much info. Haven't looked at the 5-10 latest pages yet. Hard to read on my internet phone. Thanks for the suggestion.

Tazio · Post by **Tazio** » Fri Dec 25, 2009 11:07 pm

I have both. 5000 miles and 2.5 years on Buddy, 4000 miles and 1.5 years on Vespa 250 GTS. Zero problems with both. I love the Vespa for longer faster rides and the Buddy for its tossability.

Kaos · Post by **Kaos** » Fri Dec 25, 2009 11:49 pm

I've put 25,500 miles on my Buddy in 1 year, 9 months with no issues whatsoever. If that's not reliable, I don't know what is.

olhogrider · Post by **olhogrider** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 12:17 am

I have owned a St Tropez and a GTS250ie. The Buddy was BY FAR the more reliable! Easier to work on too. The Vespa has the name, the steel body and about 12mph higher top speed. The Vespa was also more comfortable on a long ride, mainly due to its size. But so is a GoldWing.

Tazio · Post by **Tazio** » Sun Dec 27, 2009 12:16 am

Another thing on the Vespa, with the larger leg shield, it is much warmer than the Buddy when the weather gets terribly cold like it is now in southern California. It only made it up to 58 degrees today.

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Sun Dec 27, 2009 4:17 am

Tazio wrote:when the weather gets terribly cold like it is now in southern California. It only made it up to 58 degrees today.

Oh. How terrible for you. How do you survive such cold?

jasondavis48108 · Post by **jasondavis48108** » Sun Dec 27, 2009 4:38 am

TVB wrote:
Tazio wrote:when the weather gets terribly cold like it is now in southern California. It only made it up to 58 degrees today.
Oh. How terrible for you. How do you survive such cold?

LOL, yeah, I'm looking forward to four months from now when we finally get back to the days of having a high of 58 degrees, hell I'd settle for a high of 48 degrees since it would basically guarantee that I could start riding the scooter again without fear of a snow storm

But until then I have my new the new Nokian Gazza Extreme tires for my Redline 29er, 294 glorious carbide studs per tire.

brape · Post by **brape** » Sun Dec 27, 2009 1:22 pm

I think its important to remember that you will see more problems on internet forums because people are looking for support, suggestions to fix it or just blowing off steam. I've been happy with my buddy for the past 2 years and haven't had any problems with it.

Kaos · Post by **Kaos** » Sun Dec 27, 2009 2:59 pm

TVB wrote:
Tazio wrote:when the weather gets terribly cold like it is now in southern California. It only made it up to 58 degrees today.
Oh. How terrible for you. How do you survive such cold?

Heh, serious. We had a high of 36 yesterday, and thats the warmest day we've had all week!

jfrost2 · Post by **jfrost2** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 6:36 pm

Not sure if anyone has mentioned this or not, but user Bonegirl has over 40,000 on her buddy with no major issues ever. Did she hit over 50,000? I cant remember what she posted last.

Kaos · Post by **Kaos** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 6:39 pm

jfrost2 wrote:Not sure if anyone has mentioned this or not, but user Bonegirl has over 40,000 on her buddy with no major issues ever. Did she hit over 50,000? I cant remember what she posted last.

Last I talked to her, it was 45k I think.

Cheshire · Post by **Cheshire** » Tue Dec 29, 2009 10:54 pm

I've only had 2 problems with my Buddy 125, both covered 100% under warranty. I've got 12k on the odometer, and it's been my daily rider for 11 months.

Modern Buddy

reliability issues

reliability issues

thanks Mazza