lowering my buddy scooter

retrochick · Post by **retrochick** » Wed Jan 20, 2010 7:38 am

Hi everyone,
New gal here picking up her brand new 125cc Buddy this Saturday! I am very very excited! I had a couple concerns, however, as the dealer suggested some modifications to fit my height-challenged demands and I wanted to know what people thought.

First, they are going to take about 1" off the seat. No biggie in my opinion. I'm light so I probably won't feel the lack of padding as much.

Second, they suggested replacing the 3.5x10 stock scooter tires with 3x10 tires to lower the scooter some more. My concerns are: less stability because of the reduced contact with the road on thinner tires and also, this will lower the floorboard more to the ground and affect how I turn.

Does anyone have any experience with smaller tires on their scoot? Opinions?

Thanks in advance

.

K

Lil Buddy · Post by **Lil Buddy** » Wed Jan 20, 2010 8:09 am

Welcome!

Lowering the seat..... go for it. Many have done it. From what I recall, they liked the results.

Smaller tires..... I may be way off here but 3.5 X 10 tires are the same height as 3 X 10...right? I think the Buddy 50's have 3 X 10 tires.

How tall are you? I seem to remember a few members here just over five feet tall. Once they learned to use one foot at a stop instead of trying to get both feet to touch the ground, they were A-okay.

Maybe get some pimp'n goldfish boots

jasondavis48108 · Post by **jasondavis48108** » Wed Jan 20, 2010 12:05 pm

Lil Buddy wrote:I think the Buddy 50's have 3 X 10 tires.

The 50 technically has 90/90 10 tires which when converted to standard is about 2.75"-3" I've sat on the 125s and there doesn't seem to be any seat height difference. I wouldn't worry too much about the reduced contact with the road, I havn't had any problems with the 50 and I ride some really curvy roads but I just don't think it will lower it at all. I would worry about anything that dropped the bottom of the scooter any closer to the road.

jmazza · Post by **jmazza** » Wed Jan 20, 2010 12:57 pm

Welcome to ModBud and congrats on the scooter!!

As the others have said above, lowering the seat is a great idea! Smaller tires, not so great. The 1" cut in the seat ought to get you where you need to be. The Buddy's seat slopes downward to the front as well so you can hopefully find a place where you can reach the ground. The Buddy is a very light scooter and so, though perhaps not ideal, you can usually get away with just putting one foot down at first until you slide off the seat and stand up. Practice will make perfect.

While you're here, check out our Welcome/ Posting Guidelines as well as our FAQ and Guides section. TONS of answers to common new rider questions!

Lostmycage · Post by **Lostmycage** » Wed Jan 20, 2010 2:19 pm

Welcome to MB!

My favorite thing to suggest to women who want more height is the

Icon Bombshell Boots. Three reasons for the suggestion: Those suckers add a few inches to your inseam (bonus, no seat cutting), they offer a hell of a lot more protection than sneakers, and well... you can figure out the third reason.

Of course the downside (as opposed to cutting the seat down) is that you're limited to just those boots when you're riding, but that's still better than sneaks.

pdxrita · Post by **pdxrita** » Wed Jan 20, 2010 3:42 pm

Welcome to Modern Buddy and the world of scootering! I'm willing to call my self an expert on being short and riding a Buddy (in my case, a 150); I'm 4'10" and I think that makes me the shortest rider on the board. First question for you, how tall are you? If you are 5'2" or greater, I'd say you don't need to do anything special. If you're shorter than that, the best two options are cutting the seat down, as the dealer suggested, and getting platform boots. I've been wearing platform boots which just allowed me to get a toe down and, just this past weekend, I cut my seat down as well - look below for a thread named "cutting down the seat" for my impressions of that mod. I wouldn't recommend the Icon boots mentioned above simply because they don't provide any boost under the ball of your foot, which is where you'll likely need it. I wouldn't recommend changing the tires. The only other thing is to practice sliding forward on the seat for stops - that's where you can get the best reach from. Good luck and feel free to throw any questions back at me!

bluebuddygirl · Post by **bluebuddygirl** » Wed Jan 20, 2010 3:43 pm

The seat lowering is a good idea, but you don't have to touch with both feet, and especially not flat footed. It definitely is more secure, but you can also stop with a basic tripod stance. Always stop with the bike leaning to the left and put only your one leg down. You just might have to lean a little more than some people.

This is the same principle that you probably used as a kid on a bicycle. On the bicycle you probably kept one foot on the pedal without even thinking about it, and instinctively leaned the bike to accommodate the foot that was down. It is a very secure stop, and on a motorcycle it would allow you to keep your right foot on the rear brake.

Kaos · Post by **Kaos** » Wed Jan 20, 2010 5:25 pm

pdxrita wrote:Welcome to Modern Buddy and the world of scootering! I'm willing to call my self an expert on being short and riding a Buddy (in my case, a 150); I'm 4'10" and I think that makes me the shortest rider on the board. First question for you, how tall are you? If you are 5'2" or greater, I'd say you don't need to do anything special. If you're shorter than that, the best two options are cutting the seat down, as the dealer suggested, and getting platform boots. I've been wearing platform boots which just allowed me to get a toe down and, just this past weekend, I cut my seat down as well - look below for a thread named "cutting down the seat" for my impressions of that mod. I wouldn't recommend the Icon boots mentioned above simply because they don't provide any boost under the ball of your foot, which is where you'll likely need it. I wouldn't recommend changing the tires. The only other thing is to practice sliding forward on the seat for stops - that's where you can get the best reach from. Good luck and feel free to throw any questions back at me!

Hey Rita, how well did that cutdown seat work out for you? My wife is 4'8" and wants to ride but can only barely reach the ground, which is making her skittish to learn. Obviously since I'm 6'3" I'm not cutting down the seat on my Buddy, but I might be able to swing a second seat, or a second Buddy

retrochick · Post by **retrochick** » Wed Jan 20, 2010 5:45 pm

Thank you everyone for your kind words and advice! I think I will talk to my dealer and have them keep the 3.5x10 wheels and see it I can at least balance on my tippy toes. I am 4'11 (with a 26 inseam) and sometimes 5' on a good day.

I've been riding mopeds mostly, so I have some two-wheeled experience. I can for sure do the one legged balancing thing, however it's immensely helpful to have both legs touching when you are at the top a hill. Anywho, thanks again for the advice and opinions, I'll post pics of my scoot once I get her from the dealership!

<3

polianarchy · Post by **polianarchy** » Wed Jan 20, 2010 6:44 pm

Welcome to Modern Buddy! I'm 5'2" with a 27" inseam. It took me a minute to get used to the Buddy 125, as it was my first motorized two-wheeler. That being said, I have no doubt you'll be able to adjust to the Buddy's seat as it is. Cutting it down is easy enough, and you may very well prefer it. Bonus is that the seats are relatively inexpensive and definitely easy to come by. Good luck with whatever you do.

Stormswift · Post by **Stormswift** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 2:28 am

I am 5'1 ft and 1/2 inches short. I have not cut down my seat yet but considering it as a strong possibility. Not because it effects my riding, though I am so new that I am not sure how things will play out on the road. It may be very different from riding around neighborhood, cull de sacs etc. I think in my case cutting down the seat an inch or so would be enough for flatfooting it. By the way someone mentioned
"Always stop with the bike leaning to the left and put only your one leg down.".
I kind of tend to lean on my right. Does it matter which side?

pdxrita · Post by **pdxrita** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 2:38 am

bluebuddygirl wrote: Always stop with the bike leaning to the left and put only your one leg down. You just might have to lean a little more than some people.

Actually, the beauty of riding a scooter is that you don't have to adhere to always stopping with your left foot down, since there's no brake to hold under your right foot. I sometimes stop on my right foot, since the angle of the road sometimes gives me a boost on that side. Sometimes I stop on my left, and then switch.

Kaos wrote:Hey Rita, how well did that cutdown seat work out for you? My wife is 4'8" and wants to ride but can only barely reach the ground, which is making her skittish to learn. Obviously since I'm 6'3" I'm not cutting down the seat on my Buddy, but I might be able to swing a second seat, or a second Buddy

Check in on my last post to the seat cutting thread - I wrote up a little follow up there. Overall, I'm liking it. For your wife, you might consider fabricating a new seat pan to remove the middle hump. That would give a lot more room for lowering the seat while keeping some cushion intact. If I can figure out a way to do that, I just might do it for mine at some point. Your other option would be to put your wife on something small to start with, like a Metro or a Kymco Sento, just so that she could gain some confidence. Yeah, I know... only if you had unlimited funds.

retrochick wrote:Thank you everyone for your kind words and advice! I think I will talk to my dealer and have them keep the 3.5x10 wheels and see it I can at least balance on my tippy toes. I am 4'11 (with a 26 inseam) and sometimes 5' on a good day. I've been riding mopeds mostly, so I have some two-wheeled experience. I can for sure do the one legged balancing thing, however it's immensely helpful to have both legs touching when you are at the top a hill. Anywho, thanks again for the advice and opinions, I'll post pics of my scoot once I get her from the dealership!<3

You probably don't get to hear this much, but you tower over me.

I was also a bit worried about my lack of footing on hills, but it turns out that it's really easy to hold the scooter in place using the brake. You don't need to release the brake until you've already started to apply the throttle, so you won't roll backwards. I live in a very hilly part of town and have never had any issues.

Keys · Post by **Keys** » Thu Jan 21, 2010 4:14 am

Stormswift wrote:"Always stop with the bike leaning to the left and put only your one leg down.".
I kind of tend to lean on my right. Does it matter?

Probably won't matter at all. I suspect the reason most rider lean to the left is that on modern motorcycles and on vintage scooters, the rear brake is operated with the right foot, so you'd need that one free.

--Keys