Bought a used 50cc Buddy, questions.

jenaflynn · Post by **jenaflynn** » Mon Jan 14, 2013 2:38 pm

Wow, great board, with great advice.

I just bought a used 2011 buddy 50cc, and I'm pretty thrilled with it so far. I had to replace the battery, since the old one was leaking, but it only ran me about $42 at Batteries+.

Is there anything that I should as a user get to know about my buddy, or planned maint to take it in, etc? Mine didn't come with an owners manual, so I've had to google around for everything so far.

But I love the bike, and being a former staunch moped'er who loathed scooters, this scoot has really changed me. No I look at my old '78 Garelli moped, and wish it had the speed and handling that my buddy does.

skully93 · Post by **skully93** » Mon Jan 14, 2013 2:56 pm

Welcome to the forum!

do you know the history of the bike?

Unless you are absolutely sure it was otherwise maintained (a leaking battery makes it sound otherwise, but it isn't old....), I would take it in for a service/checkup. That way you'll know it's done right, and they can look for anything out of the ordinary.

After that changing oil is easy, and the rest depends on you.

This thread has in the tech library should get you started.

topic4196.html

By the way, what color is it?

jenaflynn · Post by **jenaflynn** » Mon Jan 14, 2013 3:02 pm

skully93 wrote:Welcome to the forum!

do you know the history of the bike?

Unless you are absolutely sure it was otherwise maintained (a leaking battery makes it sound otherwise, but it isn't old....), I would take it in for a service/checkup. That way you'll know it's done right, and they can look for anything out of the ordinary.

After that changing oil is easy, and the rest depends on you.

This thread has in the tech library should get you started.

topic4196.html

By the way, what color is it?

Thanks!
I'll prolly take it in this week to get it checked out. It was left stored outside so that might explain the battery.

I have a nice warm garage for it to go in now.

It's black, and unrestricted, so I was able to get it up to 40mph on a street near me. Great, because my old moped could only do 25. I just have to get used to the steering/shifting my body into corners.

Anyone else on here in Boston? Any facebook groups for Boston or Northeast scooters?

az_slynch · Post by **az_slynch** » Mon Jan 14, 2013 5:09 pm

Welcome to the dark side.

I have a small gaggle of mopeds myself: a trio of Piaggio Ciaos, a trio of Puch Maxis and a JC Penny Pinto. I've managed to get the Pinto to 42 with light modification and one of my Ciaos is busting 45mph, but even with the speed up, it's hard to ignore the better suspension and brakes of a modern 50cc scoot. Garellis are pretty cool, but they're not as tune-able as other mopeds or scooters.

The Buddy 50 engine is of the horizontal Minarelli type that is also found in the Yamaha Zuma 50s, which means that it has a lot of tuning potential if you want a bit more out of it. Coming from mopeds, I'd suspect you've considered kitting or piping your bike for a bit more go. With the Buddy, you've got a good one for this.

Not sure on Boston scooter groups. It's been a long time since I've lived in the northeast.

TVB · Post by **TVB** » Mon Jan 14, 2013 5:32 pm

You can find copies of the manuals here:
topic17349.html

The Buddy 50 doesn't require a lot of service, but even though you don't need to change the engine oil (the light on the speedo will come on when you need to refill the oil tank), don't forget to change the gear oil periodically.