Got my new 2023 Buddy 125 today!

[Dooglas]

Alloy rims now! Should I be excited or worried? The old steel rims never gave me issues.

I haven't heard anyone having any issues with the alloy ones, but we don't really have a lot of new scooter owners on MB right now who are active.

Seems like a number of Buddy Kick owners have checked in. It also has alloy rims. Mine have given me no issues.

[sc00ter]

My back OEM tire made it to 11,000 miles! I tried to find a trustworthy source for another OEM tire but couldn't find one, so I got something different. I purchased a Michelin City Extra instead. Pricey but I ride year round and want something quality. Liked the OEM as well. I highly doubt this tire will see 11,000 miles but I'll follow up what it ends up getting too before wearing out. Another thing to note: The alloy rim held up to the heavy handed spoon man at the motorcycle shop! Not a single scratch or nick! No distortion along the lip wall! If I like this City Extra and end up ordering a front one, the rotation puts the tread pattern "backwards" so I'll be getting asked if my front tire is installed backwards! I had the same pattern tires on my CityCom 300i and anyone in the know asked if the front was installed backwards. It wasn't, just what the manufacturer recommends for rotation. Finally, I tried to get the pictures to load, said the file was to large?

[scootERIK]

11k is a lot of miles for a 3.50x10. I think I got my 1st OEM rear tire to ~9.2k and threads were showing.

[sc00ter]

I like the Cheng Shin OEM tires. I only had the rear slide once and it was no fault of the tire, I hit some gravel. The OEM Cheng Shins are great quality. Great grip in dry, no worries in wet and they look good (yeah, silly I know). But I looked for another Cheng Shin and could only find them from sketchy vendors, so I wasn't sure if I was going to get a really old tire, blemish tire or a new take-off. Note that I have a very precise tire gauge from owning Subaru's and no longer carry a passenger. I read something once awhile ago that Cheng Shin was backing out of retail motorcycle tire sales and concentrating on OEM supply and ebikes. I also know that they go by CST now and their "big" seller is 4" wide Big Boat tire for ebikes. I run Michelin tires on the cars and have had good results from them, granted I drive like a old man on rarely drive off road. I expect the same results on the Buddy 125.

[sc00ter]

So I visited the guy who purchased my old black Buddy 125 at work. He works in another department and cant go on adventures and hide like I can. So I was telling him about the City Extra tire I just got installed and thru our nerdy scooter conversation I think I got him motivated to get his Yamaha Vino back on the road! This Vino is EVIL! Full RRGS forks with dics brake front end conversion, full Stage 6 BBK kit and so many crazy transmission mods. Best of all, aside from the disc front and the Daytona wheels it looks OEM stock. We tried hard to keep it as stock looking as possible but make it stupid fast! I'll try to get a picture of it.

[Dooglas]

Interesting. Years ago, I owned a 125 Vino. It looked good. It was an absolute quality build. It ran well. And was quite reliable. But our Buddy 125 would run rings around it! I have a hard time imagining using "Vino" and "stupid fast" in the same sentence. Tell me more about this puppy, unless we are talking about an older 2t Vino 50 ( I admit to knowing nothing about those , but understand they had potential )

[az_slynch]

I'm guessing it's a Vino 50, based on the disc brake conversion and the Stage6 parts. Horizontal Minarellis have huge potential.

I did a 143cc Taiwanese BBK with a "race" cam on a friend's Vino 125. Modded the head to match the new bore, ditched the EGR. Match ported the intake manifold. UNI "race" filter in the stock airbox. Polini High-Speed CVT setup with an NCY clutch. It will do an honest 65mph and is primarily limited by a lack of final drive options.

Vino 125 kits and cams.

[sc00ter]

I knew a guy who had a Vino 125. While it was a nice looking and nice quality scoot BUT the oil being drained every time you removed the transmission cover wasn't very funny. We discovered that all the transmission parts were the same between the Vino 125 and my Zuma 125, so he got all my extras including performance stuff. Wonder whatever happened to that Vino 125? He got it running pretty good but a stock Buddy 125 was still way faster. My wife would pass him on rides on her powder blue Buddy 125 with a Tow-Pac kit! Never knew someone made a bbk for a Vino 125.

[sc00ter]

I'll try to post pics but I upgraded my U-lock from the ABUS I posted pictures of to a LiteLok X1. The LiteLok X1 fits thru the front wheel easily. The LiteLok X3 is a VERY snug fit. I have both locks (bought the 2 pack) and use the X1 on my Buddy and the X3 with my ebike. The portable angle grinder thieves are starting to creep into our city so it was time to head them off at the pass with better security. I'll work on getting the pictures to work.... But for now a LiteLok X1 will fit the Buddy ALUMINUM front wheel.

[sc00ter]

Scooter Works is selling a Prime branded "Cold weather kilt" now for scooter owners. Since its been in the 20's at night and I'm getting tired of layering joggers over my work pants I ordered the kilt. The kilt looks less silly than chaps to me. Will post a review when the kilt arrives.

Also noticed that Scooter Works sells Genuine branded oil in gallon jugs now, but its the same price as 4 regular bottles. No bulk buying discount.

Finally, Scooter Works sells a LED turn signal kit now. I emailed them and asked if the replacement relay made a clicking sound like the original relay but never got a reply. I like the clicking sound as it reminds me if I forget to turn my signal off. I also use the hazards a lot to alert people behind/around me of pedestrians or other obstacles.

[DeeDee]

I installed LED bulbs in my front turn signal pods on my 2008 125 the same time I converted the OEM signals into clear running lights. The amber LED bulbs are about 2x bright as the stock bulbs. I still hear the clicking, I experience no hyper flash. The stock relay worked just fine.

[sc00ter]

Hmmmm, I might just try doing only the front bulbs, as that's the area I would like brighter. Thanks for the heads-up. Now I have to find something else to order from Scooter Works!

[scootERIK]

If you only do the front turn signals with LED bulbs there is enough of a load from the rear bulbs that it doesn't hyper flash, at least in my testing. For a while I ran double front turn signals and it seemed to help make it easier for other drivers to see that I was turning. I ran LEDs in the deadlight location and left the stock bulbs everywhere else.

[az_slynch]

I saw the Scooterworks LED kit as well. Very interesting to see if anyone has tried it out yet.

I'd done a deadlight harness on my St. Tropez and love the extra light. Had been considering an LED headlight and had procured a pair of Phillips HS1 units to try, but was worried about cooling and the beam pattern. I hope Genuine did their homework and got a LED assembly that plays nicely with the reflector

[DeeDee]

This is a killer cheap LED headlight bulb that is AC/DC, and uses 30 watts on high: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/32568057 ... pt=glo2usa Combined with the LED deadlights the scooter is a lot more visible day or night, turning or not.