New Buddy 170i

[Neil82]

I brought home my new 2022 Buddy 170i last month. I'll try to post a few photos in this thread.

Drove from Denver, CO to Lubbock, TX to get it. Couldn't find a 170i in CO and didn't want to miss out on the great deal. Saved $1k off retail price of ordering through Denver dealer for delivery in spring 2023.

55 miles on it now. I'm going easy on the throttle during break in period. Looking forward to some nice rides as weather permits. Hoping to get 500 miles and first service completed before spring.

[Scooter Curmudgeon]

Congratulations, I have the same color 170i that is a few years older. These are just fun scooters, I hope you have enough dry weather to enjoy it a little before "riding season" arrives.

[Neil82]

Hey thanks @Scooter Curmudgeon

Weather has kept the scooter garaged more than I would like. 105 miles on odometer at the moment. It has been a blast to ride!

I wish I could be riding more, but I'm thankful for the winter weather and snow we've had. We live under 15 miles from where the devastating Marshall Fire occurred just over a year ago which destroyed 1000+ homes and took two lives. We could see the flames from our neighborhood at night.

On a more positive note, I'm really looking forward to nicer riding weather ahead. In the meantime, I'm lurking around the forum, shopping scooter accessories, and planning out riding routes. Oh, and going sledding and making snowmen with my daughter.

Content to 'live in each season as it passes.'

[Scooter Curmudgeon]

Since you're not riding much (or at all), I thought I would share some upgrades that have improved my 170i.

- Gen-u-bin, offers a semi secure place for loose articles with a latching cover.
- Cheeky Seats seat cover, the array of colors and textures is just staggering. I went with a "distressed whiskey" brown, reminiscent of old leather.
- Air horn from Stebel, loud enough to make an inattentive cage driver wet him/herself.
- Rear rack and locking top case, this is probably the most useful accessory I've added.
- Windscreen, not the tall one, but enough to relieve the pressure on my torso when riding longer stretches.
- LED lights for the lower front fixtures, and turn signals. The "deadlights" can be made operable by a pretty simple harness that you can find from a few sources here. ThatVWbusguy is where I've found the best source.

I hope you get to enjoy the ride before long.

Bob

[Neil82]

Great list of accessories. Thanks for that Bob. Haven't done much riding since the holidays. About 150 miles on the clock now.

- Gen-u-bin- I'll check this out. Need place for coffee thermos so it doesn't flop around.
- Cheeky Seats seat cover- I've been looking at these. I also like the distressed whiskey. (Or do they have relaxed whiskey? ) I thought I read somewhere they could make matching cover for Prima rear rack/backrest.
- Air horn from Stebel- would be worth every penny. I haven't even tested out stock horn yet. That needs to happen!
- Rear rack and locking top case- I have rear rack but haven't had need for top case. I ride for pleasure and rarely with items that require storage space. Definitely see the purpose for it though.
- Windscreen- had one installed a couple weeks ago. I got the Cuppini. Great add on for riding in cool weather.
- LED lights for the lower front fixtures, and turn signals- I want to do this too. Need to track down wiring harness. Thanks for the lead on finding it.

BTW your 170i looks nice. How's the weather in WA?

Neil in CO

[Scooter Curmudgeon]

The Gen-u-bin has an integrated cup holder, but I found that it won't secure anything larger than a small or medium cup. The top case is useful to me for those times I stop for a few groceries or bring a cooler with ice packs to grab a few pints of handmade gelato from the local shop (best thing around). Otherwise, I prefer the look of just a simple rack.

The Cheeky Seats crew is amazing, I'm not sure there is anything scooter/cycle related that Suzy and her group can't cover and make look fabulous. I've had several scooters (Yamahas and Buddys) that all have had seat covers, and they all look terrific. She did a Union Jack for a dark blue Yamaha, and a black with white racing strip for the black one. The one on my 170i has French seams, which really pop with the brown fabric. I have two Vespas that want seat covers, I just haven't decided what colors and patterns to use. The air horns are definitely worth it, I've never been disappointed by that upgrade. I have the same windscreen, I like it a lot.

The LED light harnesses used to be produced by a guy here - Voodoo Scooter Parts, but he stopped a few years ago and finally sold all the kits he had in stock. There is a fairly recent thread on this subject (https://www.modernbuddy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=32943). Jay ([email protected]) also used to make up wiring harnesses to activate the lower lights for running lights, I've bought a few from him and he is a very good resource for that work. His web site is here: https://sites.google.com/site/vanagonhe ... ht-harness. If you have decent wiring skills, you could probably make your own, I think that you could get input from VSP or Jay. There is a way to integrate them with the existing turn signals as well, but that's never been my interest so I haven't looked into it.

Weather here has been typically PNW winter, cold, wet, and gray, so the Vespas have been in the shop the past few weeks for horn installation (not as simple as one might think) and suspension tweaking. I'm hoping that by the time it starts to get nice again here, everything is ready go.

Looking forward to seeing reports and photos from epic Colorado rides.

Cheers,

Bob

[Neil82]

Went for a ride today with temp in the upper 40s and a bit windy. Really enjoying this new Buddy. Just a pleasure to ride. I'm glad I tracked down this scooter late last year. 315 miles so far and riding conditions are getting better every week. Hope you all are getting some rides in too.

[Neil82]

Summer cruising

[Neil82]

Had a nice ride this morning

[Neil82]

More pics from this morning

[sc00ter]

Nice pictures of your riding environment! My ride pictures are filled with traffic and red lights.

[350kmi]

That looks like a very nice ride. I am going to be visiting the Rockies in a couple weeks and I am really looking forward to it.

[Neil82]

That looks like a very nice ride. I am going to be visiting the Rockies in a couple weeks and I am really looking forward to it.

Nice time of the year to visit. Hope you have a great trip. Any plans to ride PTW in the Rockies?

[350kmi]

Only 4 wheels on the road and 2 feet on the trails this trip. I would really like to bring a motor bike out to the mountains one of these trip though.

[Neil82]

Spring is in the air and it's time for me to resume sunrise riding. Well, it's 35 degrees right now, and it was snowing this morning, but we need to allow mother nature some flexibility...

I ordered a Cheeky Seat cover and looking forward to seeing how it looks.

[Neil82]

Might as well keep this thread alive with a quick update. Did some recent maintenance in preparation for riding season. Oil change, spark plug, air filter, and adjusted the valves. Found a valve adjustment tool kit on Amazon ($15). Watched Robot's YouTube video and jumped in. This job wasn't bad at all!

Here it is with the cheeky seats cover, sans whitewall tires, and switched to shorter tinted windscreen. I'm looking forward to some nice rides this year!

Had to pull over to grab this photo of the odometer, kind of lucky that I saw it at the right time.

Thankful for the great DIY video for the valve adjustment.

[DeeDee]

Hello Neil! How were your valves at 3,500 miles? I've never met an exhaust valve that wasn't tight.

[Neil82]

Hello Neil! How were your valves at 3,500 miles? I've never met an exhaust valve that wasn't tight.

Hey there! The valve clearance was tight on both. In hindsight, I wish I would have took a measurement for reference. Oh well, I'll try that next time.

When I mentioned to my brother (who is an engineer and also likes to tinker with engines) the valves were tight, he was surprised and thought the valves would instead get loose over time. Does anyone know why they actually get tight?

[DeeDee]

Below from AI: I believe the 170 runs hotter than the 125. I've had valves on a 125 go for 14,000 miles between needing adjustment.

[Neil82]

Thanks @ DeeDee. I'm going to check the valves every few thousand miles.