Modern Buddy

I've been riding scooters for a couple of years and riding in just about all conditions. I've skid out a few time but I've recently purchased a Buddy 150 about 6 weeks ago and have skid out 3 times in so many days. If this just bad luck or is this common with the factory tires. My older bike was a yamaha vino which weighed considerably less and did have knobbier tires. Just wondering if anyone else has had issues like this.

Slow down more than usual in those turns when its wet. How aggressive do you ride? Maybe you need some really sticky tires.

mjm,

Good question. Can you describe the riding conditions in more detail as in any uneven roads, raining heavily or roads still wet from an earlier rain, where you going straight or taking a turn or stop, going maybe too fast?

I have about 1,200 miles on my Buddy 150 and I have not (yet) skidded out (my crash from new rider fatigue doesn't apply here). So far, I have only ridden one time in some moderate to light rain. While I still have my stock tires I am looking into possibly replacing them as I am encountering a feeling of my scoot and me being pushed around a bit when I go over 45mph and when the roads are uneven and when the wind picks up.

I'm looking forward to reading the replies of others to your post.

I have my stock tire on the back and a Zippy on the front. My Buddy handles great in the wet.

My new Sym, not so much. I got an award at work and I am going to be replacing the tires on this thing, just riding along on wet roads after a rain the tar snakes make my Sym creep around and taking turns at low speeds is really scary. I have no idea what tires came on the Sym.

I do also want to mention that the weekend before last we had 2 from our club go down.

One was during the rally ride, he went down on some twisty roads that were covered in gravel, ended up skidding into someone's yard, fortunately his new crash bars saved his Vespa, the same can't be said about his leg which has a very impressive bruise on it.

The second person that went down was riding in a gentle but drenching rain and she came to a stop, front tire was on the white paint of the stop bar, just as she stopped I guess her front brake locked up slightly or something like that because her front tire just slipped right out from under her (she said it was like someone ripped a carpet out from under her front wheel), scoot landed on her sneaker clad foot, she is now scooting around on a whole different type of scooter with a great big boot protecting her broken foot.

Some surfaces just plain suck to ride on.

I can say that when I got the new Zippy front tire I noticed a HUGE improvement in the handling of my Buddy, before that I felt lots of surfaces that transmitted as kind of like my bike was squeamish, not that I was not in prefect control, but I could feel the bike not gripping as well, tar snakes-even dry and not excessively hot, that kind of surface. After the Zippy, I know that they are there but the handling is hugely improved!

Good luck!

-v

Did you skid out while making an aggressive left turn? The center stand is low on the left side and will touch ground and (in my case) resulting in a slide.

Howard

well, the 1st skid was the worse. lost the bike and wound up skidding on the road for 30 yards (had my riding gear on so I'm ok). that was after a drenching rain but the road was in good condition (if wet), not debris or potholes, The bike just flipped out from underneath me while just driving straight, was not even braking. all the issues have been at about 30mph

The other too were the following day. Light rain, one was over a patch or wet leaves, i think I can figure out the problem there, the other was a mild left turn, she fishtailed out pretty wildly for a few secs. I was able to rein her in but still disturbing. I've been riding slower since the 1st accident, I am usually a pretty safe driver, don't speed or weave in and out of traffic. no hot dogging to say the least.

Also worth noting is that new tires (assuming you bought the scoot new) will be slick for the first 50 miles or so.

wish I bought her new, but she got 3K on her

I think you need to slow down. I am assuming you are not braking in your corners?
I have 7400 miles on stock tires, ride in the rain, and really only once did I hit too much throttle in a corner to spook me.
I am sure someone mentioned if it has not rained in a while to try and wait 30 minutes so the oils can wash off, also watch out for oily spots at stops, metel plates, and painted lines.
.

mjm1374 wrote:wish I bought her new, but she got 3K on her

How long have you had it? It is possible that the previous owners put something slippery on the tires, like Armor All? Or maybe they used something on the tires that degraded the rubber.

I've ridden in mild rain a handful of times, including just about 1/2 hour ago coming home from work. I've never felt even the slightest slide and I have the stock tires.

that could the be, when I purchased it it looked like it came of the showroom floor. It would not surprise me to say that armour-all was used on the tires.

Last time I took my scoot in to the shop, they "cleaned" it up wich included either tire black or armor all on my tires, it rained while i was riding home and almost ate it in a mild turn, not sure if the application is what caused it, but i scrubbed the crap off and didn't have another problem after.

There's a difference in tire black and armor all. I've had both on my side walls with no problems at all. They both suck. I don't use any of that junk any more.

When I wash my scoot, I use water (nothing but) and a nylon pot scrubber on the tires.

Just remember, when a skid occurs, if you can react fast enough you can countersteer into the skid to stay upright. Don't touch the brakes, though.

I had one near-skid years ago on a Vino 50cc. Wet leaves in the fall at an intersection. It helped that I was expecting a possible skid and had re-read a motorcycle manual about the technique when it happened. I've also had a couple of "bobble" moments on my commute home from work during heavy rain. A certain sweeper curve right at the top of the Decarie service road reminds me to take it slow if I push it during the wet.

NEVER Armourall your motorcycle/scooter tires. Unlike car tires, you're actually using the outer walls of the tire during a turn. Car tires stay flat against the ground in a turn and can be as slick and shiney as you want to make them.

Also, the Buddy has very small wheels that make it unstable in my opinion. I've been riding bikes and scooters for years and those little wheels on the Buddy are tricky. Just ride behind a Buddy in a car and look at how tiny the wheels look. I think my mountain bike has wider wheels.

That being said, I still like my Buddy but only ride it in good conditions.

I sometimes have to ride is very heavy rain.. My trick: don't go faster then you have too, maybe 35 tops and do those corners nice and easy, no crazy leaning!