Modern Buddy

I'm working on one of my many hairbrained Voodoo mods ideas and have run a little short on some info, so I figured I'd ask

I *THINK* the Buddy's handlebars are 7/8" bars. Can anyone confirm that?

Damn, I came in here looking for a new candy bar.

If you'd asked earlier.
Gimme about 10 minutes. I haven't put the tools away yet.

Cheshire wrote:If you'd asked earlier.
Gimme about 10 minutes. I haven't put the tools away yet.

Thanks Cheshire

I can confirm they're 7/8th of a inch.

Yep. 7/8".

2.223 cm. (My caliper's in metric)
Yup. Translates to 7/8".

C'mon, guys. Don't make me take apart my scooter for nothing!!

Sweet! Thanks! Now all I need to do is buy a plastic welder and my nefarious schemes can begin!!! Muahahaha!! Err... Nothing to see here

And especially thanks Cheshire, that was above and beyond

Drop bars?

rvajma wrote:Drop bars?

Gonna try. I know where I can get several styles of drop bars that will fit(now that I'm 100% sure of the size), but I'm not going to ditch the headset. Since the headset is made out of PVC, and I've got a junk headset plastic already, I'm gonna see if I can modify the headset to fit drop bars.

We'll see if it works

Kaos wrote:

rvajma wrote:Drop bars?

Gonna try. I know where I can get several styles of drop bars that will fit(now that I'm 100% sure of the size), but I'm not going to ditch the headset. Since the headset is made out of PVC, and I've got a junk headset plastic already, I'm gonna see if I can modify the headset to fit drop bars.

We'll see if it works

You said you were going to use a plastic welder, you could try to cut and tilt the headset then fiberglass and bondo it as a prototype.

jfrost2 wrote:

Kaos wrote:

rvajma wrote:Drop bars?

Gonna try. I know where I can get several styles of drop bars that will fit(now that I'm 100% sure of the size), but I'm not going to ditch the headset. Since the headset is made out of PVC, and I've got a junk headset plastic already, I'm gonna see if I can modify the headset to fit drop bars.

We'll see if it works

You said you were going to use a plastic welder, you could try to cut and tilt the headset then fiberglass and bondo it as a prototype.

I've thought of doing it that way, I'm also thinking of making a mold to set the headset in, and seeing it I can heat and bend it to the mold.

Drop bars as in like some modified vespas? I Digg that look a lot. The headset squares off a bit at the controls. If the bars drop, that part would be more exposed. And the mirrors will change position. But all this coming from a buddyless scooter pilot. This could be sweet though.

I thought that maybe you were launching a series of new micro brewpubs (with BBQ grills) across America dedicated to the Buddy scooter culture.

bigbropgo wrote:Drop bars as in like some modified vespas? I Digg that look a lot. The headset squares off a bit at the controls. If the bars drop, that part would be more exposed. And the mirrors will change position. But all this coming from a buddyless scooter pilot. This could be sweet though.

Yep, exactly like that. I love that look too, but I DON'T like it when they ditch the headset for open handle bars. I want to keep the headset, so I'm working to "bend" the ends of the headset down with a plastic welder. If that works, then I'll install the bars, if not, I'll find another option

nice

bigbropgo wrote:nice

Yep, something like that

If you leave a little bit of the plastics off, you could probably mount up some wind guards for those chilly mornings... I know you're a year round ridier.

One thing I'm curious about... the comfort factor. This would put you into more of a tucked position. That might be a little awkward, especially for those long commutes.

Of course, it would look completely bad-ass. At least it does in my head. Actually, no... let me do some digging. Scoot Richmond did up a Buddy with some lowered bars and it looked kinda neat, but it's been a while. I'll see if Chelsea has any pics of that set-up. It was a wrecked bike that they were playing around with.

Lostmycage wrote:If you leave a little bit of the plastics off, you could probably mount up some wind guards for those chilly mornings... I know you're a year round ridier.

One thing I'm curious about... the comfort factor. This would put you into more of a tucked position. That might be a little awkward, especially for those long commutes.

Of course, it would look completely bad-ass. At least it does in my head. Actually, no... let me do some digging. Scoot Richmond did up a Buddy with some lowered bars and it looked kinda neat, but it's been a while. I'll see if Chelsea has any pics of that set-up. It was a wrecked bike that they were playing around with.

I'm not too worried about the comfort factor. I ride that way anyway, and I think it would actually be MORE comfortable to be able to lower my hands a bit. I was also thinking I might add some rearsets to it if I can figure out how to do it without affecting cornering or looking really funky.

I'm also working on fabing a rear cowel like you get on a lot of cafe bikes.

I'd LOVE to see photos of the bike Scoot Richmond did, if you can find them.

I'll see if she's got a pic handy.

I don't think they had the plastics on though.

Since you're going custom, I'd maybe try to mold the headlight and gauge into a pod kinda like a cross between the Stella's headlight and a Vino's headset shaped thing. It'd definitely give it a more classic style than the Buddy's stock shape.

Lostmycage wrote:I'll see if she's got a pic handy.

I don't think they had the plastics on though.

Since you're going custom, I'd maybe try to mold the headlight and gauge into a pod kinda like a cross between the Stella's headlight and a Vino's headset shaped thing. It'd definitely give it a more classic style than the Buddy's stock shape.

At this point the plan is to attempt to heat the sides of the headset plastic till the 'arms' are pliable, then bend them down. If that doesn't work, I'll use parts of the stock plastic and fiberglass the rest.

For a while I had contemplated grabbing the clamp from the Rattler and putting that in place of the headset on both the Buddy and the Blur. I think it'd look completely sick on the Blur. Could look pretty cool on the Buddy too, but the headlight would make that setup look a little funky.

Lostmycage wrote:For a while I had contemplated grabbing the clamp from the Rattler and putting that in place of the headset on both the Buddy and the Blur. I think it'd look completely sick on the Blur. Could look pretty cool on the Buddy too, but the headlight would make that setup look a little funky.

I'm trying to find it, but there was someone from Guam that had a stripped down buddy 50 that was like that. It looked strange if I remember right.

Man, I can't wait to see what you come up with! I looked in to swapping my P200 handlebars for drop bars like immediately after I got it, but good golly they're expensive!

KRUSTYburger wrote:Man, I can't wait to see what you come up with! I looked in to swapping my P200 handlebars for drop bars like immediately after I got it, but good golly they're expensive!

Holy crap, yes! The P series drop bars are CRAZY expensive!

Here's the pic I was thinking of. It was Tumon-Ninja's 50cc.

<img src="http://streetkings.files.wordpress.com/ ... =420&h=560">

<img src="http://streetkings.files.wordpress.com/ ... =420&h=315">

Granted, he deleted the headlight too, but I think it needs some sorta headset...

Go with some ape hangers! Although raising your center of gravity that much might not be good.

Asburyjer wrote:Go with some ape hangers! Although raising your center of gravity that much might not be good.

Heh, that would be a bit bizarre I've never really liked that look, and often wondered what that does for your hands on long rides.

I also ride most of the time in a semi forward position anyway. Have to to keep the front down under sudden acceleration

bump

bigbropgo wrote:bump

I've found a clamp that should work, now I'm trying to find it for less than $80 What can I say, I'm a cheapskate

Kaos wrote:
I've found a clamp that should work,

Please elaborate. (my Veypor showed up today.)

Lagerhead wrote:

Kaos wrote:
I've found a clamp that should work,

Please elaborate. (my Veypor showed up today.)

Ok, there's actually 2 that will work. First, Vespa Portland let me poke around in a Rattler 110, and the handlebar clamp from it should work fine. It appears to use the same shock style as the Buddy. Also the clamp from the Zuma/BWS looks to be exactly the same as well.

My next step is to figure out how to modify the headset plastics, and this project gets rollin!

Kaos wrote:

Lagerhead wrote:

Kaos wrote:
I've found a clamp that should work,

Please elaborate. (my Veypor showed up today.)

Ok, there's actually 2 that will work. First, Vespa Portland let me poke around in a Rattler 110, and the handlebar clamp from it should work fine. It appears to use the same shock style as the Buddy. Also the clamp from the Zuma/BWS looks to be exactly the same as well.

Giddy up!