Modern Buddy

This is my jump from the gymkhana at the 7 hills sponsored Indian Summer rally

Wow, thats some air!!! How was the landing?

Wow! Nice air!!!!!

Kaos wrote:How was the landing?

That's what I'm curious about!

That pic hardly does the jump justice. You can see by my expression in the background! (OK, so not so much on that part, but it's one of the rare shots you'll see of me, the photogenic hermit).

Just a little preamble here:
Mrs Latch rides a 50cc Roughhouse. This was her first time riding a Buddy. This particular one is a shop bike for Scoot Richmond. Basically, it's a hacked up and Frankensteined Buddy 150 that's been beat all to hell. To say that the bike was foreign to her might be a touch of understatement.
Now, with that said, she nailed the landing like a pro! It was a moment of friggin' brilliance! She, of course, could barely finish afterward because of what I suspect was a massive adrenaline dump, but the mere fact that she didn't wipe with that was truly impressive. It was an excellent demonstration of control and poise!

To add onto how controlled her landing was, the picture doesn't show that about 25 feet from the landing ramp (which she didn't need - keep in mind the speed needed to catch that much air) was a brick wall with 3 scooters parked in front of it. So after she caught this air on a new and unfamiliar bike, she braked in time to not hit the other bikes (or the brick wall) and turn around for the see-saw.

There weren't too many willing to attempt the gymkhana because directly after her a fella locked his brakes up and took some injuries. I lost my nerve to do the gymkhana after that on my Blur (it takes a while to get replacement plastic for those things), so I did it on the shop bike as well. I can attest to how beaten it is... the guy that rode it before me dumped it on the balance beam, lol. I'm pretty sure Mrs Latch beat my score, but I'm not a dare devil like her, lol.

Well done Mrs Latch! Also, thanks for the quick and easy recipe today! That should save me some time and effort when making dinner for me and the wife.
[edited for crappy spelling]

Wow! You are much braver than I am!

I'd love to participate in a rally that has fun obstacles and stuff like that!

Which one are you, LostMyCage, in the picture? The guy off to the left or the one you see just behind her?

lostmycage is on the right. im still amazed that i didnt dump it or hit the wall. and i learned my lesson on not gunning unfamiliar bikes.

oops

holy shyte you caught at leat four feet of air you are a pilot

Wow. Just wow. You are freaking crazy.

Daaaaaaaaaaaamn girlfriend!

Lostmycage wrote: To add onto how controlled her landing was, the picture doesn't show that about 25 feet from the landing ramp (which she didn't need - keep in mind the speed needed to catch that much air) was a brick wall with 3 scooters parked in front of it.

That was my first thought when I saw the picture. "But she's pointed at the back of the lot - there's a WALL." Then I thought about the landing.

I'm impressed.

iwabj wrote:How fast were you going?

pretty fast, I pulled the throttle back completely like it was my Rough House(ooooops) I meant to jump the gap, i didnt mean to clear the landing ramp and get that high, I never looked at the speedo however I was to busy concentrating on not braking

adding this point, the franken buddy shop bike has hit 80 so its beat to hell and fast

Awesome picture, awesome fun, and I don't mean to be a downer, but please, please wear a full face helmet when doing things like this (and riding in general).

What is the Latches scooter situation right now, after that whole fiasco? Are you guys down to one? None?

we have one, my rough house was never recovered, i borrowed the rough house we are most likely going to buy for the rally, but i used the shop bike for gymkhana because i definately wasnt using the borrowed bike or risking our only transportation

Anachronism- yeah I know, I dont own one, and searching for a full face modular that fits me and is affordable is being the biggest pain, I think only me, lostmycage and one other rider wore helmets in the obstacle course maybe 2 others but it wasnt the trend.

That's the greatest thing I've seen for quite some time! Mad props & digi knuks!

The more I look at that jump...wow!

...and to know that you had to pretty much stop on a dime right afterwards, and didn't crash...

Awesome scooting!

awesome jump!

ive located some more pics to show how everything went down!

this is me directly after stopping


this is how most jumps were done


and this shows the ramp location and wall

Seafoam!!!

Just saw this thread – very cool jump, I would have been scared especially the first time on a faster scooter – glad it turned out OK for you -

That jump is amazing! The fact that you landed it is even more amazing. Everyone i've shown that picture to is astounded.

AWESOME!!!

I'm crying 96 tears I couldn't make it to this. Y'all had a zinefest that weekend, too! Stupid GRE!!!

Anyone have a video?!!?

kh4130 wrote:Anyone have a video?!!?

Yeah! That's some killer air!

it was wicked cool. everyone else gave it just enough to clear the ramp, but MrsLatch really brought it.
overheard soon after when someone else went to use the same bike, 'you might have to dry off the seat'

Nice job! I've seen someone totally botch a landing on a similar jump for a gymkhana… Not an easy feat!

I have to say, the Buddy may be the perfect auto scoot for a gymkhana. Not that I've done one, but I've seen the Buddy in action and it can't be beat. And I'd sure like to do one someday.

Was this your first one? I would love to have one at our as-yet-nonexistant LA rally next year.

Apiarist wrote:it was wicked cool. everyone else gave it just enough to clear the ramp, but MrsLatch really brought it.
overheard soon after when someone else went to use the same bike, 'you might have to dry off the seat'

I think that might have been me that made that crack. In my defense, if I'd done that and landed it, I'd probably have to double wash my pants afterward. I lazy-arsed my way over the ramp.

The gymkhana was fun and all, but I did it with the express intent that I shouldn't compete (or be competitive), so I pretty much did it just to screw around. It was all fun except for the seesaw. That thing was scary unstable. Some folks chanced it, but I left it be and took my time penalty. The fulcrum was about 18" and the beam width was 5 1/4" (a 2x6). That and the center pivot wasn't olidly locked down, which was good enough for me, lol.

Perhaps next year I'll help in the build process so that I'd be more willing to go it all.

THAT IS SO AWESOME!

Next time you need to wear a white jumpsuit with red and blue sequins!

My only question: Where's the flaming ring of death!?

ericalm wrote:Nice job! I've seen someone totally botch a landing on a similar jump for a gymkhana… Not an easy feat!

I have to say, the Buddy may be the perfect auto scoot for a gymkhana. Not that I've done one, but I've seen the Buddy in action and it can't be beat. And I'd sure like to do one someday.

Was this your first one? I would love to have one at our as-yet-nonexistant LA rally next year.

eric that buddy is fast but feels like its just worn out, not to mention the reason it has a 150 engine is because a shop guy drained the oil never put oil back in and drove it, possibly the most beat up buddy ever

oh and sadly there is no video, but the brick photographer who was at gymkhana might have gotten a good photo so check out this weeks brick richmonders (scoot richmond stocks it)

MrsLatch wrote: eric that buddy is fast but feels like its just worn out, not to mention the reason it has a 150 engine is because a shop guy drained the oil never put oil back in and drove it, possibly the most beat up buddy ever

That engine is from a Buddy 150 that was in for an oil change and the mechanic (new and unfamiliar with the Buddies at the time) forgot to replace the oil. On a block long test ride, the engine soft seized and the engine was replaced in the scoot it was in. The rest of the scoot is a mish mash of a few different wrecked scooters. I know this because I was trying buy it for it's valve head.

Funny twist, though. The engine still runs fine after refilling it with oil. Talk about a tough little bugger of a motor! I'm not sure I'd call it fast, but it's certainly peppier than a 50, hehe. As for most beat up, I think POC's Ghetto Buddy might be a strong contender for that title.

Evil Kanevil, I'd say!! You rock MrsLatch!!!!!

laxer wrote:My only question: Where's the flaming ring of death!?

BOOOOOOOM

black sunshine wrote:BOOOOOOOM

Sweet! Now give her a jumpsuit with sequins!

Now that's what I'm talkin' about!!

oops

Thankfully Buddies weren't around for Fonzie to use when he jumped the shark. Based on these pictures, I'm sure he would have made it though.