Is this true?

[codemonkey]

The guy at my scooter shop said that once the break-in period is over (around 1200 miles), my Buddy will accelerate faster and I should be able to get all the way up to 70-75 mph on it. Is this true? What's been your break-in experience? How fast can your buddy go?

I've gotten it up to just over 50 (uphill) but I haven't tested it to see what the top speed is since I'm still a new rider and all.

[Keys]

I believe the cat you were talking to was exaggerating a bit. I've got about 7000 miles on mine, and I really haven't seen the top speed increase THAT much. On the level, you should be able to do about an indicated 70 when all is said and done. Of course, in REAL life, that is about 63 mph, since the Buddy speedometer is about 10% optimistic (as are most scooter speedos).

I've had mine faster, but it was going downhill over a fairly good distance.

--Keys

[San Francisco]

The guy at my scooter shop said that once the break-in period is over (around 1200 miles), my Buddy will accelerate faster and I should be able to get all the way up to 70-75 mph on it. Is this true? What's been your break-in experience? How fast can your buddy go?

I've gotten it up to just over 50 (uphill) but I haven't tested it to see what the top speed is since I'm still a new rider and all.

Generally this is true, but not by much. When everything [mostly the
engine and tranny] gets "loosened up" and adjustments are made, the
scoot operates at it's optimum, which includes acceleration and top end
speed.

In a sense it is not different than the athlete who trains for an event and
loosens up just before the competition.

The Buddy cannot run at its optimum until it is broken in [piston seats,
fluids flow, etc.] and the dealer makes the adjustments necessary to
fine tune the beast.

Note that the changes won't be all that dramatic if your scoot is running
well off the showroom floor. Last night I had this one long road and I
decided to see what the Buddy could do. I was up to 70 MPH indicated
with more speed available. [My Buddy has 190 miles on it]. It's not that
great of an improvement and indicates any speed improvement may be
due more to simply making adjustments. And it may simply be
psychological. Maybe you might go 2 mph faster once things are
adjusted, but that's about it.

Sidenote: The Buddy has no business going 70. I am experienced
on motorcycles to where I have to know what the bike is doing,
especially at 150 mph plus. So I was able to check how the Buddy was
handling going at its top end.

As suspected and stated before, the tires and wheels are too small to be
going 60 to 70 for an extended period of time. Yes, on a flat, pothole
free road with no wind and running in a straight line, the Buddy is cool.
But hit a pothole or have to swerve, the Buddy and you may be toast.

In fact, at that high speed I deliberately rode over a shallow but wide
pothole to see how the Buddy would do. The front end did OK, but I
could see a tank slapper or worse happening on hitting a more severe
pothole or obstruction.

Also, the Buddy is just plain too light to be racing around on the freeways
or interstate at high speeds. It's not bad aerodynamically, but it's almost
ready for flight at 60-70 mph. Again, it ran well during my high speed
test, but when I performed some control tests with the bar and swerves
IMHO the Buddy was not in my control.

I duly note that there are Members in here whom are experienced and
can handle the Buddy at 70 mph plus, on any road. My points above
are NOT directed at you. They are for the average or newbie riders.

[davel]

I agree that the Buddy has no business going 70MPH! Of the dozen two-wheelers I've owned, this one comes closest to being "too fast for its own good". When I wind it up to it's top speed, I'm not so much in control as I'm riding Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. This is exactly what I've been looking for though: a very small, light, nimble scooter that can go fast enough to scare me :D

[codemonkey]

Oh, I totally agree that just because it can, doesn't mean it should. It is nice to know that I can keep up with cars on surface streets with plenty of power to spare.

[blurblaine]

Just laughing after reading this thread, as I just got off the Blur after a little lunch run. It is soooo windy today! Just hung on for dear life. Can't imagine trying to do this on a Buddy today. Wow!

[lobsterman]

Just laughing after reading this thread, as I just got off the Blur after a little lunch run. It is soooo windy today! Just hung on for dear life. Can't imagine trying to do this on a Buddy today. Wow!

I guess my commute home will be fun then.

[BoneGirl]

I often ride out to the country to visit my mom-in-law. There's quite a stretch of 2-lane highway that's 55mph (probably 15 miles?). Anyway, I usually run my Buddy as fast as it will go, which is 65 (on the speedometer). I'm 200 pounds and know that it would go faster if I weighed less. But I am comfortable at that speed and don't have to worry about cars tailgating me. Hope we have helped.

[sunshinen]

Let's not get into that debate again. The question at hand is about what should be expected of the Buddy post break-in.

I've recently hit a top indicated speed of 75mph on the flats in the "pull" of a big square truck. (And actually, he blew one of his many tires. I freaked, hit the brakes, swerved to the far side of the lane, and we both kept right on "truckin." ) Prior to that, my top speed had been 73mph which was hit going downhill during the break-in. I have always been able to hit 70mph on the flats, and often have accelerator to spare... but I'm quite tiny.

[davel]

Let's not get into that debate again.

Spring has sprung, and it's time for a fresh batch of Buddy riders to retread old territory. Feel free to point us to old posts when this happens.

[San Francisco]

Let's not get into that debate again. The question at hand is about what should be expected of the Buddy post break-in.

I've recently hit a top indicated speed of 75mph on the flats in the "pull" of a big square truck. (And actually, he blew one of his many tires. I freaked, hit the brakes, swerved to the far side of the lane, and we both kept right on "truckin." ) Prior to that, my top speed had been 73mph which was hit going downhill during the break-in. I have always been able to hit 70mph on the flats, and often have accelerator to spare... but I'm quite tiny.

Well, if someone posts in a thread about going 75 mph and asking "how
fast does your Buddy go" I am going to chime in since maybe the
member, new or otherwise, did not see "that other debate." [Not seeing
threads because of a failure to search or whatever is a common problem
on most forums]. I'll not simply chime in "oh mine has been up to 75
and I hear they can go faster]. That simply eggs on the member to
see how fast he or she can go, just to do it or to keep up with other
members' boasts or "records."

They can choose to disregard my warnings and cautions, which to other
members are repeats or reruns. Personally, I think experienced riders
have a duty to "protect" new riders, as this member has disclosed. In
other words, if I see someone new to riding talking about how fast they
have tried to go and talking about trying to go faster, I'm gonna say
something.

You watch, it's just a matter of time before someone reports in here that
he or she was doing 70 to 75 mph and they got in a serious accident.
And part of what could have caused the accident was the member reading
all this talk about how fast others ride or talking about numbers like 70-75
mph on a 125 cc scooter.

And for all the reasons posted elsewhere, IMHO the Buddy should not be
zipping on the freeways or interstate, nor going any faster than about
55 mph.

[polianarchy]

BoneGirl! I love your new avatar! Where on the 'net did you find it? Or did you make it yourself?

[lobsterman]

There are essentially two sides to the "how fast?" questions.

One is more or less an absolute: what is the max velocity of an unmodified Buddy? Yes, there are some variables, but it's more or less the same for them all.

The 2nd is not absolute: How fast can you go on your Buddy? That's gonna vary by rider size/weight, riding skill, hubris, road conditions, etc.

Let's not confuse absolutes and non-absolutes.

[davel]

You watch, it's just a matter of time before someone reports in here that
he or she was doing 70 to 75 mph and they got in a serious accident.

That reminds me:
Going down on a scooter doesn't hurt any less than on a motorcycle, so don't be fooled into thinking that you don't need as much protection as motorcycle riders do.

I had on a Cordura jacket with armor and a full-face helmet when I was taken out by a Range Rover on a city street, and I'm now I'm missing a ligament in my right knee because I wasn't wearing motorcycle pants with knee armor.
This was an under 40 mph accident on a scooter — imagine if I'd been going 65 on a highway...

[ericalm]

You watch, it's just a matter of time before someone reports in here that
he or she was doing 70 to 75 mph and they got in a serious accident.

That reminds me:
Going down on a scooter doesn't hurt any less than on a motorcycle, so don't be fooled into thinking that you don't need as much protection as motorcycle riders do.

I had on a Cordura jacket with armor and a full-face helmet when I was taken out by a Range Rover on a city street, and I'm now I'm missing a ligament in my right knee because I wasn't wearing motorcycle pants with knee armor.
This was an under 40 mph accident on a scooter — imagine if I'd been going 65 on a highway...

Yup. I went down last year at a bout 35mph. Totaled the Buddy, trashed my helmet and put me in the hospital—I'm missing a ligament in my shoulder. Maybe we should start a club.

[BlueMark]

Just laughing after reading this thread, as I just got off the Blur after a little lunch run. It is soooo windy today! Just hung on for dear life.

Yep, the Blur is incredibly stable in high winds, but the rider isn't!

[sunshinen]

Let's not get into that debate again.

Spring has sprung, and it's time for a fresh batch of Buddy riders to retread old territory. Feel free to point us to old posts when this happens.

Sorry, not at all directed at new riders or cautioning new riders. I just felt that this topic had very recently turned negative and didn't want to see it go to the same place it went before.

I think there are some good descriptions of the Buddy at speed in these posts. Take the experiences of others into account, but more importantly, know your own limits in relation to the conditions where you ride, practice emergency maneuvers regularly, and as has been said, wear good gear.

viewtopic.php?t=1247
viewtopic.php?t=1168

[San Francisco]

Oh, I totally agree that just because it can, doesn't mean it should. It is nice to know that I can keep up with cars on surface streets with plenty of power to spare.

Hell yes, the Buddy screams on surface streets. When I rode 45 miles
down to San Jose and back, I always split lanes [ride in between cars]
so to be at the front of the line at stop lights.

On the El Camino there has to be 200 stop lights down and back [that
means 400 lights]. At the red lights, when it turned green I "floored it"
meaning Godfatherette gets a max twist of the throttle.

There was not a single light where the cars zipped past me. In fact, I
always had to let up on the throttle because I looked down and I was
doing 55 indicated [meaning I was doing 50 mph]. Most of the El Camino
has 35 mph speed limits.

As I recall, only a couple times did cars pass me when I was at my
45 mph cruise speed.

So I don't get it. Either the Buddy is one hell of a fast scooter, the cops
were always around [was not that], or people on the El Camino always
drive slow [can't be that either].

I've concluded that the Buddy is a screamer [as the dealer said it was before I bought it].

I have not looked at the mechanics and engineering to figure out how PGO
makes a 125 cc four stroke move so fast. It's odd to me how it is so
quick. I mean it seems to go 0 to 50 in under 10 seconds [I have not
timed it, it just feels that fast, based on experience]. Someone do a
test for us.

[codemonkey]

The scooter shop guy said the Buddy 125 is actually faster than a People 150 and a few hundred dollars less (not to mention that the People is a bit too tall for my short little legs but that's a different conversation entirely.)

[dru_]

The only place the Peopl 150 really beats the Buddy 125 is on rough roads where the bigger wheels give it a stability advantage. Price & Perfomance The Buddy beats it without much effort.

The People S 125 appears to be a much better competitor, but it's still more expensive.

[ericalm]

The scooter shop guy said the Buddy 125 is actually faster than a People 150 and a few hundred dollars less (not to mention that the People is a bit too tall for my short little legs but that's a different conversation entirely.)

In some informal speed tests done by the knowledgeable folks at Motorsport, the People 150 proved faster off the line & had a higher top speed than the Buddy. Check it out here:
viewtopic.php?t=558

Now, I don't know the precise difference between the two and as we all know, scoots are pretty sensitive to a number of factors which affect speed: tire inflation, rider size and weight, etc. (The Blur riders were particularly perturbed by its low ranking in these tests!) Regardless, all fine scoots with plenty of speed; all a matter of the right scoot for the right rider.

[codemonkey]

That's kinda funny 'cuz that's my scooter shop