Modern Buddy

So, how do you know the difference between a weak battery and a dead one?

The scooter has nothiing when you hit the switch yet it will kick start and run just fine.

Do we need to just go for an hour ride or is it better to trickle charge overnight or a few days?

The problem is it was not used much over the winter and now with 5400 miles, I can kick start it, yet want to know it will start with the switch to be sure someone does not get stranded.

I am thinking we should have gotten a battery when on sale or at least a charger...

Thanks for any input!

Buy a Battery tender jr. They work wonders. I'd also consider upgrading the 7ABS battery with the YTZ10s battery, it fits perfectly and has held up wonderfully even with my dead lights hooked up (they tended to drain the 7ABS).

that sounds exactly like what happened to mine. a trickle charge overnight fixed the problem for my buddy, so try that first before you buy a new battery.

the weird thing though, is that i did ride my scooter over the winter, but the garage i have it in is a large one for the hi-rise i live in and it does get pretty cold in there.

MYSCTR wrote:So, how do you know the difference between a weak battery and a dead one?

The scooter has nothiing when you hit the switch yet it will kick start and run just fine.

Do we need to just go for an hour ride or is it better to trickle charge overnight or a few days?

The problem is it was not used much over the winter and now with 5400 miles, I can kick start it, yet want to know it will start with the switch to be sure someone does not get stranded.

I am thinking we should have gotten a battery when on sale or at least a charger...

Thanks for any input!

might sound silly but check your cables to your battery mine did the same thing this winter kick start fine. somtimes it would electric start most of the time it wouldnt. Are you having any directional signal problems? any way, one cable was just a hair loose no problems since.

+1 on check the cables. I feel pretty lucky. Still have the original battery on my 2008

Thanks for the input.

Yes, we do have the dead lights hooked up and so just riding is pulling more juice than normal - upgrading the battery sounds like a good idea.

We will look for any loose connections.

Don't know if it applies, yet most trips for her are only 7-8 miles at a time and then it sits most all day. Not much run time when riding. Actually none of us ride much over 12 miles one way unless we go out just for a ride like on a weekend.

db wrote:+1 on check the cables. I feel pretty lucky. Still have the original battery on my 2008

rbc me to havent had the crazy battery problems like some

MYSCTR wrote:Thanks for the input.

Yes, we do have the dead lights hooked up and so just riding is pulling more juice than normal - upgrading the battery sounds like a good idea.

We will look for any loose connections.

Don't know if it applies, yet most trips for her are only 7-8 miles at a time and then it sits most all day. Not much run time when riding. Actually none of us ride much over 12 miles one way unless we go out just for a ride like on a weekend.

All these things apply and could be contributing to running your battery down. What kind of bulbs are you using in the deadlights? The stock bulbs are intended to work as turn signals and will drain the battery pretty fast.

So, even if you have to replace the battery, a Battery Tender would be a good choice for you.

Sometimes, I won't ride further than a coffee run and back for a couple days. This definitely wears down the juice. Nearly killed the battery one day when I re-started repeatedly to move the scooter into better parking spaces. Duh.

Eric - We have not changed any bulbs - something I want to do as the headlight is noticably dimmer once we hooked up the deadlights - I want her to be seen anytime she rides so the deadlights are running lights and alternate with the blinkers when she uses the blinkers.

We have got to let two of these babies go so I can start doing mod's like that!

MYSCTR wrote:Eric - We have not changed any bulbs - something I want to do as the headlight is noticably dimmer once we hooked up the deadlights - I want her to be seen anytime she rides so the deadlights are running lights and alternate with the blinkers when she uses the blinkers.

We have got to let two of these babies go so I can start doing mod's like that!

do you have the running light blinker combo set ? if you do the instructions do say you should swap to led lights.

We have the Buddy Deadlight Adapter for the running BOB combo light harness from Lil Buddy here - it that what you mean?

Like I said - we have not changed any bulbs - not sure exactly what or where.

"Q: Do I need to switch out any bulbs once the adapter is installed?
A: No. "

MYSCTR wrote:We have the Buddy Deadlight Adapter for the running BOB combo light harness from Lil Buddy here - it that what you mean?

Like I said - we have not changed any bulbs - not sure exactly what or where.

"Q: Do I need to switch out any bulbs once the adapter is installed?
A: No. "

if you read the small print under that statement it says somthing about switching the dead lights and turn signal to leds
not trying to be a pain just trying to help

MYSCTR wrote:We have the Buddy Deadlight Adapter for the running BOB combo light harness from Lil Buddy...

You definitely need LED's. The stock bulbs pull too much juice and will slowly drain the battery. Switch to LED's and you'll be fine.

Hey all

I just wanted to comment about swapping out the deadlight bulbs when using the BOB Combo Adapter. It is not required. There have been a few members (Skootz) that have experienced a faster battery drain once the deadlights are activated but more often than not, there are no ill effects.

I you do find that your battery drains faster once modding the lights, switching to LED's should take care of any issues. Just make sure you use LED protectors (unless you go with the Eagle Eye 5 bulbs from autolumination.com)

Thanks for the reply - all of them.

Are the LED lights brighter or easier to see? We have seen something about a better bright headlight and I want to do that at least on the 150 Italia as her head light is dim compared to the others.

I don't know if any of this is due to having 5,400 miles or what else - yet a better battery and a trickle charger sounds like the first things to get and then start shopping for the bulbs.

The good news is once we figure out what combination BOB/Bulb/Battery works best for her, I can duplicate it for the other scooters we have. Just a learning curve - thanks for the input.

MYSCTR wrote: Are the LED lights brighter or easier to see? We have seen something about a better bright headlight and I want to do that at least on the 150 Italia as her head light is dim compared to the others.

Sometimes. But usually not in the Buddy. The light housing/reflectors in the buddy are designed for standard incandescent bulbs. LED bulbs do not take full advantage of the reflectors. Even the side firing LED's.

I use two sets of LED bulbs from autolumination.com. I have the Matrix II bulbs in the DOT locations and the Eagle Eye 5's in the deadlight locations. I have found that in the daylight, neither bulb is as bright as stock. But at night they are about the same as stock (the Eagle Eye 5's are brighter than stock at night).

I have never noticed any headlight diming when wiring the deadlights if you use the ignition wire as the power source. I have noticed it dim when using the headlight wire. Not saying its not possible, I would just be very suprised if thats what causing the headlight to dim.

I would make sure your headlight is adjusted to the correct height. And look into replacing it with the PIAA 35/35 bulb.