My second scoot is now a nice, cream color, 125cc 2007 Genuine Buddy! My final choice was between the Buddy, a 125cc Yamaha Vino, and a 150cc Bajaj Chetak.
The Chetak I ruled out after seeing it in person. I didn’t realize it was so large; this all steel Bajaj is w-i-d-e, and squeezing it into my garage next to my 250 Reflex would’ve been a bit of a minor hassle. (Wife’s gardening tools, y’know…) “>})
I liked the Vino. It has looks, comfort, spaciousness, and room for your feet, all without being big or wide. And when I test rode it, well, it was nice, but a bit slow accelerating and thru the curves, and a bit buzzy on my hands also. But it was a definite contender…
Until I rode the Buddy… It’s smaller than the others; a real small-frame type of scoot. Not much room for your feet. And I had to slide back on the seat a bit. But the ride? Oh man, that was something else! It’s motor growls like a small nasty dog, but with no buzzing. It takes off like a bat out-a-anywhere, takes curves like it’s on rails, and when you hit the brakes it stops! Quickly! (About as quick, maybe even quicker, than my Reflex, which has 2 disks while the Buddy has but one.)
And it’s tight; where the Vino felt just a little ‘loose’ to me, this Buddy felt tight and solid as a (small) rock. While the Vino felt like it would get you thru the curves alright as long as you held onto the bars tight, the Buddy felt almost like it could take itself around the bends!
I rode it around Philly for a while behind Larry, the owner of Philadelphia Scooters, who was on a Bajaj Chetak. The Bajaj is 150cc’s, and no slouch either, but the 125cc Buddy had absolutely no trouble keeping up with it! I can’t believe this thing is only 125cc’s!
Won’t be delivered until next week tho, and then maybe another week or so until I have all the paper work, title, registration, insurance, etc, etc. So I’m maybe still almost 2 weeks away from finally owning it on the road. Should be great fun; I can hardly wait… Riding this scoot around the tight obstacle course of Philadelphia’s back streets brought back to me the true pleasures of small bike handling! An interesting little machine, to say the least……!
congrats on the new addition
