Modern Buddy

So today I decided to load Buddy up in the back of my pickup truck and take him downtown for his first oil change/service. I would have ridden him there but it's about a 45 minute drive in car, on the freeway, so I figured I'd just load him up. I have a ramp that I used to successfully load buddy into the bed of the truck by myself. Once strapped down, I was off. One turn away from Eco Moto (my local Buddy Dealer) and some ass driver decides to go straight instead of stay in the left turn lane like he had been. I was also turning left but in the opposite direction. So, now I have a crazed honda accord coming straight for me, my truck, and heaven forbid, my buddy. I swerve, my tie-down job gives, and down goes buddy.

Battle wound 1 (Buddy): Scratches along right side of buddy, not TOO bad but it still is a bummer, And displaced bottom panel.

After turning into Eco Moto and getting Buddy upright I begin to un-load. Out comes the owner and personally helps me get my scoot out and checked in for service. Record time, I'm in and out in about 30 minutes with the first service done, and two extra oil filters for my future changes. As I go to load Buddy up, I figure I will be alright doing so, I did it before right? Nope.
My strategy is this. My truck sit relatively low off of the ground. So I can usually gas buddy up the ramp (while standing to the side), hop into the bed with buddy and stop it. Not this time. I gas buddy up the ramp and hop. My right shin catches the tailgate, hard. I fall having lost my momentum and reach for buddy's brake. Instead in my efforts, I accidentally grab the throttle. I fall to the ground, buddy goes straight into the back of my truck.

Battle wound 2(Buddy): Much worse scratches on front wheel cover, left side panel, damn near tore the left panel off, and a severely bent front wheel.
Battle wound 3(Trevo): I now have a three inch gash in my leg, and a black hole at the bottom of it.
Battle wound 4 (Truck): Not too bad really, hell I don't really care about the truck.

My lesson? ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS get help loading and unloading buddy. I seem to think I can do everything on my own and look where it got me.
So here I am pouring a bottle of hydrogen peroxide on my leg and cursing my independent attitude. Looks like I'll be driving up to Eco tomorrow and getting a new wheel, and some buffing compound at home depot. I really hope that the bent wheel is all that's wrong... with my luck there is probably frame damage and I'll need a new rotor and brake caliper.

Feh! That's one of those days you'd really like the power to turn the clock back a few hours.

The one positive I can take out of your description is that you at least avoided the collision with the jackass going straight in the turn lane. That one could've been really nasty.

So does anyone know how much a new front wheel is going to/should cost me? plus possibly some labor to put my old tire on the new rim.

Sorry, Trevo, that I can't answer your question...


Considerably more sorry, though, that your day was such a wacky one.

trevo_man wrote:So does anyone know how much a new front wheel is going to/should cost me? plus possibly some labor to put my old tire on the new rim.

when you find out, let the board know... i haven't seen anyone post a price for the wheel before... it would be ggod to know.

I will indeed.
I really think we need a tech board with repair tutorials, parts lists & prices. It would be nice to have all the information organized instead of having to search forever.

trevo_man wrote:I will indeed.
I really think we need a tech board with repair tutorials, parts lists & prices. It would be nice to have all the information organized instead of having to search forever.

We've been hoping to add a Tech Library for some time now... All I can say is that it's been in the works for a while now and will happen... someday.

There's a parts list linked from this thread:
topic1354.html

Meanwhile—ouch. Sorry to hear about you and your Buddy. If you bent he wheel, you may want to have your dealer examine the front forks for any damage as well.

Were you using a wheel chock of any kind in the bed of your truck?

Just ordered a new front wheel (just the rim) from Eco Moto. $52 plus tax, but it will be a week before it arrives. Looks like the joys of the scoot have been ripped from my clutches for now.

Well, a week was a bit of an exaggeration. I got the call YESTERDAY that my wheel had come in. 28 days it took to get it in from Genuine, especially when I was told it would be a week. So I went in to the dealer this morning right when they opened, with my bent wheel in hand. I told them I was here to get my new wheel and asked if they would kindly put the tire and brake disc onto the new rim. They told me that their service department was full until sometime next week. So after a month of waiting, you are telling me I have to wait another week? I asked. After consulting the manager they decided they could squeeze me in for service today.

They took my bent wheel in the back along with my new rim. An HOUR later they came back out and told me that they were unable to get the bearings out of the old wheel and that if I could hold on just another fifteen minutes they could run down the street to a parts store and get them, I said that would be fine. Another HOUR passes and the scooter tech comes out with my new wheel in hand.

"It looks like your brake disc does not fit on this new wheel, are you sure it is for the same scooter?"

"Well, I ordered it from you guys, and I told you exactly what scoot it was for, so...."

"hm... let me talk to the manager"

Another half hour passes. It turns out they had ordered the wheel to a Buddy 50 (which is a bit smaller than the 125). So I have been waiting a month for the wrong wheel!!! The manager decides that they will just pull a new wheel off one of their buddy's and sell it to me (which is what I wanted them to do 28 days ago). I have now been at the dealer waiting for 2 1/2 hours for what should have been a 15 minute tire mounting. I end up paying $54 for the wheel and another $25 for "mounting" which does not seem right to me, as this new wheel was never mounted, they just gave me the entire thing (wheel and tire) off a new buddy. So $84 and a good chunk of my morning later, I'm scooting once again. I went home and put the new wheel on my scoot and everything seems to be fine.

It's kind of a bummer that due to their mistake I missed out on the best month in Utah to scoot (July), but I am glad to be back on the road again.

Sorry to hear about your mishap(s)....no fun missing out on that riding time. Perhaps you were spared some other accident.

It seems the dealer should have compensated for "their" mistake.

The new Rule of Thumb : "Always have a Buddy help you load up your Buddy!"

Preferrably your Buddy owns a Buddy and has experienced loading and unloading.