Modern Buddy

I put idiots in quotes because they are this guys words, not mine. And tbh I am not sure if all these cagers are idiots or this guy sometimes rides too fast. But a good argument can be made for the cagers

Just some amusing vids I stumbled across on this guys yuotube channel. So I am linking the channel instead of posting all the vids, which are very short. I am sure many urban riders can relate, even if not quite as horn happy!

http://www.youtube.com/user/ychavezrodriguez

Just some amusing tidbits for those interested. Example...

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/WLZ2Q8zkPso" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

He's one of the Zumaforums.net regulars. I do agree that cagers need to be more aware, and in some instances he's right to honk. However, sometimes he just drives aggressively and gives scooter riders (esp. 50cc..) a bad name.

not sure if he is just in a bad town or if it has something to do with his driving style... but if you buy a horn that loud and have that many videos... something is messed up


does anyone with the quiet buddy horns use it? I never use it unless someone doesn't go when the light changes. I feel like it wouldn't do any good, the other car might panic and do something unpredictable. I'd rather use the time that would be spent thinking about pressing the horn towards thinking of a safe escape/maneuver while the car does something predictable.

slusher5 wrote:not sure if he is just in a bad town or if it has something to do with his driving style... but if you buy a horn that loud and have that many videos... something is messed up


does anyone with the quiet buddy horns use it? I never use it unless someone doesn't go when the light changes. I feel like it wouldn't do any good, the other car might panic and do something unpredictable. I'd rather use the time that would be spent thinking about pressing the horn towards thinking of a safe escape/maneuver while the car does something predictable.

+1!
People rely to heavy on the horn. I've even seen a truck honk its horn at a empty shopping cart that rolled out of the parking lot and into a busy street. yep he ran over it because he chose to honk the horn before he slammed on his brakes, just imagined if it was a child that ran out.

Like Slusher said id rather spend that time gettin away from the danger then just hoping they will correct themselves.

I learned to NEVER asume the other drivers are gonna do what they are surposed to do.

I try to focus more on not hitting the person that pulled out in front of me than honking.

The only one time I honked was in Pacific Beach (San Diego) when a guy was so close to backing into me while I was parked curbside and getting ready to go. Other than that, I've never felt like I had time to honk.

good riding tips. glad something more could come of the thread than some lols.
so far as a horn is concerned, i have a stebal on my Agility and the Buddy horn of course is the same. double so if you have a 150

i try not to use my horn unless absolutely necessary. which is sometimes, and also "necessary caution." if that makes sense. but i don't want to startle anyone into doing something unpredictable when i already have an idea of what they MIGHT do. of course its unpredictable what they will do but if they are on a certain course of action, i read it, and my horn sets them off on a new course of action that could be trouble for me

but sure i use it and have used it. last time was yesterday. light goes green and the minivan two cars up does not move. i honk, still no movement. the car in front of me honks, no movement. i honk again and movement. but its sort of unsettling sitting at a green light waiting to get rear ended

If I'm in line at a stoplight, I usually pull to the left corner of the car in front of me so I can pull up beside him if it looks like I might get rear-ended. I figure the car can absorb the damage better than my bike can.

+1 on keeping an escape route.

slusher5 wrote:not sure if he is just in a bad town or if it has something to do with his driving style... but if you buy a horn that loud and have that many videos... something is messed up

He lives in KC area. I've ridden with him, nice guy and lots of fun.
The route he has to take to work are over some of the city's busiest streets. So yea, lots of cagers not paying attention.

Speaking of horns, a dude sent me an interesting concept today:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/153 ... n?ref=live

It's basically a stebel nautilus airhorn, wired along with your original horn. When you press the horn button, the regular button honks, if you hold it in, the louder horn honks and your lights flash like crazy.

I have mixed feelings about the practicality, but "A" for effort.

And as far as the word "idiot," I spit out curse words all day long, but "idiot" is the worst thing someone can call someone else, in my book. If I say "idiot," I really mean it, ha. Not sure why.

illnoise wrote:Speaking of horns, a dude sent me an interesting concept today:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/153 ... n?ref=live

It's basically a stebel nautilus airhorn, wired along with your original horn. When you press the horn button, the regular button honks, if you hold it in, the louder horn honks and your lights flash like crazy.

I have mixed feelings about the practicality, but "A" for effort.

And as far as the word "idiot," I spit out curse words all day long, but "idiot" is the worst thing someone can call someone else, in my book. If I say "idiot," I really mean it, ha. Not sure why.

it's nice cause " I always wanted a loud rockers horn for emergency situations, but still wanted the option of giving someone a friendly toot at times"

thats a cool horn idea. got some backers and off he goes. hope he has much success and it makes me wonder why they just don't put loud(er) horns on ALL bikes straight from the factory

JHScoot wrote:thats a cool horn idea. got some backers and off he goes. hope he has much success and it makes me wonder why they just don't put loud(er) horns on ALL bikes straight from the factory

it's all a conspiracy man...

I know this has probably already been considered but he doesn't have some workable alternate route? One with less traffic?

You can cut down on your chances of getting run over if you cut down on the number of cars you meet.

A couple of the local Maxi's were getting that kit from Kickstart, but apparently it's no small thing to fit and wire a Nautilus in their Burgmans (Burgmen?).

So nice to have a Nautilus as standard equipment.

I might be mixing up stebels, the one pictured with this kit is the one I put in my blur, it's an air horn that needs a relay and a second wire to the battery. The one in the buddy is a smaller one that's easier to install (simple swap).

Note that the horn isn't included, I think you could use whatever horn you like, but I think the installation might be tricky on many scooters.

Might be the difference between the "Nautilus" and the "Compact Nautilus" - in the video, the guy held up something similar to the Compact, even though the FAQ says they aren't really using the Stebel in the kits.

And indeed the Buddy 150s have a _compact_ Nautilus, based on the pictures on www.stebel.it.

When I encounter idiots I rarely lay on the horn and hit the gas to get around them. I'll wait until the situation is under control and then stalk the idiot until they understand what they did. Then I'll pass them. This guy takes a risk every time he assumes the idiot knows where he is when he's on the horn passing them. He's also going a bit faster than 25 mph in a residential area as he calls someone else an idiot. He also doesn't wait for an intersection to clear before he thinks he has the right of way and lays on the horn. He also see's trouble coming and runs into it... and then lays on the horn. Seems like he is looking for horn time in some of the videos. The rest are filled with good examples of bad drivers. Be careful, they are out there in high numbers.

Yeah, the guy wrote back to me to say that it's not a Stebel but a 'similar horn without Stebel's vibration damage issues.' which I take to mean 'chinese copy,' ha.

I just looked it up, the Nautilus Compact is what I have in my Blur (aftermarket), and it's the one that looks like the one with that kit (which maybe is included now that I look, I can't make it through all that text, ha). It was a bit of a pain to install, even with Nathaniel Salzman's totally solid directions:
http://www.nathanielsalzman.com/diy/diy ... -air-horn/

The Nautilus (not compact) appears to be for cars, and there may be a third called the "Nautilus Max"

So I still believe the one in the Buddy is the "Magnum," which is smaller and easier to install, I see it referred to that in some reviews, but they could be wrong. They're very different looking, so if anyone has a Buddy under-the-hood photo, that would settle it, ha.

WebBikeWorld has a great horn comparison with audio samples:
http://www.nathanielsalzman.com/diy/diy ... -air-horn/

My aftermarket Blur horn is def. the Nautilus Compact.

I've always wanted two horns:

1 - 'beep'

2 - 'HOOONK'

especially in LA, there's a lot of different scenarios. Someone texting when the light is green, a little 'beep' as a nudge. Someone almost runs me over, I want a loud angry "HONK"

I'm intrigued by the "hold it down for the second one" idea. Wanted it in my car for ages, and I've been saying it for years, so thanks for the link!

illnoise wrote:So I still believe the one in the Buddy is the "Magnum," which is smaller and easier to install, I see it referred to that in some reviews, but they could be wrong. They're very different looking, so if anyone has a Buddy under-the-hood photo, that would settle it, ha.

No photo, sadly, but there's room in the Buddy bonnet for both the Compact Nautilus and my Gorilla alarm.

According to the Genuine website, the Bud 125s have the Stebel Magnum and the 150 Internationals & 170i have the compact Nautilus. Right now, the specs pages on Genuine's site only say 139dB for the 170i, which matches the Nautilus. The Magnum was a few dB quieter. Not sure what's in the 50ccs.

PeteH wrote:

illnoise wrote:So I still believe the one in the Buddy is the "Magnum," which is smaller and easier to install, I see it referred to that in some reviews, but they could be wrong. They're very different looking, so if anyone has a Buddy under-the-hood photo, that would settle it, ha.

No photo, sadly, but there's room in the Buddy bonnet for both the Compact Nautilus and my Gorilla alarm.

According to the Genuine website, the Bud 125s have the Stebel Magnum and the 150 Internationals & 170i have the compact Nautilus. Right now, the specs pages on Genuine's site only say 139dB for the 170i, which matches the Nautilus. The Magnum was a few dB quieter. Not sure what's in the 50ccs.

Hmm. What's in the stock Blur? Not listed either.

I"ve always felt like you need two horns. I have a beep or toot for " hey, the lights been green a while", or " hello there"

and a totally different horn for " WTF"

I used to have a fully dressed gl1000 and cannot tell you how many times a cager looked me square in the visor and pulled out in front of me. that bike was not near as easy to maneuver, more like 1/2 a Caddy, lol.

illnoise wrote:
I just looked it up, the Nautilus Compact is what I have in my Blur (aftermarket), and it's the one that looks like the one with that kit (which maybe is included now that I look, I can't make it through all that text, ha). It was a bit of a pain to install, even with Nathaniel Salzman's totally solid directions:
http://www.nathanielsalzman.com/diy/diy ... -air-horn/

The Nautilus (not compact) appears to be for cars, and there may be a third called the "Nautilus Max"

So I still believe the one in the Buddy is the "Magnum," which is smaller and easier to install, I see it referred to that in some reviews, but they could be wrong. They're very different looking, so if anyone has a Buddy under-the-hood photo, that would settle it, ha.

WebBikeWorld has a great horn comparison with audio samples:
http://www.nathanielsalzman.com/diy/diy ... -air-horn/

yes i believe the buddy uses the magnum or similar. the 50's and 125's, at least. this is s single tone horn and is either high or low. the 150's (not sure about the 170s) use the nautilus which is dual tone so it has a more radiant sound. it combines the low and high tone for quite a wallop
i also think it looks "double sided" like two horns in one

it also takes twice the amps or volts or some stuff idk about to power it over the single tone horns. this is why when i installed the magnum on my Agility i went with a single tone. only $16 from my dealer, too

sounds like a good sized truck

The horn is helpful when a car in the other lane starts to cross the line into my lane. I still plan an escape path if he keeps coming into my lane, but sometimes the horn wakes them up enough to get to go back.

If you don't have time to honk then you need to spend a little more time covering your horn button, and honking just to make sure that it comes naturally without too much thought.

Still, you can't expect horns to solve all of your problems. Cars still get in the way of trains, and cars still pull in front of fire trucks and ambulances with their sirens/horns going. It's like expecting "loud pipes" to save your life. It's more likely that your good defensive driving will save you, instead of any amount of noise that you will make.

Exactly, awareness it your best defense.

DanielPerrin wrote:Still, you can't expect horns to solve all of your problems. Cars still get in the way of trains, and cars still pull in front of fire trucks and ambulances with their sirens/horns going. It's like expecting "loud pipes" to save your life. It's more likely that your good defensive driving will save you, instead of any amount of noise that you will make.

+1, plus lots and lots.

The biggest problem I have with this new horn idea is that however you set it, you're still concentrating on holding the button down and waiting for the lights/horn to kick in, that's time and focus you should be putting into averting the situation from your end.

I think a loud horn is prudent just because it makes sense to be as sure as you can that a responsible driver will actually hear it over their radio and other noise. But there are plenty of irresponsible drivers out there, and it's up to you to avoid them.

I still don't think I've seen any explanation for the mounting orientation of the Stebel in the Buddys, which is clearly contraindicated by the instructions included with the after-market Stebel Nautilus
.

jprestonian wrote:I still don't think I've seen any explanation for the mounting orientation of the Stebel in the Buddys, which is clearly contraindicated by the instructions included with the after-market Stebel Nautilus
.

I'm not sure exactly what you're talking about, but if it has something to do with it being mounted horn-up, i'd guess that's not an issue when it's covered in a water-resistant area. Most aftermarket horns would go on a motorcycle where its not protected from the elements.

I got to use the one on Yoda today. A guy cut into my lane. I could have just backed off (I let off the gas) but I wanted to let him know he screwed up. That horn rocks!

illnoise wrote:I'm not sure exactly what you're talking about, but if it has something to do with it being mounted horn-up, i'd guess that's not an issue when it's covered in a water-resistant area. Most aftermarket horns would go on a motorcycle where its not protected from the elements.

The mounting instructions show the way it is to be mounted, and says the cylinder should be upright not to vary by more than 25 degrees from the vertical.
.

Lotrat wrote: This guy takes a risk every time he assumes the idiot knows where he is when he's on the horn passing them. He's also going a bit faster than 25 mph in a residential area as he calls someone else an idiot. He also doesn't wait for an intersection to clear before he thinks he has the right of way and lays on the horn. He also see's trouble coming and runs into it... and then lays on the horn. Seems like he is looking for horn time in some of the videos. The rest are filled with good examples of bad drivers. Be careful, they are out there in high numbers.

I'd put this in the category of "Takes one to know one". As Lotrat said, he looks for trouble. I'm really going to put him in a "box" and say he's probably the type who, when they see another driver signal to change lanes into a reasonable space front of them, speeds up and then lays on the horn.....
He purposely just misses most of his victims to try to send them a msg. Driving with a purpose as he does, the first time a vehicle doesn't do what he anticipates it will do, he'll be down in a heap.

JohnnyScoots wrote:I try to focus more on not hitting the person that pulled out in front of me than honking.

+1

yeah. i do cover my horn a lot though. its quite natural for me to do so now. usually i don't use it but being its a stebal i wish i had opportunity to more often

JHScoot wrote:yeah. i do cover my horn a lot though. its quite natural for me to do so now. usually i don't use it but being its a stebal i wish i had opportunity to more often

Yep. I do too, and am ready to use it. But once they pull out in front of you the focus needs to be on not hitting them (breaking OR swerving, not both at the same time). ...if you use your horn afterwards, they likely will just go slower or flip you off.

However, with regards to this video, it appears to me that the truck had plenty of time to turn, and the scooter was going too fast. But then, who knows, maybe the helmet cam just made it appear that way.

iMoses wrote:He lives in KC area.

You beat me to it! I watched about 6 of his videos, then plugged in Manny's, I-35, and Concentra Urgent Care, and narrowed it down to the southside of Kansas City. That was a fun game. Anyway... this guys nuts, hide your wife, hide your kids.