Modern Buddy

Wanted to know who has upgraded the suspension on there buddy and if you felt it was worth the money. I live in Seattle and the Streets are pretty bumpy.

A suspension upgrade is pretty expensive, so would love to know if you personally felt a significant difference, and what type (brand) of suspension you went with. Or if there is already a thread about this, please point me in the right direction.

Thanks

Im not positive about the buddy but I know for the rattler that most of the aftermarket suspension upgrades are "performance" which in most cases are going to tighten up your suspension for better handling at higher speeds. Here's the link to what scooterworks has to offer you. But again, it sounds like these are more down the performance road verses the cruising style it seems like your after.

http://www.scooterworks.com/Shocks-C373.aspx

I'd be interested too, since all the blackjack/psycho upgrades are pricey. The pipe is cool and all but meh. I don't have a garage. The suspension and braking upgrades might be neat if they smoothed it out a bit.

I haven't ridden a stock Buddy enough to give a detailed comparison but I can give you some feedback. Overall think more firm and responsive rather than soft and plush. You will feel rutted pavement, potholes, and cobblestones. (Which reminds me, I need to get some sound deadening material to stick behind the plastic panels and quiet up the rattles!).

The advantage of the NCY rear shock is you get to tune rebound and damping to your weight and riding style. The front NCY shock is also firmer than stock, but non-adjustable. One important advantage is decreased nose-dive under heavy braking.

If you're looking for increased comfort, the NCY and other performance shocks may not be the way to go. Just checked the Scooterworks site, and they are pricey.

i have the NCY rear shock and keep it pretty firm--when it was dialed closer to *soft* it felt too squishy in the turns. i need to play with it more, but i also have the front shock on order. to be honest, my scooter guy said i won't feel a difference, that it wasn't worth the price. i like the look of the NCY front shock and rotor a heck of a lot, so i'm going through with it. don't think much helps with the bumps---the scooter isn't exactly built for comfort in that respect.

I have both front and back NCY shocks. they made the bike handle WAY better, a little taller, too, once the front ones were one. I bottomed the stock rear shock a lot. The front just made it seem more stable through deep leans.

I love them. I let someone ride my buddy this past weekend and I rode a totally stock (well he had a prima pipe) for the first time 19k miles. Stock sits way lower and you feel every little bump by comparison.

these shocks don't solve everything but WAY better in my opinion.

I had the YSS shock for the Buddy's on my Rattler and it was a major improvement on smoothing out the bumps. Adjustable suspension lets you tune to the ride you want.

jijifer wrote:I let someone ride my buddy this past weekend and I rode a totally stock (well he had a prima pipe) for the first time 19k miles. Stock sits way lower....

That's really interesting. When I have sat on stock Buddys at the dealer they always seemed lower than my Blackjack. I can pretty much flat foot the Buddy, but not the Blackjack.

I thought maybe it was the difference in seats, but the shocks affecting the ride height does make a lot of sense.

HowHH wrote:

jijifer wrote:I let someone ride my buddy this past weekend and I rode a totally stock (well he had a prima pipe) for the first time 19k miles. Stock sits way lower....

That's really interesting. When I have sat on stock Buddys at the dealer they always seemed lower than my Blackjack. I can pretty much flat foot the Buddy, but not the Blackjack.

I thought maybe it was the difference in seats, but the shocks affecting the ride height does make a lot of sense.

yep. I was told that before I put the front ones on - almost 2 inches. You lean into your handleabars more through turns but it feels like it will stick - so much better than stock. I really like them.

huh. well there goes that idea. I don't quite flat foot it as it is!

Anyone have experience installing the suspension? I've done some electric stuff (deadlights, backoff lights) and done oil changes and that stuff. I'm fairly inexperienced with real scooter work, but I am mechanically inclined.

What's the work entail? I'm trying to figure out if I can handle it or if it's a job for the dealer.

Super super easy. There's only two bolts you have to remove. Just make sure you have it on the center stand or on a jack to hold the body of the scooter up.

SuperCyclone.81 wrote:Super super easy. There's only two bolts you have to remove. Just make sure you have it on the center stand or on a jack to hold the body of the scooter up.

That's exactly what I wanted to hear.

The only problem now is that my upgrade list is getting on the long side...

SuperCyclone.81 wrote:Super super easy. There's only two bolts you have to remove. Just make sure you have it on the center stand or on a jack to hold the body of the scooter up.

Are you talking about the front or rear?

I was referring to the rear. But the front are just as simple, only you will definitely have to remove the front plastics and the bolts are a little bigger and tougher to get loose.

I've taken off all the panels. Some of them are a pain in the butt, but that definitely isn't very difficult in terms of technical skill. At any rate, I'll be going for the rear suspension first.

Ya the rear is a little bit easier depending on if you have to remove the rear panels to get to the bolt on the top end of the shock.

I replaced the front shocks on our 09 Pamp with NCY and we can definitely feel the difference. I'd love to do the back one too if we had the cash. My blackjack is newer, but feels so much "tighter" and stable all around than the Pamp does. But I also have about 40lbs more to weigh mine down! But seriously, it was squirrelly when stock, much less so with new shocks.

It wasn't hard at all, just took time. Getting the shock bolts off took a long pipe for leverage and then I torque wrenched everything to spec. There's a tutorial around here somewhere that I followed.

Good luck!