Modern Buddy

I've been riding the scooter quite a bit and on local runs its adequate but recently started making a slightly longer runs on a 45 mph divided median road, typical traffic speed is 50 mph. Top speed is 58 mph indicated 49 mph GPS verified. I'm 250 lbs, scooter is a 2009 buddy 125 3500 miles, recently serviced with new filters, fluids and valve adjustment. Tire pressure 30-35lbs. Mileage has been hovering in the high 50s, not very impressive to me. Any ideas??

You've got a Buddy 50 that you are regularly getting up to 49 MPH or just an occasional peak of 49? My understanding is that gas mileage goes way down when you are riding all the time with a wide-open throttle. I have a 125, and it's getting a pretty regular 80-85 MPG, even though I'm still in the break-in period. But I'm hardly ever riding much above 40 or 45 MPH indicated.

The Buddy 125 in his post does not agree with the Buddy 50 in his profile.

That makes more sense! I read right past the "125" in the post.

I also get in the 80's on my 125.

Yeah, IMHO you should be getting 80-90 mpg on a 125. That's even riding WOT a decent amount of the time. I also get indicated 70mph on the speedo on a regular basis. Sounds like something is not working correctly.

Is this a sudden problem or has the MPG / performance decreased over time?

I bought the scooter in january. I use it on lots of short trips under 2 minutes each. The average ride length is around 5-7 minutes. I made 4 12 mile trips Sunday And that seems to pushing this tank close to 70 mpg. I'm going to check conpression next it might be a tad low. Nothing a 161cc kit shouldn't fix.

So, do you have two Buddys? A 50 and a 125?

hmm....interesting? isn't the top speed on these around 55mph? so 49mph doesn't seem so bad

most likely nothing serious. hope it gets worked out. i like a nice top speed, myself

I bought my 125 back in October and the mileage was in the high 60's at the beginning. It got better after the break-in period and now (at around 1350 miles), I'm up to the upper 70's, low 80's, depending on how many trips I take, how fast I'm going, number of stops and starts, etc. I usually don't go over 40 mph but if I'm on the parkway, I'll go up to 45 or 50 to keep up with traffic.

lovemysan wrote:I bought the scooter in january. I use it on lots of short trips under 2 minutes each. The average ride length is around 5-7 minutes. I made 4 12 mile trips Sunday And that seems to pushing this tank close to 70 mpg. I'm going to check conpression next it might be a tad low. Nothing a 161cc kit shouldn't fix.

Since you saw better mileage with the long trips, I'm going to guess that your low mileage is due to the type of riding you do. For rides under two minutes, your scooter probably isn't even warmed up yet, so the autochoke would be keeping the idle high, which would burn more fuel. That's my theory, anyhow.

Don't forget to factor in riding conditions—uphill, into the wind, insufficient tire inflation, rider weight, etc, all have a negative affect on mpg.

For 250lbs on a 125cc Buddy, 55mph is a reasonable WOT top speed on level ground. Sounds like you have this stuff in order, but check that your tires are correctly inflated to 30psi and with sufficient tread. At 3500 miles your rear tire will be due for a change. Also, I'll venture a guess that if you are feeling the scooter is too slow then you are naturally riding WOT most of the time. That alone will eat up your mpg.

Also, proper maintenance—fresh oil, gear oil, rollers, valve adjustment, belt etc, all are vital.

I guess weight maybe does make a difference (in speed,at least). I'm a 160 pound female , but I can go 60-62 (70-72 indicated) on a straightaway. I have to confess that I have not checked my mileage lately...the last time I checked it, it was around 90, BUT that was before I started taking the freeway and going 55-62 much of the time. I just checked my mpg, and with typical freeway speeds of 45 - 62 mph, my last fill-up was at 84.5 mpg.

I took the MSF course on my Buddy back in 2009--a weekend of lots of stop and go and idling. The mpg went down to 68.9 mpg for that tankful.

The Buddy 125 I'm talking about (Little Bit) has 5,200 miles on him so far.

Weight will make a difference, but not that much. I was right around 240lbs. when I first bought my 07 Buddy (125cc). And I was getting in the low 60's mpg range (after the break-in period). Now the scoot has almost 9k, I'm 205lbs., and get in the 66-70 mpg range.

I think that the TYPE of riding has more to do with MPG than weight.