Modern Buddy

It's been a week now since I bought my scooter and it has been sitting sadly in the garage awaiting a working battery.

My new battery came in today. After hours of research I finally settled on the Shorai Lithium Iron battery. Why? I had a bunch of great reasons in my head justifying the price when I ordered it, but they are all evading me now. I have no basis of comparison over a standard agm. Well it's in my scooter now so there is no going back.

IT'S ALIVE!!!!

I still haven't ridden it. I called my husband down after I installed the battery and made him start it... I'm such a chicken. I then had him take it around the block and lived vicariously through him.

My tires arrive tomorrow. Heidenau K61 100/90-10. I remember there being good reasons for those too...

NYC brakes next?

Demo_Nic wrote:NYC brakes next?

Breaks are overrated, just find a nice soft wall to slow you down and stop you!

BFPengi wrote:It's been a week now since I bought my scooter and it has been sitting sadly in the garage awaiting a working battery.

My new battery came in today. After hours of research I finally settled on the Shorai Lithium Iron battery. Why? I had a bunch of great reasons in my head justifying the price when I ordered it, but they are all evading me now. I have no basis of comparison over a standard agm. Well it's in my scooter now so there is no going back.

IT'S ALIVE!!!!

I still haven't ridden it. I called my husband down after I installed the battery and made him start it... I'm such a chicken. I then had him take it around the block and lived vicariously through him.

My tires arrive tomorrow. Heidenau K61 100/90-10. I remember there being good reasons for those too...

Hop on and get out there! My bf, Lokky, now swears by the Heidenaus, (as do several others on this board) apparently they are fantastic. I can't speak for them personally, we were going to rotate my tires for another few thousand miles out of my stock tires when I got taken out of commission.

Idk if you want any ideas for other shinies to buy for your Buddy, but I'll throw some out there: If you and the hubbs plan on taking it two-up anywhere and you're interested in upgrading parts, I suggest the suspension (especially if one or both of you are not magazine-thin). That was my one complaint about my 170. I also fully recommend a windshield, recommend considering footpegs if you are planning 2-up rides often, and of course a rack of any sort. Decals! Reflective decals. GEAR. Gear yourself properly.

Haved you named your Buddy yet? Pics?

Congrats on the scoot!

I'm definitely sold on Heidenaus once my tires need to be replaced. The extra (slight) expense seems worth it because they are supposed to last longer than most other tires PLUS they have been raved about on here.

I'm happy with my braking power at the moment, I don't think the Buddy needs it, but I'd agree with LunaP that the suspension isn't outstanding (not bad, but certainly not great).

Another small upgrade you can do is getting a more powerful headlight bulb to improve your visibility and your field-of-view at night.

Ditto on the suspension, and i checked, you do need breaks!

ok... Suspension? I can upgrade the suspension? That is a fabulous idea.

Off to research! And if anyone wants to put in some advice/2 cents/links on this matter here, I would greatly appreciate it too.

I was definitely thinking about the windshield though I was a bit worried about performance in wind. It gets ridiculously windy here and I've heard of control issues with a windshield being installed.

Absolutely on the headlamp. Getting that upgraded next week.

Yes on the rack. Also looking at the Shad topcases and backrests.

Brakes? Why did only one person recommend stopping roller skating style? I though soft walls and grass was the way to go.

HA! And I thought I was being good by finding a good deal on a scooter. Really, I just saved money so that I could spend it (and much more) on upgrades and accessories.

BFPengi wrote:I still haven't ridden it.

Okay...I'll bite. WHY have you not ridden it yet? If you are nervous...do you have a back yard? My first ride on my Buddy (that I had the dealer deliver to my driveway) was in my backyard...15 feet, turn around, 15 feet turn around. May seem silly, but after 5 or 6 times of that I was then ready to ride it across the street into the culdesac for a few spins, then around the neighborhood, then...you get the idea.

I would REALLY hold off on upgrading anything on the suspension, driveline or otherwise until you actually *ride* the bike. No sense trying to improve something when you have no idea why you need to improve upon it.

As for upgrading: EVERYTHING on a bike can be upgrade. Suspension, electrical, headlights and lighting in general, seating, grips, mirrors, body panels, weight reduction.... it goes on and on. You can even put nitrous and a turbo charger on a scooter if you really want to go nuts

(And no, I'm not kidding. It's been done on scooters and anything else that runs on liquid fuel)

It simply comes down to how much engineering you want to do and how much money you have.

BFPengi wrote: I was definitely thinking about the windshield though I was a bit worried about performance in wind. It gets ridiculously windy here and I've heard of control issues with a windshield being installed.

If you're worried about wind, just don't get a tall windshield. Get a medium sized one. I've never been to your area, but it gets decently windy here too in some parts of spring and fall, my windshield never bothered me. I feel like the benefits greatly outweigh everything else, the only reason not to get one is if you absolutely cannot stand how they look. They will block rain if it's only drizzling or misting, block bugs (ew!) and any debree that may fly your way, and some people say they see 1-3 bmph increase in speed after installing. I can't confirm that, my dealer installed my windshield before I even ever rode mine, I never rode it without... and if I were to get another, windshield would be top 3 things to get again. I had a plain old Cuppini, but a lot of people rave about Slipstream, the website photos don't do them justice but they are specially contoured to throw wind away from you while riding.

If money is not an object (it sounds like it isn't), then modding your deadlights into additional working lights are a really cool option for Buddy mods, and it adds to the safety factor. VooDoo kits will let you turn the deadlights into either solid running lights, lights that blink along with the DOT signals, or both... I always thought it was super neat. I think it requires you to have LED bulbs also, which are a good switch to make anyway, they are brighter and last longer.

If you intend on long trips or grocery shopping... saddlebags or a roll bag are also a huge help. If you do use saddlebags, I recommend lining the back/inside of them with felt or something so they do not rub scuffs on the precious. If you don't often get inclement weather in your area and plan on riding while it's cold, check out scooter skirts and handlebar muffs (I like to pimp out Tucano Urbano for both of those, the Buddy takes lap cover model R-151)

Here's some pics of my pretty girl, before she got all beat up and sent to scooter heaven:
(also in this photo... a disc lock. I recommend a disc lock... they are available with motion alarms on them, check out Kryptonite or Xena for locks)

IMG_1352


IMG_1345

Here's some pics of my pretty girl, before she got all beat up and sent to scooter heaven:
(also in this photo... a disc lock. I recommend a disc lock... they are available with motion alarms on them, check out Kryptonite or Xena for locks)

IMG_1352


IMG_1345

What kind of scooter skirt is that?

It's a Tucano Urbano. The model R-151 fits the Buddy. They are FANTASTIC for cold weather or rain riding... the outside is waterpoof, the inside is fuzz-lined, it has something you can thread your chain through so nobody can steal it off of your bike, and also a pull-out elastic seat cover portion so that you can keep your seat dry when you leave it in the parking lot in the rain.

If you are looking at cold weather gear, Tucano Urbano also makes handlebar muffs that fit the Buddy and don't mess with the DOT signals. I wouldn't have gotten through this winter without them.

I purchased my Buddy in March, I haven't done any upgrades but he is still under a two warranty.

I did get a gen u bin, the front rack in chrome and the back rack in chrome. I am going to change the grips to Pro grips also.

After he is out of warranty I will look at upgrades to the rest.

HI all, first post!

I have had my 170i for a month. I added a windshield, Shad 33 top case, a YSS performance adjustable shock, and this week I am getting the Prima exhaust. I have a bunch of reflective striping and decals on the way. Lots of fun riding and upgrading my scooter!

Have fun, GOwithIT

Talk to your dealer to be sure that Prima pipe is compatible with the 170i's injection system.

How about some LED lights, headlight upgrade, and deadlight conversion?

You could always add a cool looking bigger front brake disc to give it the Black Jack and Psycho look:

http://www.scooterworks.com/NCY-Brake-D ... 9C413.aspx



It'll only cost around $100 instead of $500 for an NCY front end kit and it'll help your braking power in addition to looking cool.

Has anyone mounted up that NCY big-brake disc with the stock caliper, or does it need alternative mounting? If it has a bigger radius, the caliper would need to be moved (or replaced with the NCY caliper), no?

PeteH wrote:Has anyone mounted up that NCY big-brake disc with the stock caliper, or does it need alternative mounting? If it has a bigger radius, the caliper would need to be moved (or replaced with the NCY caliper), no?

I've always wondered the same thing. But since they don't list an adapter and one isn't sold separately, I'm going to assume one is included. If you take a look at this photo, I'm assuming the black thing is an adapter:



I ordered one yesterday. I'll let you know when it comes in.

Edit: I have no idea what that little black thing is in the photo. But I did find the installation instructions listed on the rotor page at scooterworks. It shows a new mounting plate. So the rotor obviously comes with a new mounting plate. Installation instructions: http://www.scooterworks.com/images/pdf/ ... ctions.pdf

Hi Pete,

I had my dealer do it today! The Prima Exhaust looks, rides and sounds awesome! Glad I did it. My shop is really competent!