Modern Buddy

It is a hot one here today, 102, and "kaze" overheated after 25 miles at 60 indicated mph. Nothing to terrible occurred; just lost top end and she wouldn't get past 55 indicated, so I limped the last mile home. The peculiar thing is when I stopped the idle was a bit high, so I let it idle for a couple of minutes and then shut her off.

poor scoot! I bet it's just hot, I'm sure it's fine.

I haven't had my Buddy 50cc out in the 100F+ heat. My GTV is liquid cooled and the fan comes on after I sit at a couple of stop lights. And it is supposed to be even hotter tomorrow. Yikes. Good luck. I'm sure your scooter is fine, just not very happy right now.

After my Rattler seized a SECOND time in less than 2k miles in 100+ degree heat, I realized that it was incapable of the job of a daily driver scooter. The heat can be a killer here in Arizona for many bikes, and for someone who uses it as a daily driver there isn't much room for a bike that can't cut it. It still amazes me how many crap Chinese scooters still are sold here when most are turned to slag after the summer in the valley.

I just changed her oil and she runs great .

how did the oil look

Black, but it was time for an oil change, 1800 mi. since last one.

I have had some overheating issues in the 103 degree range, and the oil has been fine, so the dealer says.

neotrotsky wrote:After my Rattler seized a SECOND time in less than 2k miles in 100+ degree heat, I realized that it was incapable of the job of a daily driver scooter.

Your Rattler is by no means representative of all Rattlers. It was a dog when you got it.

my Buddy got a bit sluggish during the last heat wave and I chose to use a slower & slightly longer way to work to reduce time at near WOT, but had more time idling in stop-n-go traffic;

the local construction projects around here are getting ridiculous and riding the motorcycle in traffic cooks my right leg (exhaust pipes) and being ambient air-cooled isn't helping the oil either;

both the scoot and motorcycle will be treated to early oil changes soon...

if these temps keep up I might have to dig deeper into my pocket for fuel and drive my cage til the temps reduce...

Next weeks forecast looking none too good... More triple digits.

ericalm wrote:

neotrotsky wrote:After my Rattler seized a SECOND time in less than 2k miles in 100+ degree heat, I realized that it was incapable of the job of a daily driver scooter.

Your Rattler is by no means representative of all Rattlers. It was a dog when you got it.

After a full factory rebuild (after EVENTUALLY finding the right parts) and with cracks in the frame after only 4k miles, non-existent parts and zero support for a legacy bike, it was a dog when Genuine put it on the market. Things failed on that bike that should not of failed, and regularly. I'm sorry... the Rattler is a failure of a bike by an otherwise great bike company. I'm not hard on my machines by any stretch of the imagination. This bike just is not up to snuff with the rest of Genuine.

And, the fact that it was from a Genuine "dealer" that screwed me on it sours my opinion of their choice of dealers. One out of the two Genuine dealers is an outright crook here in the Valley, and we know which California scam-dealer sold me that bike... you are correct that the scooter was a dog when I bought it. But, I should of simply stuck to my guns and rented a workspace for the P200e and paid the legal fees to fight the emissions BS in court with it. Would of been cheaper than losing on that Rattler. Wrong bike for the job of basic commuting.

We have a fair amount of rattlers here and they seem fine. We also have 4 (of the same) dealer that has dealt with them, so I think they are well maintained.

My buddy has done pretty well under heat duress so far, but I don't have it WOT very long, and the first time I rode it 90 minutes in 100+ heat, it did stall at the end . After a brief rest though it was just fine.

Having an oil cooler in the 150 and 170 probably helps.