Modern Buddy

Well, gang, I did it. All by myself, too!! I replaced the original belt (with a kevlar one) and the rollerweights (with 10.5 items) this evening. It's a pretty straightforward and simple job. I went up to where I used to work and borrowed the air wrench of one of the mechanics...sure made the job easy! Believe it or not, the most time consuming and difficult part of the job was getting the transmission cover off!

With over 12,000 miles on the odometer, the original belt really showed no wear...I'm keeping it for a spare. The rollerweights had some worn and flat spots on them, but really didn't look TOO bad. I don't really have any performance data for you yet, but tomorrow is the "Something For Nothing" rally and I'll be spending all day on the scooter. I'll let you know. Seat of the pants on the way home from replacing the parts...I didn't really notice any difference. With 10.5 gram rollers, I didn't really expect to...just helping out the engine a little in the mountains.

--Keys

i had mine changed last week to 16 gram weights it slowed the take off down but it got pretty interesting from 40 to 60

I also got a set of 15's. Don't think I'll be using them, though...I need the boost up the hills.

--Keys

i dont have hills around me so i can get away with heavier weights.
im thinking of swaping out 3 of my 16 gram weights with 13 gram and seeing what it does

I am NOT happy. I replace the rollerweights with 10.5 gram items. Went on the Something For Nothing rally. NO power. It was a DAWG!!! Barely had enough power to hike it's skirts and scamper around a corner! I was being beaten by stock 150cc vintage Vespas...UPHILL!!

So I came home and went directly to the shop and pulled everything apart. Couldn't find anything awry. So, just to see if it made a difference, I put the 15 gram rollerweights in. Buttoned it back up, being VERY dilligent to do so properly. Really no difference. It didn't accelerate with the 10.5's...didn't accelerate with the 15's. No top end with the 10.5's, not top end with the 15's.

I'm now going to pull the carburetor, etc. to investigate the possibility that I have other issues...updates to follow...

--Keys

Okay, so I pulled the carburetor off and cleaned it thoroughly, replaced the fuel filter with a brand new one and pulled the plug and cleaned it and reset the gap. Took it for a ride...no change. Still no power. So I pulled the variator again. Put the 10.5's back in after comparing them size-wise to the originals. Same size. Re-lubed with 3-in-1 oil. Put it back together. Rode it. No change...no power. I pulled it apart again and put my original belt back in. Even after nearly 13,000 miles it still looks new but when I did the rollerweights, I put a kevlar belt in, too. So, original belt back in, buttoned things up...AGAIN...and took it for a ride. GOT MY POWER BACK!!! The problem was the belt!

Before I put the original back in, I compared the two. I could discern NO difference. However, it appears the scooter can! We be rockin' and rollin' again!

The belt that does NOT work is a Polini 248.005.3 sold by MRP. Like I said, it is so close you can't see a difference, but there obviously is one. I suspect it is a difference in the angle of the teeth.

--Keys

just swapped my stock 11's (with 13k of use) for 10's.... it was an eternally frustrating process until, like keys, i borrowed an impact wrench... after that it was, as keys described, a quick and easy job.... although i had to do it twice, after putting the plastic tabs back on the variator cover upside down.... the buddy is certainly revitalized, and after limited riding, the main thing that i've noticed, aside from quickness off the line, was being able to accelerate more quickly after slowing... i'm happy... and i am thankful for the wonders of compressed air...

Hey Keys, Thanks for the report. But did you keep the original roller weights or did you put the new weights back in?

I bought TWO new sets...10.5 gram and 15 gram. I ended up going with the 10.5's for right now. The old ones were not reusable...flat spots everywhere.

--Keys

Be very, very careful when dealing with MRP -
It is very rare that you will hear me say anything downright negative about any operation on a public forum, but on this point I WILL make an exception.

It has been my personal experience that MRP is NOT a stand up company to deal with.

I have seen several occasions where frustrated customers will bring in parts ordered from MRP that are actually labeled as intended for use on their scooter that have NO business going on that scooter in particular. We have seen folks being sold what is clearly the wrong part and then had horrible luck trying to return that part because they simply don't have the part you need in their inventory.

Deal with your local shop, if you end up with the wrong part, they will be able to get you the right one immediately, or at least get you a speedy refund. Remember, if your shop doesn't have a particular part in stock you can always have them order it for you. This way the liability of accuracy is on their shoulders.

I know "click and ship" websites can be very tempting, but they don't always live up to their claims.

Also note that going to 10.5 gram weights when your OEM weights are 11 grams probably won't make any felt difference in the way the scooter performs.

It is a good thing to replace your rollers when they have flat spots, but making such a small change is usually not going to yield any benefit.

The only possible reason I could think to go with the much heavier weights would be if you had a seriously high performance motor and you were trying to increase the amount of torque you were delivering at lower revs. That situation hardly applies to our Buddy scooters.

lower speed accel improved but how did it effect your topend?

Like Phil said, no discernable difference. I was simply trying to replace the worn parts...performance has been quite acceptable, so that wasn't my major concern here...

As for the belt, it WAS ordered through my dealer. They were just unable to get Genuine to supply the needed parts, so THEY had to out-source.

--Keys