Buddy 50 Tires

mattsyd · Post by **mattsyd** » Sat Jun 13, 2015 5:08 am

Hi everyone,
I just bought a 2008 Buddy 50cc with 90/90 10 stock tires. The tires are not that great, haha. I ate it in a small patch of gravel on a turn (on which I was actually being cautious) and when both my wife and I were on it (over 300 lbs combined) the other night, I felt the back tire slip pretty bad upon medium acceleration from a semi-stand still. So now begins my tire search and questions:
What is the largest/widest tires that will fit on a stock and/or modded Buddy 50? And what mods, if any, need to be done?
What is a good tire for street, wet, and loose gravel on turns?
What would be the downside to using a dual purpose tires on the streets?
What is your favorite tire for wet and dry traction?
Also, I just found Continental Zippy 2 online. They seems like a good compromise between a street/sport and a dual-purpose tire. Has anyone used these? Do think that would be a good tire.

And just as a reference point, I'm not too concerned with a tire that gets a lot of miles because we don't put that many miles on the scooter. So, we mainly want great traction.

Thanks,
Matthew

avescoots1134 · Post by **avescoots1134** » Sat Jun 13, 2015 4:32 pm

Larger tires won't work on a 50, so Michelin S1 90/90-10 wins hands down. A dual purpose tire will have less traction on the street. As far as gravel traction is concerned, that's more of a skill thing.

KrispyKreme · Post by **KrispyKreme** » Sat Jun 13, 2015 5:22 pm

avescoots1134 wrote:Larger tires won't work on a 50, so Michelin S1 90/90-10 wins hands down. A dual purpose tire will have less traction on the street. As far as gravel traction is concerned, that's more of a skill thing.

I beg to differ, LOL. Heidenaus are the best tire I've ridden on a scooter. Great all-around tire that last forever. Best of both worlds.

http://www.sip-scootershop.com/EN/Produ ... gQodcFIAvQ

mattsyd · Post by **mattsyd** » Sun Jun 14, 2015 4:10 am

Cool, thanks for the info.
I checked both those tires out, and now I'll have to make a decision between those and the Zippy 1.

Meanwhile, do you all know anyone that has a tutorial video on how to take off the muffler and rear wheel? It seems pretty simple, but it would be nice to watch a video of someone doing it on a buddy 50 first. Just so there's no surprises.

Thanks!

lovemysan · Post by **lovemysan** » Sun Jun 14, 2015 12:27 pm

KrispyKreme wrote:
avescoots1134 wrote:Larger tires won't work on a 50, so Michelin S1 90/90-10 wins hands down. A dual purpose tire will have less traction on the street. As far as gravel traction is concerned, that's more of a skill thing.

I beg to differ, LOL. Heidenaus are the best tire I've ridden on a scooter. Great all-around tire that last forever. Best of both worlds.

http://www.sip-scootershop.com/EN/Produ ... gQodcFIAvQ

I beg to differ my heidenau on the rear lasted one season. Once it wore down close to the wear bars it's was really slick. But my bike makes a lot a of power. I've got a Michelin s1 now. It's very close to the heidenau

MYSCTR · Post by **MYSCTR** » Sun Jun 14, 2015 12:39 pm

mattsyd wrote:Meanwhile, do you all know anyone that has a tutorial video on how to take off the muffler and rear wheel? It seems pretty simple, but it would be nice to watch a video of someone doing it on a buddy 50 first. Just so there's no surprises. Thanks!

Search this on youtube: Genuine Buddy 170 Rear Wheel Removal

This is on the 170 yet should give you a pretty good idea for the 50.

mattsyd · Post by **mattsyd** » Mon Jun 15, 2015 3:58 am

Well, I'm going to get my tire put on tomorrow. I bought a 3.5x10 Zippy 1. The mechanic at the scooter shop I talked to says that it will fit on the Buddy 50 and won't rub. Trick is you have deflate the tire after getting it on the wheel in order to get it on the scooter, then you can inflate it back up. I'll let y'all know how the removal and install of the wheels go, and if the tire works of course.
Thanks for the help. I'll take pics before and after.

mattsyd · Post by **mattsyd** » Tue Jun 23, 2015 7:28 am

Tire fit! And I didn't have to deflate it after all. Although I did need to remove the rear fender, which I was already pretty sure was going to be the case.

And I'm very happy with the Zippy 1 so far. Sticks great in wet and dry! We'll see how many miles I get on it.

Thanks for all the help!

Dooglas · Post by **Dooglas** » Tue Jun 23, 2015 4:13 pm

mattsyd wrote:I'm very happy with the Zippy 1 so far. Sticks great in wet and dry! We'll see how many miles I get on it.

We run Zippy 1s on our 125. Good tire in my experience.