Modern Buddy

User's manual says change engine and gear oil at 200 miles (300 km). How critical is this anyway? My 170i Italia is in storage in Tucson along with its user's manual but I remember not doing the 1st oil change until about 500 miles. Nothing bad has happened and the Italia runs near perfect. With the Hoolie having the same 170i engine as my Italia I'm thinking of doing the Hoolie's first oil change at 500 - 600 mile and not worrying about 200 miles. Right now it has just a bit over 200 on it. Comments anyone?

Bill in Seattle
12 170i Italia (AZ scoot)
'14 170i Hooligan (WA scoot)

Well, I rarely reply on this forum, but I'll make an exception......


Genuine manuals are more for comic relief than for actual info. The sticker on the headset of my Buddy says change at 100kl and then every 300kl afterwards. I advise you to ask your dealer to make sure he will honor the warranty.

200 miles really isn't enough mileage to get the engine broken in. We always suggest around 500-600 miles for first service, and every 1500 after that at my shop.

KrispyKreme wrote:. The sticker on the headset of my Buddy says change at 100kl and then every 300kl afterwards..

Just what exactly is a kl ??? a kiloliter??

luckyscroller788 wrote:

KrispyKreme wrote:. The sticker on the headset of my Buddy says change at 100kl and then every 300kl afterwards..

Just what exactly is a kl ??? a kiloliter??

I meant KM. It was my mistake.

KrispyKreme wrote:

luckyscroller788 wrote:

KrispyKreme wrote:. The sticker on the headset of my Buddy says change at 100kl and then every 300kl afterwards..

Just what exactly is a kl ??? a kiloliter??

I meant KM. It was my mistake.

LOL, its ok, the people in Tiawan probably meant to say kl anyways!

My dealer told me to bring it in for a first service between 500-600 miles. They said that there are break-in oils in the engine and tranny and that 200 miles isn't long enough for it to properly break-in. I followed their recommendation with no issues.

luckyscroller788 wrote:

KrispyKreme wrote:

luckyscroller788 wrote: Just what exactly is a kl ??? a kiloliter??

I meant KM. It was my mistake.

LOL, its ok, the people in Tiawan probably meant to say kl anyways!

And they probably know how to spell TAIWAN.

KrispyKreme wrote:

luckyscroller788 wrote:

KrispyKreme wrote:
I meant KM. It was my mistake.

LOL, its ok, the people in Tiawan probably meant to say kl anyways!

And they probably know how to spell TAIWAN.

I don't know...... I will have to check my manual for that!!!

Greyscoot wrote:My dealer told me to bring it in for a first service between 500-600 miles. They said that there are break-in oils in the engine and tranny and that 200 miles isn't long enough for it to properly break-in. I followed their recommendation with no issues.

Thanks for your response and thanks also to the others who responded. 500-600 miles makes sense and I'm going to go with that. It's also consistent with other scooters that I have bought new namely a Yamaha Vino 125, Yamaha Majesty 400 and my 170i Italia.

Bill in Seattle

'12 170ii Italia (AZ scoot)
'14 170i Hooligan (WA scoot)

I follow the manufacturer's recommendations for the simple reason that it eliminates one excuse to not honor a warranty.

I know it's a little late to reply but I would follow the manufacturer's recommendation if I were you. Unless the dealer has serviced the scooter and put fresh oil in it you never know what you're getting. For 5 bucks worth of oil it isn't worth the risk.

I actually just got a "used" 2014 Hooligan with nearly no miles on it for a great deal ($3300 OTD) and am curious if I need to get the oil changed @ 200 miles or not. 200 does seem a bit early but I won't argue at all if I need to. I like to keep my vehicles well-maintained.

My 2009 150 had the sticker on the headset calling for first oil change at 300km. I followed this recommendation. If I remember correctly, I had the dealer stick with dino (conventional) oil for this change, then switched to synthetic thereafter. The ModernBuddy consensus at the time was that the dino facilitated the right amount of break-in wear and helped the rings seal nicely with the cylinder. Thereafter, the synth oil minimizes wear.

Working out well for me so far.

Harpsychord if you have a 2014 it doesn't matter how many miles it has on it the oil needs to be changed. I wouldn't operate it until it gets done.

Halfton57 wrote:Harpsychord if you have a 2014 it doesn't matter how many miles it has on it the oil needs to be changed. I wouldn't operate it until it gets done.

This was bought from a dealer that used to be a Genuine dealer (they moved too close to another one and had to give up being such). I trust that they did the proper inspections/pre-sale maintenance and would never leave oil sitting that long (TX state inspections are the last thing holding up delivery). I'll get the oil replaced at 200 miles for sure.

I'll be doing my own inspection to make sure everything looks good before I ride for sure.

I grew up with my dad saying, "oil is cheap, engines aren't". Good luck!!!

Around here we follow manuals, even if they're not always logical.
In fact, when things go pear-shaped the mate says, "Did you RIFM?" (Read the F'ing Manual)

In the olden days of the internet there was an RTFM site put up by one of the research universities. It's gone now, of course.

Syd wrote:In the olden days of the internet there was an RTFM site put up by one of the research universities. It's gone now, of course.

Bet you could find it using the Wayback Machine at archive.org. I've used it to recover some most amazing old stuff.

buddy 125, 150, 170...screw on oil filter which catches alot of break in residue
hooligan 170...NO screw on oil filter and internal oil screen leaves alot of break in residue circulating

change it according to owners manual...