Modern Buddy

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I bought a genuine buddy yesterday on craigslist rode it home and of course it won't start this morning. The battery works(the turning signals and hazard lights work), and the gas tank is full. It barely wants to begin to turn over, sometimes, but mostly makes a clicking noise. Any suggestions would be truly helpful.

Jump start it using a car but do NOT start the car. If the scooter starts, it's the scooter battery.

1. Make sure the kill switch it set to "run" (yeah I know, I am the only who ever spent an hour trouble shooting before I noticed the switch was turned off)
2. Try kick starting the bike (I don't usually bother with the electric start anyway)
3. Make sure you are holding a brake on (see number 1!)
4. Try charging the battery.


If none of those things work, you can download the manual. It gives a bunch of hints.
If it worked fine yesterday, it's probably the battery. When my Buddy just clicks, I hook up the battery trickle charger and it works fine in s few hours. BTW, it is possible to take the key out while the ignition. That drains the battery (see number 1)

Congrats on your first scooter.

You'll find that most scooter owners have trickle chargers that they hook up either everyday, or at least once a week.

As mentioned previously, check your kill switch. Make sure you turn the key to the off position when you park. Also confirm your starting sequence. Many new owners forget a step or two and drive themselves crazy trying to figure out what's wrong.

i just tried kickstarting it several times to no avail

Do you have the key in the "on/run" position while kickstarting?

It's got to be something simple like previously mentioned.
Lots of people that have a bike for sale are selling because they don't ride, and, as such, the battery is usually run down. Maybe the seller put a quick charge into it just before you were due to arrive, and of course, it started that one time.

Sometimes sellers will have a bike running when you arrive to look at it, which I HATE, and which is why if we agree on say, 1PM for me to look at it, I will arrive 12:30 sharp and apologize profusely... (gee, the traffic was very light!) Sometimes doing that, you catch them in the act of working on the bike.

cavascript wrote:i just tried kickstarting it several times to no avail

Did you try jumpstarting it with a car?

I had a similar experience. The scooter started and rode fine. I stopped for a while. Went to restart and nothing; just a click. I took some sandpaper and sanded the leads to the battery until the silver shone bright. Tightened them back down, and voila. The scooter started right up. Still, if this is the problem, the kickstarter should start the bike, but polish up those battery leads.

Keep trying to Kickstart it. Kick starting sounds simple but it takes a bit to be effective. Move the key while moving handlebar back and forth, work the kill switch back in forth and you don't need too hold a brake in to Kickstart it. If it that don't work slight tap kill switch with a hammer this always works for my wife's buddy. Make sure to move the key all the way counter clockwise if I'm remember correctly you can take the key out b4 it's all the way and it'll run the battery down.

easy wrote: If it that don't work slight tap kill switch with a hammer this always works for my wife's buddy.

Ahhh, a hammer? I think I'd either clean the contacts on the switch or get a new one,

I agree with "Easy" about kickstarting takes some effort and practice. You'll develop a feel for it so that it isn't just about brute force. The hammer, however, I think I'll pass on. LOL.

I took the battery to auto zone and it has a full charge. Any thoughts?

cavascript wrote:I took the battery to auto zone and it has a full charge. Any thoughts?

Autozone does a shitty job of testing motorcycle batteries. TRY JUMPSTARTING YOUR SCOOTER WITH A CAR. or just buy a new battery. they are cheap.

mike is right. If you ever need a battery tested use Batteries Plus. To do it right they will keep it overnight to perform a proper drop test. Some batteries will have good volts but the cranking amps will be weak. The tiny terminals make jump starting it exciting when using car sized jumper cables, but that is the best method as far as Im concerned. My battery in our Buddy 125 is old as crap but I ride it on a regular basis so it still works fine. Let us know what results you get when you finally jump start it. Oh, and leave the car OFF when you do it!

thanks scOOter.

cavascript, just buy a new battery because they are cheap. look at number on your battery and make sure it matches one of these.......
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R4 ... ry&_sop=15

Be sure to squeeze and hold the left brake lever in while pushing the starter button.

cavascript wrote: I bought a genuine buddy yesterday on craigslist rode it home and of course it won't start this morning. The battery works(the turning signals and hazard lights work), and the gas tank is full. It barely wants to begin to turn over, sometimes, but mostly makes a clicking noise. Any suggestions would be truly helpful.

If that's true, then all the suggestions about keys, kill switches and brake levers are moot - you're doing it right.

The click is solenoid engaging electricity to the starter.

Are you holding the starter button or releasing it right away? Go ahead and hold it in for a couple of seconds, it may go. Mine will do this often:

ruhr......................ruhr,ruhr,ruhr,ruhr,roar.


It hits that point of compression and without any momentum to push forward it gets stuck for a bit.


And yes, kickstarting takes practice.

The clicking sound after it tries to turn over means your battery is very near dead or maybe the terminals or another point on the electrical (starting) system has a loose connection. A nearly dead battery will still light the lights but won't have enough juice to start the scooter.

As others have suggested numerous times already, connect a car battery with jumper cables to your scooter WITHOUT starting the car. Let it stay connected for 3 minutes then try to start the scooter with the cables still connected. If it starts, then the problem is your battery is too weak. If it starts, remove the cables right away.

Hey everyone i took it into the shop turned out to be missing a nut at the negative terminal connection and the carburator was loose and needed to be cleaned out. Worked great for a couple of days but im on my drive home last night it suddenly started to sputter and now wont go past 25 mph. I made it home but it wouldnt turn over. This morning it started fine but i rode it around the block and it still wont go past 25mpb. Any suggestions?

The obvious....take it back to the shop that did the work.

cavascript wrote:Hey everyone i took it into the shop turned out to be missing a nut at the negative terminal connection and the carburator was loose and needed to be cleaned out. Worked great for a couple of days but im on my drive home last night it suddenly started to sputter and now wont go past 25 mph. I made it home but it wouldnt turn over. This morning it started fine but i rode it around the block and it still wont go past 25mpb. Any suggestions?

It wouldn't turn over? Meaning you press the starter and only get a click? Or did you mean that it won't start?


The stuttering issue is more like what happens when a stator dies.

To be a little more clear, i tried to start it and it wanted to but the engine wouldn't turn over. Now it starts but once it gets to 20 or 25 it sputters and won't go past that. I want to avoid going back to the shop due to the cost of it and also would like to learn more about fixing these on my own.

If you paid good money to get your scoot fixed and it still isn't running right, I would take it back. You can always learn how to wrench on it after you get it back from the shop.

I bet that the carb is still dirty. If the bike sat for a long time, sometimes it takes a few carb cleans to get it running right. Those little carb jets are easily clogged with the smallest of debris.