Redesigned chrome rear rack
Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 12:30 am
My wife and I purchased a new 2006 Buddy last weekend. This classic sunset colored Buddy is her new scooter and she is having fun breaking in the engine. My projects are to add the accessories such as a rear chrome rack, matching Genuine sunset top case and Culpini short windshield.
On our Buddy Italia we have the original style chrome rear rack. On ModernBuddy I have read how Genuine redesigned the chrome rear rack but this has been my first opportunity to compare both the original and redesigned racks. For those of us with the original rack I thought that I would compare the two. The picture of the green Italia Buddy is the original design and the picture of the sunset Buddy is the new design.
The improvements that Genuine added to the redesigned rear rack are:
1 – a stronger crossbar support with stronger welds. In the original design the less strong crossbar weld was prone to breaking.
2 – at the crossbar attachment bolt they added a rubber gasket which is the piece that comes in contact with the plastic panels. In the original design a metal gasket came in contact with the plastic panels and some Buddies have had the plastic break. The rubber gasket will help soften the contact with the plastic panels.
3 – at the front attachment points they added large metal gaskets to spread out the downward force of the rack’s bolt and prevent the plastic panel from cracking. They also added a lock washer and changed the front bolts to a hex bolt to prevent over-tightening the front bolts. The only thing that I might add to the front attachment bolts is a rubber gasket that comes in contact with the plastic panels (similar to the rubber gasket on the rear crossbar bolt).
All in all I thought that these were good improvements in the redesigned rear chrome rack and I think that I might add some of those improvements like the rubber gaskets to my original chrome rack.
On our Buddy Italia we have the original style chrome rear rack. On ModernBuddy I have read how Genuine redesigned the chrome rear rack but this has been my first opportunity to compare both the original and redesigned racks. For those of us with the original rack I thought that I would compare the two. The picture of the green Italia Buddy is the original design and the picture of the sunset Buddy is the new design.
The improvements that Genuine added to the redesigned rear rack are:
1 – a stronger crossbar support with stronger welds. In the original design the less strong crossbar weld was prone to breaking.
2 – at the crossbar attachment bolt they added a rubber gasket which is the piece that comes in contact with the plastic panels. In the original design a metal gasket came in contact with the plastic panels and some Buddies have had the plastic break. The rubber gasket will help soften the contact with the plastic panels.
3 – at the front attachment points they added large metal gaskets to spread out the downward force of the rack’s bolt and prevent the plastic panel from cracking. They also added a lock washer and changed the front bolts to a hex bolt to prevent over-tightening the front bolts. The only thing that I might add to the front attachment bolts is a rubber gasket that comes in contact with the plastic panels (similar to the rubber gasket on the rear crossbar bolt).
All in all I thought that these were good improvements in the redesigned rear chrome rack and I think that I might add some of those improvements like the rubber gaskets to my original chrome rack.
