Has Anyone Cammed Their Buddy?

[az_slynch]

My new-to-me '09 St. Tropez has been a great project. Repair lot rescue that was remarkably clean (only 3125 miles!) and in need of little work to get it back on the road. Now that I've gotten a few hundred miles under its whitewalls (CST-6017s), I'm thinking about doing a bit of tuning. While the speedometer lies like a rug, the scoot seems pretty peppy. I can out-accelerate a 2021 Zuma 125 and beat it out on the top end, provided there isn't much of a headwind. I suspect it has 12gr rollers in it, but I'd need to pull the CVT cover to investigate.

I'm thinking of a few low-key mods to get a touch more power out of the engine. The air filter is unique to the Bubu/Buddy, so I can't just grab a Simota filter. Not a big fan of pod filters, as they overlook the tuned length if the intake manifold. I may drop a new air filter in and modify the filter plate to accept a high-flow filter. I'm also considering having the flywheel lightened a little bit for quicker response without falling down the CVT tuning rabbit hole; the CVT works well as it sits. That worked well on the Angry Buddy project and I'm curious if the benefit scales to the 4T models.

The final thing I was considering was swapping the stock camshaft with an NCY A8 camshaft. Now, I know there are configuration issues with the 125s due to a sprocket difference. What I found suggested that a 125 sprocket could be pressed on to a performance cam, though it says nothing about the challenges of properly clocking and pressing the sprocket back on. I searched the site and I haven't found any details around this swap.

I recently rebuilt a Vino with a Taiwanese "SD Power" 55mm big bore and a Stage 2 camshaft. I did need to add a UNI filter insert and do some re-jetting to get it breathing right, but the juice was worth the squeeze and with a Polini Hi-Speed variator kit, it performs similarly to my Buddy. My thought is that the Buddy could benefit from a bit more breathing so it can keep head of the Vino.

Any thoughts or experience with this?

[2forfun]

I was thinking about doing the same thing. to a 125 150 170 motors there was on this site cam profiles a few years ago?

[az_slynch]

I'm a bit behind on this project. I did get the NCY A8 cam and intend to install it soon. Borrowed a RaceBox Mini so I can do some baseline pulls and see how the scoot performs before and after the change. Just have to deal with the following:

1) It's 107F out. Besides being lousy riding weather, it might give some lousy data. I'll need to run it out on a weekend morning when the temp is around 70F to get a more realistic representation of the change.

2) I now have two more Buddy projects. An '09 Pampalona 150 and an '07 Sunset 125. Both need work. I gotta stop taking these rescue mutts in.

3) The St. Tropez has developed an odd final drive noise. I changed the final drive oil when I got the scoot. It was oddly clean, but I've been running Royal Purple in the final drive of the scoots since my Motul dealer doesn't have an appropriate gear oil. It still has a slight whine at speed, but there's an odd popping sound when rolling the scoot in anything less than a straight line. I don't hear it if costing down a hill with the engine off, but I hear it when walking the scoot in and out of its parking space. Planning to open the final drive and check it out before something gets damaged.

Anyway, #3 is the thing to address and then I'll do #1 once the gearbox has been inspected.

[tenders]

FWIW, popping sounds coming from the backs of scooters for me have always been rear bearings.

Final drive gears have been quite robust, especially if they haven’t lost lubrication.

[az_slynch]

FWIW, popping sounds coming from the backs of scooters for me have always been rear bearings.

Final drive gears have been quite robust, especially if they haven’t lost lubrication.

Agreed. I've ordered all the bearings just to avoid chasing it forever.

[az_slynch]

So, just putting a bow on this.

The NCY cam will work fine in a 150. If you want to use it in a 125, you need to replace the drive sprocket with the one on the original 125 cam.

Decided to leave my St. Tropez alone for now. The cam is going in the Pamplona, along with a 171cc BBK and an NCY big valve head. Going Polini in the CVT section. 26mm Keihin carb for now. Going to lighten the flywheel and see how it scoots before changing anything else.