Has Anyone Cammed Their Buddy?

az_slynch · Post by **az_slynch** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:41 pm

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?