Modern Buddy

I have an old Gerbing heated vest and am wondering if a Buddy would have enough power to run it without discharging the battery. Has anybody tried that? I'm not sure how much reserve the stator has available.

Is the vest 12 volts? How many watts does it pull? Maybe replace your headlight with LED to free up some juice. I'd try to power it off a USB battery pack inside the vest pocket.

Yes, 12V. I usually run it off an SAE plug attached to the battery on my other bikes. I haven't been able to find out how much power it uses, my old Big Ruckus ran it just fine though. I need to fix my electric socket on the Buddy (hoping it's just a blown fuse) so I can plug in my volt meter to watch the status of the battery. And yes, an LED headlight is planned for before too long. Just not sure how much surplus power is available on these bikes.

nobade wrote: ↑Fri Oct 25, 2024 8:20 am Just not sure how much surplus power is available on these bikes.

A long time ago someone on this forum someone asked a similar question and the answer was "not much." It is generally recommended to only use 7 watt or less LEDs if you wire up your deadlights, some even recommend staying under 5 watts if you only ride a few miles a day, or the charging system won't be able to keep up. The other recommendation was to put the scooter on a battery tender everyday if you do try to run heated gear.



*For some reason I remember ~25-30 watts of extra power, but that might not be right.

Slightly off topic but.... I had a Yamaha Zuma 125. I purchased some Oxford heated grips and if the grips were on Hi heat when I came to a stop the scooter would stall AND not provide enough power to restart it! That was a fun lesson to learn because the Oxford site had the grips listed as a confirmed fit, they just didn't turn the grips on to see if they actually worked! So if you have a Buddy 170i keep this in mind. All the cold weather riders at my work use the Milwaukee heated vest from Home Depot. One even uses a Hart heated vest from Wal-Mart. All of these heated vest are battery powered, self contained systems. I use the Milwaukee heated gloves for winter warm hands. Great quality product at a slightly premium price point.

Thanks for the replies, kind of what I expected. Maybe best to ride when it's not so cold!

The 12 volt socket on the Buddy is protected by a 1 amp fuse. That's not going to get you very far. Your best bet is to find one of those USB power packs the size of a deck of cards that will jump start a Suburban. The 125 stator can't handle bumping up to a 55 watt headlight bulb.

DeeDee wrote: ↑Fri Oct 25, 2024 2:26 pm The 12 volt socket on the Buddy is protected by a 1 amp fuse. That's not going to get you very far. Your best bet is to find one of those USB power packs the size of a deck of cards that will jump start a Suburban. The 125 stator can't handle bumping up to a 55 watt headlight bulb.

Yes, I certainly wouldn't try to run it off that socket. But I can plug my volt meter into it to monitor the condition of the battery.
Anyway, it sounds like a no-go to try to run the vest, I don't want to run the battery down and be stranded.

I have a heated vest I paid about $40 for on Amazon that runs off of a lithium USB battery pack. It runs on the high setting for several hours, more than I need it for, and if I needed it for longer I’d tuck in another battery pack.

tenders wrote: ↑Fri Oct 25, 2024 9:24 pm I have a heated vest I paid about $40 for on Amazon that runs off of a lithium USB battery pack. It runs on the high setting for several hours, more than I need it for, and if I needed it for longer I’d tuck in another battery pack.

Probably the best way to go for heat on the Buddy. I sometimes forget that things have changed since I bought the Gerbing in '91!

The added bonus of the battery powered heated gear is when off the scooter you can use the heated gear on a bicycle or anything else. I've used my heated gloves on my ebike.

sc00ter wrote: ↑Sun Oct 27, 2024 1:56 am The added bonus of the battery powered heated gear is when off the scooter you can use the heated gear on a bicycle or anything else. I've used my heated gloves on my ebike.

For sure! I just got back from a 125 mile ride over the mountain this morning on the Buddy, and sure could have used some of that heated gear. It was chilly out there. This was the first longer ride I have taken on it, amazed that I am getting better than 100 mpg. since most people say they get 90 mpg or so. What an amazingly efficient way to travel! And the looks I get from the hardcore patch holder crowd when I buy .9 gal of fuel is priceless.