Modern Buddy

So I think I may not be able to get a buddy. due to the fact that it would be too long of a trek to get service work done..100 miles either Dallas or Austin. My question is that If I buy A Yamaha Vino...Will you guys disown...me?

ScooterMcGee wrote:...If I buy A Yamaha Vino...Will you guys disown...me?

I doubt it. They still occaisionally respond to my posts <g>

ScooterMcGee wrote:So I think I may not be able to get a buddy. due to the fact that it would be too long of a trek to get service work done..100 miles either Dallas or Austin. My question is that If I buy A Yamaha Vino...Will you guys disown...me?

No, but also join the Vino group over at YahooGroups.com. It's a good forum, with many knowledgable and friendly Vino riders......

Hey, I've got a Vino 125 also. Its a great scoot. Its tough to decide whether I like the Buddy or the Vino better. The Buddy has some things over the Vino and the Vino has some things over the Buddy. Both are good scoots.
There is another forum loaded with Vino 125 folks and lots of good info. Its ProvoScooter. Check out the forums.http://www.provoscooter.com/shop/ It's an easier layout than yahoo but yahoo is good also.

Dennis

Heck, no. There are plenty of non-Genuine owning scooterists on this forum.

Of course, most of them are miscreants and cranks who've been kicked off of every other scooter forum and had nowhere else to go to post their wiseacre comments and snarky replies to newbies.

WooHoo crotchety old man status here I come

ericalm wrote:Heck, no. There are plenty of non-Genuine owning scooterists on this forum.

Of course, most of them are miscreants and cranks who've been kicked off of every other scooter forum and had nowhere else to go to post their wiseacre comments and snarky replies to newbies.

Owning and riding a Buddy tends to calm the savage beast. Next thing you know, they'll be getting married, having kids, going to church, joining Optimists or Rotary and generally attempting to be human.

All because of their little Buddy.

Dennis

My dealer is 71.6 miles away

Anyway my landlord has a vino. They are nice scooters IMHO

I wont hate you for long

ericalm wrote:Heck, no. There are plenty of non-Genuine owning scooterists on this forum.

Of course, most of them are miscreants and cranks who've been kicked off of every other scooter forum and had nowhere else to go to post their wiseacre comments and snarky replies to newbies.

Hey, I resemble that remark!

About the Vino thing, if you have a good local Yamaha dealer, I think you'd be better off going with them. The best of all possible worlds, of course, would be to persuade them to also carry Genuine scooters! It can't hurt to suggest this to their sales manager. All the powersports shops around me are now carrying the $999 Chinese scooters, so they clearly are looking at alternative revenue streams. And they would all be a lot better off to deal with Genuine who have a quality product with support than to sell $999 junk that is just going to make their customers unhappy. Seriously, tell the sales manager that, give him Genuine's phone number and see what happens. If he's smart enough to be sales manager, he'll know that skyrocketing gas prices are going to drive scooter sales for years to come and the smart play is sell a quality product that will build sales.

The biggest problem is that we don't have a dedicated scooter shop around here. all the scooters are sold at there respective dealer's power sports stores, and the guys at the Euro shop here in town didn't even know Aprilla made a scooter....So I guess the only solution is that I am going to have to open a Dedicated scooter shop....

ScooterMcGee wrote:So I guess the only solution is that I am going to have to open a Dedicated scooter shop....

That's a hella great idea! If gas prices are really going to go as high as I'm afraid they are, this would be the right time to do exactly that.

Can you give me your definition of snarky?

ericalm wrote: Of course, most of them are miscreants and cranks who've been kicked off of every other scooter forum and had nowhere else to go to post their wiseacre comments and snarky replies to newbies.

jrsjr wrote:About the Vino thing, if you have a good local Yamaha dealer, I think you'd be better off going with them. The best of all possible worlds, of course, would be to persuade them to also carry Genuine scooters! It can't hurt to suggest this to their sales manager. All the powersports shops around me are now carrying the $999 Chinese scooters, so they clearly are looking at alternative revenue streams. And they would all be a lot better off to deal with Genuine who have a quality product with support than to sell $999 junk that is just going to make their customers unhappy. Seriously, tell the sales manager that, give him Genuine's phone number and see what happens. If he's smart enough to be sales manager, he'll know that skyrocketing gas prices are going to drive scooter sales for years to come and the smart play is sell a quality product that will build sales.

Our local Yamaha, Honda and Kawasaki dealer now carries the Genuine line in its entirety. Talking to a sales rep, they were very disappointed that Honda no longer had anything between 50cc and 250cc and no plans to fill the gap in this country. In their 2008 announcements, Honda dropped the Elite 80 and the Helix 250, neither of which had been updated since their introduction in the 80's. Now the line starts with the 49cc Metropolitan or Ruckus and jumps up to the 250cc Reflex with nothing in between. From what I can see at this dealer, the Genuine scoots are going out the door almost as fast as they come in.
I bought my Vino 125 at a different Yamaha dealer 45 miles away, but now I'm back to local with my Buddy. Just because its a big fancy powersports store doesn't mean they won't listen to suggestions of other brands. They have to keep the lights on and pay everyone and last I heard they were in business to make a profit. Give it a shot, you might be surprised.

Dennis

ericalm wrote:Heck, no. There are plenty of non-Genuine owning scooterists on this forum.

Of course, most of them are miscreants and cranks...

I'm debating whether I'm a miscreant or a crank...can't decide which I like most...

--Keys

Keys wrote:

ericalm wrote:Heck, no. There are plenty of non-Genuine owning scooterists on this forum.

Of course, most of them are miscreants and cranks...

I'm debating whether I'm a miscreant or a crank...can't decide which I like most...

--Keys

yeah keys that's a hard call. on the one hand the new scoot says miscreant but then the kilt just screams crank. oh the delima.

i apologize to all us scots, it's the only way the joke worked. um kay?
no apology for the scoot knock though.

DennisD wrote:

jrsjr wrote:About the Vino thing, if you have a good local Yamaha dealer, I think you'd be better off going with them. The best of all possible worlds, of course, would be to persuade them to also carry Genuine scooters! It can't hurt to suggest this to their sales manager. All the powersports shops around me are now carrying the $999 Chinese scooters, so they clearly are looking at alternative revenue streams. And they would all be a lot better off to deal with Genuine who have a quality product with support than to sell $999 junk that is just going to make their customers unhappy. Seriously, tell the sales manager that, give him Genuine's phone number and see what happens. If he's smart enough to be sales manager, he'll know that skyrocketing gas prices are going to drive scooter sales for years to come and the smart play is sell a quality product that will build sales.

Our local Yamaha, Honda and Kawasaki dealer now carries the Genuine line in its entirety. Talking to a sales rep, they were very disappointed that Honda no longer had anything between 50cc and 250cc and no plans to fill the gap in this country. In their 2008 announcements, Honda dropped the Elite 80 and the Helix 250, neither of which had been updated since their introduction in the 80's. Now the line starts with the 49cc Metropolitan or Ruckus and jumps up to the 250cc Reflex with nothing in between. From what I can see at this dealer, the Genuine scoots are going out the door almost as fast as they come in.
I bought my Vino 125 at a different Yamaha dealer 45 miles away, but now I'm back to local with my Buddy. Just because its a big fancy powersports store doesn't mean they won't listen to suggestions of other brands. They have to keep the lights on and pay everyone and last I heard they were in business to make a profit. Give it a shot, you might be surprised.
Dennis

250cc Reflex (or Helix)? No, even that's gone now for 2009! Honda's scooter lineup in the USA now jumps from 50cc's up to the 600cc Silver Wing. Their company is becoming ridiculous in it's USA operations, and seems only to want to sell monsterous uncomfortable cruisers and 2-wheeled SUV Gold Wings (for $27K no less)! They probably let some silly 'Melican advertising types convince them that we in the USA only want more and more size and power in our bikes, and I think this attitude is gonna bite them in the arse if they don't catch up to the new realities soon..!

I drove far like you for my first service, havent gone back for anything since.

250cc Reflex (or Helix)? No, even that's gone now for 2009! Honda's scooter lineup in the USA now jumps from 50cc's up to the 600cc Silver Wing. Their company is becoming ridiculous in it's USA operations, and seems only to want to sell monsterous uncomfortable cruisers and 2-wheeled SUV Gold Wings (for $27K no less)! They probably let some silly 'Melican advertising types convince them that we in the USA only want more and more size and power in our bikes, and I think this attitude is gonna bite them in the arse if they don't catch up to the new realities soon..!

I would be surprised if they discontinued the Reflex. I thought it was selling pretty well. The Helix is super outdated although still popular mostly with the older set. The new scooter designs on the market make it look even more outdated. I find it hard to believe that a company as smart as Honda is going to let this happen. They have to know what is going on in this country. At least I want to believe that. Maybe they have some surprises waiting in the 'wings'. You know probably that the VTX and Gold Wing production is leaving this country and returning to Japan? Yep. Wonder what's going to happen next. What we need is a really GOOD american scooter. Maybe harley will bring back an updated Topper.
Looks a lot like the Yamaha C3.


Or maybe the old Salisbury, 1st scooter I ever rode, can be updated. First ride, first crash.



Or maybe even the Cushman Eagle will rise from the ashes.

jfrost2 wrote:I drove far like you for my first service, havent gone back for anything since.

Yeah, I dont do that any more either. Decided to learn how to do it all myself. It has been entertaining for the fam to say the least.

Most of the maintenance on modern scooters is not that complicated. The mystery is that its all hidden underneath panels. Anyone who wants to take their scoot to the dealer for maintenance should at least learn to remove the panels before they take it in. No one will take care of them like the owner. I've been through that already.

Dennis

ScooterMcGee wrote:My question is that If I buy A Yamaha Vino...Will you guys disown...me?

Well, I won't anyway. I own a Vino and think they are solid, reliable little scoots. (Okay, Buddys are quicker. Had to say that, this is a Buddy Forum after all.)

DennisD wrote: I would be surprised if they discontinued the Reflex. I thought it was selling pretty well.

Yeah, but they have... The 2009 Honda scooter lineup is (so far) only the 50cc Metro and Ruckus, and the 600cc Silver Wing. And thas IT..!!
I had a 250 Reflex for several years. It was a long and sleek black beauty, and I liked it. Mostly. -Because no matter how you set it's adjustable suspension, the thing would jar your spine going over even the slightest of road tar creases!! And the laid back seating position did absolutely nothing to alleviate the punishment! So I had to reluctantly get rid of it...
By contrast now, my 125 Buddy rides like a big Ford, and my Vespa GT200 rides like a Cadillac!

Drumwoulf wrote:

DennisD wrote: I would be surprised if they discontinued the Reflex. I thought it was selling pretty well.

Yeah, but they have... The 2009 Honda scooter lineup is (so far) only the 50cc Metro and Ruckus, and the 600cc Silver Wing. And thas IT..!!

The Reflex is already gone for 2008. Just check the Reflex page on the Honda USA site.

jrsjr wrote:

Drumwoulf wrote:

DennisD wrote: I would be surprised if they discontinued the Reflex. I thought it was selling pretty well.

Yeah, but they have... The 2009 Honda scooter lineup is (so far) only the 50cc Metro and Ruckus, and the 600cc Silver Wing. And thas IT..!!

The Reflex is already gone for 2008. Just check the Reflex page on the Honda USA site.

Wow! Not much for 2008. Wonder what's up for 2009? Maybe they're planning a 125cc or a 150cc Ruckus?? VROOM, VROOM!!

Dennis

DennisD wrote:Maybe harley will bring back an updated Topper.
Looks a lot like the Yamaha C3.

OR...

I've been saying this for a while: Yamaha needs to bust out a 150
or 200cc C3 variation! Come on, JUST DO IT ALREADY!!!

At least import the 125 Zuma (BW's)! I'm more into the classic look
than the "racey" look, but those things are nice!

ScooterMcGee wrote:My question is that If I buy A Yamaha Vino...Will you guys disown...me?

awww! But you gotta do what is the best decision for you and if that means no buddy, we can still be friends.

So let me get some advice from someone who has bought their buddy from a dealer that is aways away.. Is it difficult? I mean as in once you buy it do you find it hard to taker it to the shop to have the repairs done? Oil changes and basics I can do myself but Im sure there are a couple things I wont be able to do.

Taking the bike to the dealer wasnt hard, but not easy. I had to look at the bike everytime we made a turn on a road because it would creek left and right slowly, but it never tipped over. It was just a scare, nothing too hard.

Service was about an hour, 40 minutes to change oil and check everything, 20 minutes testing it out on the road.

Cost around 100 dollars for it all, 70 for labor, 30 for oils and filter.

Really, nothing was adjusted on my bike when they were checked, everything including the valves were still good looking, so really an oil change was the only major thing done.

I know it's a pain to transport a bike, but you only gotta do it 1 or two times, it isnt like you do it every week. The only time I'm taking my bike back is if something acts weird or blows up.

from what other's say here, and correct me if i'm wrong, the only real service you need done by them is the first one to keep it warranty. the ones after that you can do yourself.

I'd go back a year or two afterwards, once just to have everything checked in 30-40 minutes. I'm no professional, I can only do basic checks (oil, tire pressure, etc) I dont know how to check valves or anything, so after a year or so, I'd take my bike back to have it looked at just to make sure it's all ok.

Other than that, I wouldnt go back unless anything wrong ever happened, as long as it runs fine, and has fresh oil, it'll be alright.

If the scoot engine act in anyway like a car engine I can tell ya that waiting a whole year isnt the best Idea for valves and gaskets. probally 6 or 7 months max

ScooterMcGee wrote:So I think I may not be able to get a buddy. due to the fact that it would be too long of a trek to get service work done..100 miles either Dallas or Austin. My question is that If I buy A Yamaha Vino...Will you guys disown...me?

service work, without trying to sound rude its a scooter with a very low tuned 4stroke single which are like duracell batterys (they go on and on) they are very simple to work on and require servicing once in a blue moon.
The only problem i could see is IF something does go wrong its 100 miles to get it done.

have you tried to find a shop nearby that does servicing?

brimstone wrote:from what other's say here, and correct me if i'm wrong, the only real service you need done by them is the first one to keep it warranty. the ones after that you can do yourself.

That's true. But if you follow the maintenance schedule, you'll have to learn to check valve gaps, replace the spark plug, disassemble the carb and transmission. It's not rocket science, no, but for people like me who have no mechanical skills or experience prior to scooter ownership, it's a challenge.

Also tire changes are not so easy. Sure you may only need to replace one every 6K or so, but if you puncture one...

Sorry, I decided on a new thread.

Dennis