Modern Buddy

Hope all of you are well.


Ya know, as much as I really dig the Triumph, going back to a Buddy is all sorts of tempting, and I really miss the convenience factor inherent to the scoot...


Maybe I can trade the Thruxton in somewhere on two Buddies...



(Seriously.)

it's been a long time. how's life been treating you? How's the spouse (wow that was over a year ago!)? They're are DEFINITELY way more Buddys out there now. Hope you end up getting a scooter again

Life has been treating us very well, thanks!

The Upstate of South Carolina has turned out to be a really fantastic, diverse place -- who'd have thought that?! -- and we're really enjoying life here.

I'm working at a pretty awesome advertising agency as their interactive producer, and my wife (yeah, just celebrated the Paper Anniversary in April!) is working as a fashion designer for a sportswear company.



The new 150 Buddies are looking VERY tempting to me, even if I don't particularly care about the paint schemes or whitewalls... I'm still wondering about my commute though, as avoiding the highway adds considerably more time to it, and though keeping up on the 125 was never an issue, the very short wheelbase along with the tiny tires always made freeway riding a bit harrowing, IMO.

Good to hear from you again, Cat axer...

--Keys

Hiya, Keys!

How's the progenitor of the red Buddy doing?

Your avatar seems to indicate that you're Buddyless... Is that so??

Hey man, I live in Greer...kind of out near the GSP airport! If you see an Italia out and about that's me. These boards have been devoid of any Fellow South Carolinians, so it's good to finally meet someone in my area. If you ever get another Buddy we'll definitely have to ride.

Hey welcome back! Always good to see early Buddys check in. So how is life with a ModernTriumph? Seriously, what about the cost of maintenance? Price/Availability of parts? How is is your dealer? Do you find yourself riding more or less or the same than when you had your Buddy?

-John

iinigma7 wrote:Hey man, I live in Greer...kind of out near the GSP airport! If you see an Italia out and about that's me. These boards have been devoid of any Fellow South Carolinians, so it's good to finally meet someone in my area. If you ever get another Buddy we'll definitely have to ride.

Rock on. I've seen a very small number of scooters in the area, I think largely due to the 'liquor-cycle' notoriety they seem to have around here. I'm actually not too far from there (I live a few miles from Five Forks).

Did you buy your Buddy from the [Vespa] dealer in Charlotte?

jrsjr wrote:Hey welcome back! Always good to see early Buddys check in. So how is life with a ModernTriumph? Seriously, what about the cost of maintenance? Price/Availability of parts? How is is your dealer? Do you find yourself riding more or less or the same than when you had your Buddy?

-John

Hiya, John, and thanks!

The Thruxton has been a really great bike for me... Maintenance has been a little more expensive than that on the Buddy, but not substantially -- at least, not to this point.

I've been riding more than I was on the Buddy, but that could also have something to do with having a longer commute now. I don't get the opportunity for much pleasure-cruisin'.

It's been pretty easy for me to find parts, though most of them have a couple days of lead time (apparently, there's a huge warehouse in Atlanta where most of them come from, and that's only a few hours away, so that makes things easy). And though I think the sales staff is, well, a typical sales staff, the guy at the parts counter is awesome -- very cool and helpful, and he's the one that I've had the most contact with since the sale.

The service department has been okay, though I think I'm going to stick to doing most of the maintenance stuff myself -- if I don't decide to go back to a scoot.

AxeYrCat wrote:Rock on. I've seen a very small number of scooters in the area, I think largely due to the 'liquor-cycle' notoriety they seem to have around here. I'm actually not too far from there (I live a few miles from Five Forks).

Did you buy your Buddy from the [Vespa] dealer in Charlotte?

Five Forks eh? Small world.

Yeah there are quite a few scruffy old dudes doubled up on a 49cc moped (dumb and dumber style) in this area! It brings me a good laugh from time to time.

I did get my scooter at Vespa of Charlotte. Good guys up there, but the distance does suck when maintenance is needed.

AxeYrCat wrote:Hiya, Keys!
Your avatar seems to indicate that you're Buddyless... Is that so??

Yes, it's so. I now have a Helix I've made into a one-man assault module! It now includes faux machine-guns mounted in the front...check out the pics at my blog. www.skutergruven.blogspot.com

--Keys

This guy never ceases to amaze me

AxeYrCat wrote:Life has been treating us very well, thanks!

The Upstate of South Carolina has turned out to be a really fantastic, diverse place -- who'd have thought that?! -- and we're really enjoying life here.
I'm working at a pretty awesome advertising agency as their interactive producer, and my wife (yeah, just celebrated the Paper Anniversary in April!) is working as a fashion designer for a sportswear company.
The new 150 Buddies are looking VERY tempting to me, even if I don't particularly care about the paint schemes or whitewalls... I'm still wondering about my commute though, as avoiding the highway adds considerably more time to it, and though keeping up on the 125 was never an issue, the very short wheelbase along with the tiny tires always made freeway riding a bit harrowing, IMO.

If I had to do highway commuting on a scoot I would get a bigger one, with at least 200cc's! A Vespa GT or GTS (now starting to come in 300ccs also), or one of the high-wheeled Sym or People 250 or 300cc scoots...

Motorcycles are neat and able hiway commuters too, and the Triumph is a great looking bike. But when I rode them I never seemed to get one out of the garage as quick and easy as I now do with scooters...
(MAybe you need a second ride???)

Hey AYC!

Jonesing for a Buddy fix are ya? Well you can stop by anytime, the first ridei s free...of course. After that its gonna cost ya!

Good to hearthatyour doing good! Now gobuy a Buddy and meet us atAmerivesp in Chattanooga next month!

You don want to miss riding the tail of the dragon on ascooter do you!

That's a pretty kick-ass Helix, Keys!


As far as a larger-displacement scooter, I'm really not interested, I don't think: With the price tag and the fuel mileage, I may as well hang on the Triumph...

The long and the short of it is that I could avoid the highway, it just adds a lot of time and puts me on some roads that are more likely to see some traffic issues and have greater potential for accidents, IMO.

I dunno... Maybe I'm being close-minded, but I sort of feel like Vespas cost a lot more than they should, especially with the Buddy priced so reasonably.

But you're right: The Triumph definitely takes more time to get out of the garage.



I'd love to ride the TotD with you. I've driven it a few times in cars and had a great time — I'd love to do it on two wheels, be it on a motorcycle or a scoot. I'll see if I can come and play, provided the crowd would be okay with me on the Thrux.

Hey, thanks for stopping by!

If I was a dealer, I'd make the Thruxton for 2 Buddys trade & keep the Thruxton for myself! But as you've been reading, Buddys are becoming quite a commodity these days. In demand and selling quick!

Hey, Eric! Indeed, that seems to be the case!!


I might run by the local Vespa dealer and chat with them for a bit to see what they've got in stock, but I really don't like the Vespa's hefty (by comparison to the Buddy's) pricetag.

Anything you think I should definitely take for a spin?

As far as a larger-displacement scooter, I'm really not interested, I don't think: With the price tag and the fuel mileage, I may as well hang on the Triumph... Wink

Hey, good to "hear" your voice again! And I definitely agree with the above opinion, which is why I'll always favor small frame scoots for riding in town and my motorcycle for longer excursions.

And it has grown here, hasn't it? Every day there are new faces and the number of posts increases. Pretty impressive.

I recently lucked into a new ride, replacing my GT-1000. Once I process the images, I'll try to post one. Take care of that Thruxton, it's a beauty.

hi axeryrcat,
good to hear from you. it's hard to beat the buddy for easy city riding. uh?
how are the dogs?

AxeYrCat wrote:Anything you think I should definitely take for a spin?

Are you really looking for 2 scoots? If you want more CCs, try out the SYM HD 200. I have yet to ride one, but everyone I know who has is very impressed with it (I think we have 2 MB members who own them).

How about a couple Stellas?

I'm not necessarily *looking* for two scoots, but my wife and I have discussed the possibility of her riding one as well (her commute is actually longer than mine mileage wise, though they both take about the same time given traffic), and while her Honda returns decent mileage, it certainly isn't scooter mileage!

I'd much rather have her on something balanced and automatic like the Buddy instead of a Stella, and frankly, I don't like the potential I'd have to spend too much on doing fun things to the Stella (to be honest, my first mod would be to sand the paint off of the panels and then spray it down with salt water to get a nice patina o' rust — I'm sure that'd be much maligned by some in the community, though).


I'll go for a ride when I get some time and let you know how the Vespas treat me...

And then I'll decide if it's worth it to go a decent ways away to talk to a Buddy dealer (which I wouldn't mind other than it would make the first service inconvenient).

louie wrote:hi axeryrcat,
good to hear from you. it's hard to beat the buddy for easy city riding. uh?
how are the dogs?

Thanks, and definitely!


Dogs are doing *really* well, and we're up to five now. Yep: Five.


Yeah, we're a little nuts.


I had a blog page up, but I haven't updated it in months because I decided I hated the software I was using. It'll be up soon again at http://thescblog.com.


And thanks a lot for asking!!

Hey!! Welcome back to the board. You and Stace should definately get a pair of buddies. Although you aren't a fan of the 150cc color schemes, I'm sure there would be plenty of people on here willing to trade panels with you.

Are you going to be back in the Ohio area anytime this summer? I'm actually heading that way this weekend for the Yellow Springs Street Fair and Father's Day stuff.

Cairo says hi.

Hey there, AxeYrCat! Welcome back. You *do* know that this board is the first step towards Buddy ownership, right? Maybe your wife will settle for a used 125....

Glad to hear life in SC is treating you well. We miss you here in Cincinnati. There are buddies everywhere. Metro Scooter is sold out of them right now.

I don't check this forum as much as I used to. Takes too much time to look through all the threads. So when I saw your post, thought I'd peek in and say "Hi."

Hey, there!

Awesome that Cincinnati is becoming more scooter-friendly (whether it wants to or not!), and it's incredibly awesome that Metro is doing so well! Those are some (pardon the impending pun) genuinely awesome people, and I really miss them a lot.


Thanks for sayin' hello!!



And I definitely wouldn't mind having a Buddy again, but it looks more likely that a Vespa dealer would be interested in taking the Thrux in trade... While I'd do better selling it independently, that's a PITA to deal with.


I guess I'll see...


I'm going to go ride the GTS250 sometime this week (maybe even today).