Modern Buddy

New here. My ride has been vintage vespas for many years. However, thinking about auto and still not motorcycle size. Thinking about the Buddy. Have thought about the Piaggio fly and the Vespa LX 150, but the Buddy may have the best-y value and needs. Any thoughts? Is it too small? Is it stable? Just looking for user's experience and not the sales pitch I may get if my answers came from a dealer. Thanks!

scootme wrote:New here. My ride has been vintage vespas for many years. However, thinking about auto and still not motorcycle size. Thinking about the Buddy. Have thought about the Piaggio fly and the Vespa LX 150, but the Buddy may have the best-y value and needs. Any thoughts? Is it too small? Is it stable? Just looking for user's experience and not the sales pitch I may get if my answers came from a dealer. Thanks!

It's your leg length (inseam) that mattes much more than height. Sit on many bikes (ride them if possible) and see what fits you best.

scootme wrote:New here. My ride has been vintage vespas for many years. However, thinking about auto and still not motorcycle size. Thinking about the Buddy. Have thought about the Piaggio fly and the Vespa LX 150, but the Buddy may have the best-y value and needs. Any thoughts? Is it too small? Is it stable? Just looking for user's experience and not the sales pitch I may get if my answers came from a dealer. Thanks!

It's a bit cramped but not too bad. If you ride smallframe vespas with your feet tucked up so your heels hit the cowl area and the balls of your feet are at the rear ends of the floorboards then you'll feel more at home on the buddy. If you like to keep your feet toward the rear brake on a vespa, you'll feel cramped. The only problems I found on the Buddy were when at the track while wearing full leathers, I'd ride with my feed back about where the passenger foot rests would be. The leathers bunched up behind my knees and made it very uncomfortable. So if you wear tight or thick jeans this will probably happen as well. The Buddy is the best value, but the LX or better yet the S, has better ergonomics like a vintage scoot. It's just hard to rationalize over a thousand bucks extra for that. I'm about 6'2" for what it's worth.

my husband is 6'2" and has ridden my buddy. He is perfectly comfortable as long as he sits back on the seat...like almost where the passenger would sit if there were one.

I'm 6'1", 34" inseam and actually somehow found the Buddy better ergonomically than the Vespa LX series!

I often ride with my heels on the floorboard in front of me, feet angled outward with my toes out, no matter what the scooter.

I am 6'1" and use my buddy for my daily commute of 12 miles each way...I sit back a bit on the seat. It's not even bad when I have a copilot...

Joel

Thanks for the responses. I found out that a SYM, Kymco and Genuine dealer has opened a store 12 miles from me - less than a year in business. I guess since vintage vespa has been my past, I did not think about anything modern. But the 4-stroke T&G has caught my attention. I will go to test ride the Kymco People and the Genuine Buddy. Some time ago I sat on a Yamaha Vino and was not impressed and figured all were about the same. I know sales - and prices - are up. But do you wonder that many who bought on a whim of saving money on fuel become frightened at the ride-in-traffic fear and end up selling? Maybe I wait to see about this happening around October. For me, the Lx 150 is too expensive though it may be the best ride. The Piaggio Fly I do not know about, but it looks good. In all cases, my guess is that the seat has to allow for me to slide back and have multiple seating options!