Modern Buddy

Hi, I currently live in San Diego, Ca. I drive a Nissan Frontier 4x4 at 14.4 MPG. This is killing me at 4.67 per gallon. I am looking into the Buddy as looking around in the forums everyone loves them. I am afraid to go into a dealer and ask questions as they will tell me what I want to hear and maybe not what I should hear.

Work is 45 miles round trip. I don't have to carry anything more then a change of clothes. Does anyone see any issues with that kinda millage? I weigh 180 lbs and stand at 5' 10. I will be doing some of my commuting at night how is the light on the buddy?

Any information would be great thank you.

You may have to stop for gas DAILY... but that only takes all of about 2 minutes.

I am 2 inches taller and weigh about the same. No issue at all.

My brother-in-law is about your size. He bought a Stella. He likes the Euro/retro looks aswell as the performance. Of course, he is a Euro nerd, so it or the Vespa were his choices. He went for value in the end. He just thought it was a better product for the price.

Great scooter weather in San Diego. Probably the most important question is whether your commute involves, or must involve, travel on freeways with 60-70 mph traffic. If so, a small scoot is a bad idea. If 30-50 mph routes are available it could well work.

(Regarding the gas thing, I usually refuel my scoots out of a 5 gal can in the garage anyway. Avoids the high volume pump and small tank issue with refueling scoots)

You should get over 100 miles per fill up so you won't be stopping daily but probably every other day. At $5-6 per fill-up though!!

The Buddy is still new enough that there's not a TON of data for high milage drivers but it's a very solidly built scoot that, with proper maintenance, should do just great. Everyone always points to AlixB here on the board who is at http://www.peacescooter.com and currently in the middle of her second cross country ride on the Buddy- doing hundreds of wide open throttle miles a day and the Buddy has been great for her.

As far as the light on the Buddy, it's not known for being the best or the brightest (sort of like most of us on this forum!). There is a relatively simple upgrade to a Silverstar headlight that helps out and often they don't get properly aimed by the setup guy at the dealer and that is an easy adjustment that will help a ton as well.

I do a lot of night riding but it's fairly urban so I have other lights around and the Buddy is fine. I don't know how much I'd enjoy night time rural riding with the light from the headlight.

You didn't mention the speeds of your commuter roads, and no one here would recommend taking the Buddy on the freeway but you'll feel pretty good up to around 63 mph (actual- which is approximately 70 on most Buddy speedos). It's a tiny bike that gets a little shaky at those upper speeds but I find it to be still pretty comfortable.

HarleyD wrote:I am afraid to go into a dealer and ask questions as they will tell me what I want to hear and maybe not what I should hear.

Work is 45 miles round trip. I don't have to carry anything more then a change of cloths. Does anyone see any issues with that kinda millage? I weigh 180 lbs and stand at 5' 10. I will be doing some of my commuting at night how is the light on the buddy?

Any information would be great thank you.

I'm in San Diego also (the "Cajon Zone" or "Hot Box" to be exact). Motorsports Scooters is the dealer. They are FIRST CLASS dealer. They worked with me(test drives and questions) for over a month trying to get the best scooter for me. They are in no rush to sell you a scooter. They prefer to educate you and let you make an informed decision.

But they are out of scooters as of this week. I heard that they might have some coming in soon.

Here's some issues you need to consider: 45 miles round trip to work is a lot of work for a Buddy. I assume you are thinking about taking up on the freeway. I wouldn't. The suspension of the Buddy will have you rocking and rolling on every bump especially at high speeds. The other thing, you'll be at full throttle most of the way. The Buddy Internationals are freeway legal in CA but will be unable to keep up with traffic especially on the hills.

If you are think you are in this situation, consider a larger scooter with a large engine displacement. On San Diego freeways, 200cc scooter is absolute minimum. 250cc or more is best.

7eregrine wrote:You may have to stop for gas DAILY... but that only takes all of about 2 minutes.

I am 2 inches taller and weigh about the same. No issue at all.

I agree. My round trip commute is 30 or so miles. Not that much less. You will have to fill up a lot as the gas tank is small, but the mpg is great!

Youcould get a 5 gallon gas can and fill up at home and save trips to the gas station. or not.

Make sure you try the route on a weekend to see how long it takes, conditions, and etc. It also helps to start a little earlier than with your cage. You don't want to be rushing to work when you should be watching the road.

I ride early in the morning and the lght is good, especially the brights. Make sure your wear reflective stuff.

If you haven't taken the MSF course, do it soon. It relly helps.

You'll love it- I ride mine EVERYWHERE!!!

HarleyD wrote:I am afraid to go into a dealer and ask questions as they will tell me what I want to hear and maybe not what I should hear.

That's an intelligent question. I like the way you put that. So, you don't mind if I play devil's advocate? Okay, here goes. First, if you're going to use the Buddy for commuting to work, you are going to either have to ride it in all weather, year-round, or you are going to have to also maintain your old vehicle (or find an alternate means of transportation) so you can get to work every day. If you keep your old vehicle, then having to insure, register, and maintain two vehicles will cut into the money you hope to save on gas.

Second, the Buddy is a reliable scooter, a very reliable scooter, but scooters are what they are. They have one cylinder, one spark plug, one carb, and if the slightest thing isn't right then you are stuck until the problem is resolved. I bet your old truck would keep rolling down the road if you pulled one of the spark plug leads right off and left it hanging.

Third, the price of a bike is not the price because you have to go out and buy safety gear. At a bare minimum, you'll need a helmet, gloves, and jacket (and maybe riding boots). Plus, if you want to survive the first couple months of bike ownership, you really need to take an MSF riding course, more money plus a weekend time committment.

Fourth, I have no way of knowing about the roads you need to ride to work. Will you have to change your route in order to avoic freeway riding? If so, have you taken that into account in your decision-making process? You may have to ride further at lower speeds, in order to get to work. This is a pretty common adjustment for folks coming from a car to a scooter.

Fifth, I understand that you are going to be commuting at night. I'm way less concerned about you being able to see as I am about cars approaching you from behind being able to see you. If you can't keep up with the flow of traffic on the roads you must ride in your commute, then I straight up would not recommend it. It's frikking harrowing being almost run over from behind at night. I've done it plenty and I wouldn't wish it on anybody.

Sixth, have you seen the thread on this board called Who's Crashed? The last I counted, there were 54 separate crashes listed in that thread. The Buddy is not crash-prone, new riders are crash-prone. If you are in a crash on a motorbike of any kind, your probability of being killed is 10 times higher than if you are driving a car. Period. Exclamation Point.

Have I frightened you off yet? Sorry to be so blunt, but buying a scooter to save money on a commute is quite a different thing from buying one to ride around for fun. I didn't own an automobile until I was 24. I always commuted on a bike of some kind so I have totally seen what it's like. Hope this helps you make an informed decision.

Good luck whatever you decide.

John that is one of the best posts I've seen here on MB. Like you said, it's great that the OP wants to know what he SHOULD hear, and what you posted are a bunch of important things that often are "oh, I didn't realize..." moments AFTER the scooter is in the garage.

I nominate this post or something similar "Things you might not have thought about when you decided to get a scooter" post for the MB Guides section.

bunny wrote:My brother-in-law is about your size. He bought a Stella. He likes the Euro/retro looks aswell as the performance. Of course, he is a Euro nerd, so it or the Vespa were his choices. He went for value in the end. He just thought it was a better product for the price.

The Stella is neither faster nor more reliabile than the Buddy. It is also more expensive. But mostly what it is, is a very different scoot. All metal, traditional design and appearance, manual shift, two stroke, not available new in California. Folks pick the Stella because that is the type of scoot they want, not because of value comparisons with the Buddy.

Unless you live in a really urban area, I can imagine you will need to keep a second vehicle for weather conditions and freeway driving (Although San Diego has wonderful weather).

Do pay attention to the costs mentioned above, with a full face helmet, gloves, jacket, etc, you can easily drop another thousand dollars. So i think the point is if it sounds like fun go for it and hope you save some money long term, but have realistic expectations.

Dooglas wrote:

bunny wrote:My brother-in-law is about your size. He bought a Stella. He likes the Euro/retro looks aswell as the performance. Of course, he is a Euro nerd, so it or the Vespa were his choices. He went for value in the end. He just thought it was a better product for the price.

The Stella is neither faster nor more reliabile than the Buddy. It is also more expensive. But mostly what it is, is a very different scoot. All metal, traditional design and appearance, manual shift, two stroke, not available new in California. Folks pick the Stella because that is the type of scoot they want, not because of value comparisons with the Buddy.

THe value at the end was the comparison between the Vespa and the Stella. A Buddy was NEVER an option for him as he is very much an old school scooterist. Metal scooters have been his passion for many years and ideally, he would relocate to Europe were it not that my inlaws are all local.

Thank you for all the information. Currently I can ride my mountain bike to work, but a 45 mile round tripper 5 days a week and 2 of them being after 10pm, wears thin very fast.

I am looking into the buddy to save some money. Currently I spend about 450 per month on gas. I estimate about 50 per month ridding the buddy. I do not have to travel on the freeway, how ever I do with my mountain bike. The 52 has a mike lane.

I will keep my current truck as the market is so soft for trucks I can not trade it in for something less on gas. I live in an apartment complex, so there is not allot of room. One of my neighbors parks his motorcycle in his truck and I think I will be doing the same.

What is the maintenance on the buddy? how long do the tires last does it need oil changes and such?

Some of you point out I should go to MFS what is this and were can I find it?

I do want to take the time to point out, I have used many formus before. And I have never had such a pleasure looking around nor have I seen such well thought answers.

Thank you

oil changes depending on dino or synthetic are every 1000-2000 miles depending on what you use. The first service ranges from $49.95 to $150 depending on your dealer. Valve checks every 4000-5000 miles or so. I think there is a copy of the manual posted somewhere on here if you do a search.

The MSF class is the Motorcycle Safety Foundation class. They will teach you tons of helpful information and teach you how to ride a motorcycle / scooter. Most states, and I am 99% sure CA, if you pass the MSF you get a license test waiver and get your motorcycle endorsement.


Good luck on your journey!!

Geeze Mikie you could at least give him a link!!

http://www.msf-usa.org/

He told us we're helpful, let's try to keep the image up, ok?!?! Some people.

Regarding maintenance, there are some hidden costs there. You asked about tires, I'm not sure when they will need to be changed but it's in the 10k range or under I think, not in the 70k range like cars.

Have you checked into insurance? That can vary widely from $100/yr to $500/yr depending on what kind of coverage you want and all the general insurance factors.

And finally, you ride your mountain bike 45 miles round trip to work each day? You are my hero.

You need to move your upper end there on the insurance. Currently I pay 700. So yeah, it can vary.