Modern Buddy

I have been out of town for about a week and a half and told my dad to turn on the scoot every couple of days. He was successful the first time but on his 2nd attempt, he was not able to. I assumed he was doing something wrong. So I get back yesterday and I had to kick start the scoot. I noticed he left the hazard lights on but could that have the problem?

I leave the scoot running for about 45 minutes. When I tried to fire her up today, I got the same result. "Click..click" and nothing. So I kick start her again and leave her running for a half hour. I turned her off and nothing.

What do I do? Replace battery? Does it not charge while the engine is running?

Thanks in advance to everyone for reading and replying!!!

From what I have heard at Metro Scooter in Cinci, if the buddys battery is left discharged for any period of time (day or two) It often will not hold a charge. Sounds like your going to need a new battery. In the future I wouldn't worry about leaving your buddy sit for a week and a half. The battery shouldn't have any problem keeping its charge for that period of time.

Just idling the engine will not charge the battery. You have to get the RPMs up to at least 2500 rpm for the charging circuit to start working. My suggestion would be to get a "Battery Tender" to keep your battery topped off. You can mail order it, but I've also seen them at Sears.

toddrw2251 wrote:In the future I wouldn't worry about leaving your buddy sit for a week and a half. The battery shouldn't have any problem keeping its charge for that period of time.

yeah, first i was sick, then the weather was too shitty, so i let my scooter sit for close to a month (secured non-heated underground parking), never went down to just start her up cuz i knew you had to really rev the engine to charge the battery. yet when i wanted to ride, she was ready & started up the first time.

how long have you had your scooter? if its less than 30 days, get hold of your dealer.

babblefish wrote:Just idling the engine will not charge the battery. You have to get the RPMs up to at least 2500 rpm for the charging circuit to start working. My suggestion would be to get a "Battery Tender" to keep your battery topped off. You can mail order it, but I've also seen them at Sears.

'Tis true.
You can get a battery tender HERE.

Thanks guys. I went to Cycle Gear and bought a battery tender. After 12 hours of charging, my scoot is up and running!

Thanks again.

Electric starting drains your battery really fast, so frequently button-starting it without riding it is *worse* than just letting it sit. That's why it'll go dead if you're running a lot of short-hop errands. And letting it idle for 45 minutes is just a waste of gas and unneccesary pollution.

The hazard lights shouldn't matter if the ignition key was off...