Modern Buddy

Hello happy scooter people. I've been reading this forum for the last month or so, ever since I narrowed it down to which scooter I want to purchase, which is of course, the Buddy 125. I put a deposit down on one about 1-1/2 months ago.

Anyways, I am pretty frustrated with every single dealer being out of the Buddies. I totally understand the sudden demand on them due to the outragous gas increase, but why can't Genuine relay any sort of information to the dealers on when they expect shipments to arrive?.......and why it's taking so long?....I don't get it....There doesn't seem to be any communiction between the dealer and Genuine. None of the dealers I talk to have any clue to whats going on with the delay, nor do they have any information to give customers when they ask. I sure hope this is a temporary thing because if and when I do get the Buddy I am frightened by the thought if I ever need parts. If I don't have a Buddy by September, I'm just gonna get the Zuma 125 when it arrives at Yamaha. I can't wait forever for something nobody can give me a time frame on.

I love genuine, but they have been really frustrating me as well lately.

My business relies on me being able to get parts when I need them.

When it takes me 3-4 weeks to get them to even process my order its devastating.

Thank you for the email, and sorry for the slow response.

Your dealers are telling the truth. The increasing popularity of scooters as economical transportation, combined with rising fuel costs, has resulted in incredible demand for our scooters. Quite literally, most Genuines are sold before they arrive at a dealership.

So yes, throughout the summer, you will need to pre-order a Buddy. All of our DFW dealers are reputable and will take very good care of you, so your best bet is to get on the list or place a deposit so you have dibs on the next one that comes in.

I hope this is helpful information!!!

Brett Ratner
Genuine Scooters Dealer Development
877.MY.STELLA

new2scoot,
I put my deposit down a couple weeks ago on mine. I just spoke to Vespa Fort Worth today and my Pamplona is in route. So I should expect end of June or first week of July. The waiting sure sucked, but I'm sure it will be worth every second.

More DFW riders! Welcome. Polianarchy (one of our moderators) and I are both from the Metroplex.

There are Buddy shipments en route. Unfortunately, because of the nature of shipping from Taiwan, they've never been able to precisely predict when shipments will arrive. Most dealers know what stock they're getting in the next shipment, but a lot of that is already pre-sold.

We've also heard that a shipment has been held up in Customs, which is only adding to the delay.

Part of the problem is not solely Genuine. Fact is, the entire scooter industry failed to anticipate this level of demand. Most dealers simply didn't order enough scooters; manufacturers produced scoots to meet orders. You may have heard that Honda is sold out for the year. So be glad you're not in the market for a Honda.

This shortage is affecting the entire industry. Stocks of Chinese imports are running low. Motorcycle dealers are running out of smaller-displacement, lower-priced MCs. And the WSJ reports that Segway sales are spiking!

Actually Genuine is the only (not including Vespa) scooter company still taking orders for 08 models. As Eric said, Honda is sold out and not restocking until the (more expensive) 09 models come out. Yamaha is, as well. Won't even take orders on 08's.

When the 09's DO come out, everyone should have them. So hang tight...

Yes, Genuine's definitely done better than most companies at filling dealer orders this year. Most companies offer incentives for dealers to order early, which helps the company estimate demand. Most dealers GREATLY increased their preorders, and Genuine increased their spring order substantially also, to cover new dealers and re-orders, but even so, there was just FAR more demand than anyone anticipated. Luckily, Genuine will continue to get orders every few months, and generally they have a good idea when they're coming, but shipping by boat and dealing with customs slows things down sometimes.

Most of the other importers were caught in even worse situations, Genuine's been handling it very well in comparison, especially since the Buddy has been particularly popular.

Bb.

i know what you meaan. i mean ive only owned a scooter for a week now. and its been in the shop since saturday waiting to get a hole drilled in the gas cap. im trying not to call and bug the doods at urban moto. but i mean sheot. i miiiss my buddy. i just wish they could teelll me itll be done damnit.....,

Sadly, this must be regional. My local dealer has an entire row of Buddys waiting to be sold, and I just walked in and bought mine off the floor last Friday.

scootersRhogs2 wrote:i know what you meaan. i mean ive only owned a scooter for a week now. and its been in the shop since saturday waiting to get a hole drilled in the gas cap. im trying not to call and bug the doods at urban moto. but i mean sheot. i miiiss my buddy. i just wish they could teelll me itll be done damnit.....,

??? I took mine in for this "fix", and they did it while I waited. Didn't take more than about 15 minutes. The dealer now does this as a routine prep on all their new Buddys. ???

Thanx a bunch people, my frustration has eased a bit knowing I am not the only one with this pain....I chose a Buddy because of all the positive things I've read about it, and I love the community that you all have generated to support it! Like I said, the hardest part about the wait is just not knowing. The Dealer I am purchasing it through is Dallas vespa, and they are EXTREMELY nice people, I just get frustrated that they don't have a clue when it will arrive....not their fault though....

I just hope I can ride my new Buddy before the weather turns cold...

OKBubbles wrote:

scootersRhogs2 wrote:i know what you meaan. i mean ive only owned a scooter for a week now. and its been in the shop since saturday waiting to get a hole drilled in the gas cap. im trying not to call and bug the doods at urban moto. but i mean sheot. i miiiss my buddy. i just wish they could teelll me itll be done damnit.....,

??? I took mine in for this "fix", and they did it while I waited. Didn't take more than about 15 minutes. The dealer now does this as a routine prep on all their new Buddys. ???

good to know i think ima go by there and ask. its just really frustrating. especially since today was my last day off for a while. i wanted to be crusin around a lil. i just hope she runs ok after that.

jonhen wrote:Sadly, this must be regional. My local dealer has an entire row of Buddys waiting to be sold, and I just walked in and bought mine off the floor last Friday.

I hear these kinds of stories here and there, and I wonder why some dealers have lots of Buddys and Stellas and others are looking at months to wait. Some of the dealers who people say have stock are in cities were you'd think there was lots of demand.

Strange.

hold tight though OP - it will come!

I fill mine up to just below the neck of the tank and haven't had any problems wih stalling. One day I did have several drops dripping from the vent trap, but that has stopped. And I ride around in 90+ degree weather almost every day

OKBubbles wrote:

scootersRhogs2 wrote:i know what you meaan. i mean ive only owned a scooter for a week now. and its been in the shop since saturday waiting to get a hole drilled in the gas cap. im trying not to call and bug the doods at urban moto. but i mean sheot. i miiiss my buddy. i just wish they could teelll me itll be done damnit.....,

??? I took mine in for this "fix", and they did it while I waited. Didn't take more than about 15 minutes. The dealer now does this as a routine prep on all their new Buddys. ???

Got a drill? Or a Dremel? I promise you won't void your warranty! A small hole is all it takes.

theasg wrote:new2scoot,
I put my deposit down a couple weeks ago on mine. I just spoke to Vespa Fort Worth today and my Pamplona is in route. So I should expect end of June or first week of July.

I spoke to to Vespa Ft Worth on Friday and they said that my Italia should be in within 4-5 days. Here's hoping that ours are on the same shipment...

scootersRhogs2 wrote:i know what you meaan. i mean ive only owned a scooter for a week now. and its been in the shop since saturday waiting to get a hole drilled in the gas cap. im trying not to call and bug the doods at urban moto. but i mean sheot. i miiiss my buddy. i just wish they could teelll me itll be done damnit.....,

With all due respect, they aren't open on Sunday or Monday. But it's still bad news bears for me as I need some 5k service done.

I took my Pamplona in for it's 500 mile check today. The dealer, Kawasaki of Santa Barbara, had 4 St. Tropez, 2 Italias, and 2 Blurs in the showroom, all available for sale.

What's frustrating is the vague stories from the dealer. How many of each are coming in. What place you are on the wait list.

It wouldn't be half so hard to wait if I had a definitive date, KWIM?

marsturm wrote:I took my Pamplona in for it's 500 mile check today. The dealer, Kawasaki of Santa Barbara, had 4 St. Tropez, 2 Italias, and 2 Blurs in the showroom, all available for sale.

That may be the most stock of any dealer in SoCal right now.

Holy Crap!!
The Dallas area is growing fast.... I have only had my scoot for like 3 weeks now... we need to form a Dallas area Buddy gang... LOL.

jonhen wrote:Sadly, this must be regional. My local dealer has an entire row of Buddys waiting to be sold, and I just walked in and bought mine off the floor last Friday.

I live close to the Metro Atlanta area and was planning on buying from one of the two Genuine dealers in my vicinity. However, both had sold out and both could only give me "maybe 3 or 4 weeks" before they'd have more. Luckily, I have a friend in Florida (Othergods) and his dealer had a couple Buddys on the floor and I was able to make a weekend trip to get mine. (I was determined to buy that weekend)

Should everybody drill a tiny hole in their gas cap? I'm not sure I understand the need for this modification. It sounds like it has something to do with condensation? If it needs to be done, what size drill bit are you using?

Sportique in Denver grooved one of the ports going to the charcoal filter on Om today. They said this should take care of it by allowing more venting.

UrbanBuddy82 wrote:Holy Crap!!
The Dallas area is growing fast.... I have only had my scoot for like 3 weeks now... we need to form a Dallas area Buddy gang... LOL.

There kind of is a North TX club:
http://dfwscooterist.com/forum/index.php

fiver1971 wrote:Should everybody drill a tiny hole in their gas cap? I'm not sure I understand the need for this modification. It sounds like it has something to do with condensation? If it needs to be done, what size drill bit are you using?

Not condensation, vapor lock. This is a problem only with the Buddy 150s, which have metal gas tanks.

A good explanation here:
viewtopic.php?p=53182#53182

I think the 08 125's have metal tanks too. At least it looks like mine is

chancerbeans13 wrote:I fill mine up to just below the neck of the tank and haven't had any problems wih stalling. One day I did have several drops dripping from the vent trap, but that has stopped. And I ride around in 90+ degree weather almost every day

Is that the black hose hanging down from about the middle of the bike?

UrbanBuddy82 wrote:Holy Crap!!
The Dallas area is growing fast.... I have only had my scoot for like 3 weeks now... we need to form a Dallas area Buddy gang... LOL.

That would be awesome! You do know there is a Dallas area scooter group? (I say this hoping you aren't al;ready on it and I don't already know you from there LOL!)

jonhen wrote:Sadly, this must be regional. My local dealer has an entire row of Buddys waiting to be sold, and I just walked in and bought mine off the floor last Friday.

I'm not sure if it's strictly regional but I'm guessing not all Genuine dealers are created equal and some have quicker access to new stock than others. There are a handful of dealers who have been around a long time and who have a proven track record (high sales numbers).

Perhaps some of our long-time dealer members can chime in with an update. I see lots of crates at my local Sportique but, for all I know, all those scooters could already be spoken for.

A dealership told me that the recent floods have also slowed down shipments. Any travel through those areas to destinations have been halted or slowed.

While it's frustrating now, it's really the first summer where gas prices have been at such levels for a continued amount of time.
Obviously nobody predicted it. While it sucks for the short term, it's probably a good thing for scotering in the long run.

With sales at record numbers, there's tons of money going into each manufacturer. And it would only make sense for them to re-invest their new $$ into ramping up their production capacity just to try to keep up with demand. So next summer, when who knows what gas prices will be (but my money is on similar or higher prices, which isn't hard to imagine) there'll be a more plentiful supply, which still might not keep up with demand. But it will result in fewer and less painful shortages than we're experiencing now. Anyways, not like that does us a lot of good now, but there's definitely a sunny side to it in the near future.

Also, a shortage of scooters to a hungry public is a good thing in another sense, as it opens the possibilty for more scooters companies to try to sell to us in the future, as they'll want to get in on the action.

I'll stop dorking out now.