Modern Buddy

I recently purchased the 220 and love it. It does great on the city streets, and is fun to drive.

I'd like to take it to the Blue Ridge mountains and ride Skyline Drive. It's only 35 mph, but there are steep inclines in places.

Would the 220 handle it without putting stress on the transmission?

I bet that it would handle that just fine. Please be careful though, as your performance envelope is probably much bigger than most of the vehicles out there, never mind the lumbering, full-of-gawking people, RV's on that poor stretch of road.

Going up steep hills at 35mph is no problem at all, plenty of power. Its going up hills at freeway speeds that tends to slow you down until you reach the top...

yeah you will be fine, and you"ll have a blast. As above ^^^ watch for the RVers...wow are they slow... Enjoying a nice turn at 50 and there is a HOUSE parked in the road taking pics...Ohh YEAH...

Try going during the week. Far less traffic. Beautiful roads.

You'll do fine. The wife and I rode the entire length of the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive last year on a pair of 50cc Honda Ruckus scooters! It was an amazing trip!!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bergerbot/ ... 753774886/

In case those of you are still wondering, the Blur does great in the Mountains. Here is a link to my flickr page where you'll see my Blur 220 at the top of Mount Evans in Colorado. It's the Highest paved road in North America and sits at 14,265 feet (4348 m).

I started in Englewood, CO (5,371 ft) and drove straight to the top, stopping once to get a Lunchables and Dr. Pepper.

Bergerbot, you'll have to come with us next time we do Lookout Mountain! What a blast, and that was on my Zuma! I can't wait to do it again on Yoda.

OK. Here's another of my "don't know squat about CVTs" questions. I understand these things are pretty much free-wheelin' downhill.

Are there ever hills so steep that you would overheat the brakes? I bring this up because I've read guys talking on maxi scoot sites about certain steep descents. The Burg 650 was favored because it could be put in a sort of manual shift mode so it could gear down.

Southerner wrote:OK. Here's another of my "don't know squat about CVTs" questions. I understand these things are pretty much free-wheelin' downhill.

Are there ever hills so steep that you would overheat the brakes? I bring this up because I've read guys talking on maxi scoot sites about certain steep descents. The Burg 650 was favored because it could be put in a sort of manual shift mode so it could gear down.

First of all, you are talking about two totally different scooter sizes and weights. A 650 Burgman is a beast of a scooter and the Blur is not nearly heavy enough for to have a road pull it down like that. In fact, I've yet to drive a scooter down a steep incline or highway where I felt what that guy was talking about. Granted there will be a bit more coasting due to gravity, as all vehicles would have - but not free wheeling. Don't believe everything you read in the forums

I did that that trip and the Blur did fantastic. The only thing I would have changed was the seat. After 80 miles my butt was NUMB!
I'll do it again later this year in the spring when the weather warms up a bit.

It's been a year since I bought the beast and I'm still deeply, truly in love with the little thing. It's become my daily driver. My big ol' 1600 Nomad is just sitting all lonely on the side porch, under cover and waiting for warmer weather when I can take a long-distance trip again. THAT seat is comfortable on the long haul!

Just put a new windshield on the Blur tonight and am waiting to see how it reacts to the 55mph road I take to work every morning.

Hope everyone stays safe and enjoys their ride as much as I am. Thanks for the comments.

Glad to hear from somebody else who owns a Blur. I don't have one but remain interested in them. The Blur forum is usually too quiet so I'm not able to "listen in" on many conversations between owners.

Like you, I'm a MC rider and intend to keep one but would like a lighter weight alternative in the stable.

Go for it!

Advantages of the Blur:

• Short wheel base makes it incredibly nimble.
  Incredible MPG for a bike that can keep up with traffic.
  Upper end MPH will easily keep up with highway traffic (60-65 mph).
  Super fun to ride!
  Easy to throw in the back of the truck and go (even for me, a 5'4" woman)

Disadvantages:

• It can not use the interstates (220 vs legal 250)
  It is not respected by box drivers: they see a small scooter and immediately want to go around it regardless of how fast it's traveling.
  Small wheels make sizable potholes, road heaves, and other poor road conditions serious hazards.
  Uncomfortable seat: long distance riding hurts after an hour.

There are times I think I would want a larger scooter (I drool over the Piaggio MP3). But then I get out on the Blur and love the quick convenience, and nimbleness of the small bike.

Go for it. I don't think you'll be displeased.

Can't use on Interstates? I guess that I'm a law breaker... every day I ride to work, I take I-75 north for a few miles out of downtown... and I'm far from the slowest vehicle out there. LovemyBlur.

It's only illegal if ya get caught.

The statute here in Michigan is 125cc minimum on freeways or limited access highways... I think that I'm good

Rippinyarn, you got me thinking.... I've always been told I could travel the highways, but couldn't take the Blur on the interstate (which differs from a highway in it is governed by the Fed instead of the State) because it was underpowered by 30cc.

I looked in the Virginia transportation code first, and the only thing I could find relating to speed or motor size was the definition of a moped as being a vehicle under 50cc which could not travel faster than 35 mph. If it traveled faster than 35 mph, it would be considered a motorcycle and be subject to laws governing motorcycles.

Next I did a search for "Interstate Highway System rules" and waded through the http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ website. Again, I couldn't find much of anything about motorcycle rules or restrictions on the federal interstate system.

So now I am wondering where the heck the 250cc rule originated? Who told me that first and why did it stick in my head???? Because as far as I can find, you're right and there's nothing on the books either in my state or in the federal web site that says I can't take the Blur on I-64.

. . . Not that I'd WANT to do that around here. Besides the crazy people on the road, Virginia's interstates frankly suck. Between pot holes, poorly patched damage, and seam heaves, it would NOT be wise to travel at speed along our roads!

TygerCub, I would like to commend you on two points:

1. You took the time to research whether or not something you "heard somewhere" was true, and
2. You admitted that you had made a mistake.

Both those admirable qualities seem to be in short supply on the Internet these days.

Ralph

Thanks Uncleralph.

It will do just fine! We took a trip two years ago running a Buddy 125, Vespa ET4 (150 cc) a Vespa GT 200 and a 67 Vespa GT. The Buddy slowed down some on the long climbs but really no problems at all. I would think the 220 would do a bit better.

Go ride and don't forget to give us a report!

I was curious as well, and that's why I looked up the MI statute (which I kinda sorta knew). We've been having a discussion over state laws and their inability to override a federal statute (we do law enforcement training where I work and I was gathering information for a wacky weed mini-course) when your first point came up.

Very interesting if that 250cc rule exists, because of course in MI it's a very clear 125cc on a "limited access highway" which are the interstates (and sometimes the same road is a state road). I think that the lesson is that if you are capable of "keeping up" with traffic, you will be fine on the Blur. Of course, it's no long distance touring machine, but it's more that capable of a 10 mile blast at around 8k RPM.

Whomever originally told me the 250 rule must have been someone I trusted, because it stuck with me all these years. It really concerned me when I originally considered the Blur, but I figured 'highways' are more interesting anyway, so I didn't give it a second thought.

Shortly after buying the scooter I became lost and was caught on a new 'interstate' bypass section. The Blur kept up with traffic without a problem, but I was sweating the possibility of getting a ticket until I could find an off ramp. Haven't been back up that way since.

That little jaunt inspired two things: 1) A healthy respect for how fast this little scooter can go; and 2) A perverse enjoyment at the looks of confusion and astonishment of the box drivers.

I really am enjoying this thing. Can't wait for Memorial Day weekend when I'll take it back up to the mountains for another ride.

TygerCub wrote:Whomever originally told me the 250 rule must have been someone I trusted, because it stuck with me all these years. It really concerned me when I originally considered the Blur, but I figured 'highways' are more interesting anyway, so I didn't give it a second thought.

Shortly after buying the scooter I became lost and was caught on a new 'interstate' bypass section. The Blur kept up with traffic without a problem, but I was sweating the possibility of getting a ticket until I could find an off ramp. Haven't been back up that way since.

That little jaunt inspired two things: 1) A healthy respect for how fast this little scooter can go; and 2) A perverse enjoyment at the looks of confusion and astonishment of the box drivers.

I really am enjoying this thing. Can't wait for Memorial Day weekend when I'll take it back up to the mountains for another ride.

In GA the interstates have a 40mph minimum speed so the Blur would be fine for that. As far as I know only a 49cc would be barred from using one.

The 250cc rule is state-specific. Here in NC, as long as you can MAINTAIN the 45mph legal interstate minimum you're good in the eyes of the law.

I took my Buddy 125 on the I-240 bypass in Asheville constantly with little to no problem. Going down the mountain on I-40E into Old Fort was a blast! I didn't come back up that same mountain via I-40W, though. The incline dropped me to right at 45mph and that was a main trucking corridor, so way above my level of accepted risk.

I have ridden the Buddy 125 from Old Fort via I-40 all the way to Chapel Hill and back, holding a (real) 60mph the whole way. (This was way after break-in, probably 13k-15k miles on the scooter by then.) I stayed in the right lane and had very few people take issue with me. I even worked out a system with the truckers for when they passed me, which I think got CB'd around judging by how everyone after the first two reacted as if it was the same driver repeating.
When they got within a couple car lengths of passing me, I moved to the right third of my lane, and when they were clear of me and good to merge in front of me without horrid buffeting, I moved back to the left third and waved.

Well... eons after starting this thread, I finally got my Blur out to Maggie Valley and rode the Tail of the Dragon!

WHAT A FREAKIN' BLAST!

My little 220 kept up with the sports bike in front of me and left the baggers behind. All told, I rode up... down... up again... and continued on to get lost on the other side of the mountains. Several hours and a sore butt later, I finally found my way back home! Whew!

Despite that little setback, I will DEFINITELY be doing that again!