My new Buddy (Break-in and Derestricting Action)

[ninma002]

First off let me say thank you to all you avid posting members out there. I'm a new Buddy owner and your posts/replies have done all to ease my transition into scooting. Much thanks. I thought I would add a little write-up of my experience.

I ended up getting a 2007 Buddy 50 from a guy that had road 20 miles on it before crashing the scooter. It scared him enough to get rid of it... CHEAPLY. So I ended up buying it from him for $700, a deal I couldn't pass up, with a little crash damage. Besides the bent rim the damage appears to be purely cosmetic. (I will post pictures later)

So because I didn't buy it from a dealer I was given no information about the scooter, which is why you all have helped me so much! I now have a derestricted scooter just past break-in and am loving every minute of riding it. I did the derestriction yesterday and thought I should write this while it was fresh.

Variator (Washer) Restriction:
There is a small washer inside of the transmission drive system that does not allow maximum top-speed to be reached. Here is how you remove it to add a few more MPH and smoother power curve to your 50cc Buddy.

1.) Tools... You will need a socket set, ratchet, Grip-Tight tool, and screw driver.

2.)A Grip-Tight tool has many names! It is a rubber strap that can supply a lot of friction force to fragile or awkward objects. I will try to include a picture at the bottom.

3.)Okay so now your ready to get down to business. Place your scooter on its stand on top of a tarp or clean surface.

4.)With the screw driver remove the hose clamp from the front of the transmission housing and pull the hose away from the housing. (The transmission housing is the large piece on which the kick start is located).

5.) Using a 10mm socket head or open ended wrench remove the bolt on the kick start. Then work a flat-head screwdriver into the gap and gently pry it open while attempting to pull it away from the bike.

6.) Using your socket set remove the 8 bolts from the outside of the transmission housing (I believe i used 5/16" but use the correct metric size if you have it)

7.) Once all the bolts, hose, and kickstart are removed the housing is ready to come off. On the back of the housing there is a little slot there I used a rubber mallet to gently knock the housing cover off.

8.) With the cover off the CVT drive system is exposed, the object on the left is the variator on the right is the clutch system. The washer is just behind the variator. Place the grip-tight strap around the variator with a little slack in the strap as you can. Depending on the size of your grip-tight you can have the counter force be applied by resting it against the top of the inside transmission housing or like I did beneath the clutch. There is no need to hold it with your hand, let the metal on the bike provide the counter-force.

9.) Once the grip-tight is a a holding position it is time to remove the variator. Start to loosen the large nut in the center of the variator (Its on there VERY tight). Once the nut is loosened remove the grip-tight and finish removing the nut with your fingers.

10.) Slide the variator plate and take care not to lose the outside washer. Once the variator plate is removed front the crankshaft you will see a metal sleeve with a gold ring on it. Remove the gold ring! This is the washer that is limiting the transmission from its top speed.

11.) Now reinstall the variator and outside washer on the crankshaft.

12.) Using the grip-tight in the opposite direction to hold the variator from rotating as you put the nut back on. Snug it up good too!

13.) Put the transmission housing back on and replace all the the bolts.

14.) Attatch the hose back and tighten the clamp to the housing.

15.) Reassemble the kickstart onto the exposed crankshaft, make sure you snug well.

16.) Congrats! You are done. Go for a ride and feel the higher top end speed!


Exhaust Restriction:
There is a cone-reducer inside the exhaust pipe that limits the engines ability to breath. Removing it will allow more exhaust to escape and in return make your scooter accelerate much faster! As a note, do not attempt this after a ride, as the exhaust is VERY HOT!!!

1.) Tools... You will need a socket set or a set of wrenches and philips screw driver.

2.) Remove the two long brass bolts from the bottom of the engine where the exhaust is attached to the engine.

3.) Remove protective housing around the exhaust. This is done by removing the three screws on the plastic housing.

4.) There are two large bolts holding the exhaust to the frame. Remove those with your socket set. Take care to hold the exhaust pipe as you remove the last bolt so it does not fall to the ground.

5.) There is also a rubber grommet that attatches to the back fender. Simply pull it away from the rear fender and the exhaust should be free.

6.) Once you have the exhaust free you should be able to see the cone restriction at the part that attached to the engine. Stick a drill bit a little smaller than the size of the hole in the cone shape. From here wiggle it back and forth until the cone comes out. There should be a washer on top of the cone, do not lose this.

7.) With the cone removed place the washer back on/in the exhaust. I used a hammer to GENTLY tap it into place.

8.) Put the exhuast back on the bike by means of rubber grommet, 2 large nuts, and two long nuts at the engine mount.

9.) Replace the protective housing.

10.) Congrats! Your exhaust is derestricted. Go test ride your scooter and feel the new performance increase!


So let me add what I got out of these derestrictions. I'm 6'2' and 175 lbs. While the bike was restricted I was able to hit 35-38 BMPH on flat ground, 40-41 BMPH downhill and depending on the size of the hill speed would drop to 23-32 BMPH uphills.
Now derestricted I easily hit 45 BMPH on flat ground going downhills it goes over 50 and uphill there is much less drop in performance. On a medium sized hill I was up and over 35 BMPH while still accelerating.
These upgrades make my scooter feel a lot safer. Now I'm able to out accelerate cars and keep up with pace on normal roads. I'm so please with the way things turned out. On my first test drive I felt like I was driving a completely different scooter!

Any questions let me know! And I would love comments from some of you too! And lastly sorry if there are typos.

[chloefpuff]

Welcome to the Buddy Club!
And to the sub-club, the Derestricted Buddy Club!

Your Bud's performance is on a par with mine, both before and after derestriction. I look forward to seeing how she goes after break-in.

As a novice scooter/Buddy rider, this forum has been invaluable.

[ninma002]

oh and I added 85w-140 Royal Purple full-synthetic oil to the gear system. Has anyone used this oil before? It freaked me out at first with the dark purple color. The oil that I removed did not look very dirty or to be containing shavings. I figured I would be safer with a fully synthetic gear oil over factory or dealer used product.

I'm not exactly sure how much I added. I didn't have a cc based measuring system so I calculated soda can 12oz/355ml. So I figured 110cc/ml would be 3.7oz and a half cup (4 oz) would yield almost 120cc. After draining and gently blowing remaining oil through the system I poured the half-cup of Royal Purple oil into the fill hole.

[armacham]

I've been meaning to mess around with my roller weights but I don't have an impact wrench. Its nice to know that its possible to do using a strap wrench, I might have to give that a try tomorrow night.

[ninma002]

I finally got an accurate speed quote today using my iPhone GPS and a free app store application called Speed.

Flat ground is 40 MPH = 45 indicated BMPH

Going full speed then coming to medium hill 38 MPH = 40 indicated BMPH

Going down a medium grade hill 43-44 MPH = 53 indicated BMPH

armacham - How did the roller weights swap go? Did you use a lighter/heavier weight? What were the results?

[armacham]

armacham - How did the roller weights swap go? Did you use a lighter/heavier weight? What were the results?

I haven't done it yet, I hd to go to 4 freaking tool/autoparts stores before I found an autozone that sold strap wrenches. I'll be switching to some 11g Dr. pulley weights. I don't want to effect my top end too much, i just want a little different acceleration curve, with some pep on the bottom.

I'll be doing the swap tomorrow after work probably. This is on a 150 so obviously the results won't transfer directly to your scooter though

[ninma002]

What is a Italia? A 50cc? My buddy is only 50cc, so I think the results may be a good indication.

[olhogrider]

What is a Italia? A 50cc?

It is the green/cream colored one. Originally a 125, now a 50 or 150. Those tricks only work on the 50.

[armacham]

progress report: grip tight couldn't hold my variator in place to take off the nut, it kept slipping off. Maybe if I had a bigger breaker bar I could get it.

[rickko]

Flat ground is 40 MPH = 45 indicated BMPH

Going down a medium grade hill 43-44 MPH = 53 indicated BMPH

Great opening write up!

So, you are saying, if you increase your actual MPH by 3mph (40 TO 43), your Buddy's indicated MPH goes up 8mph indicated! Wow!

..rickko..

[paikkylee]

Just a quick note that the kick start does not need to be removed before taking off the variator cover. You can just remove the bolts around the circumference of the cover and take it off in one piece. At least when mine was done (by a friend) that's how it went.

The kick still works so I assume all is well.

[jfrost2]

Yes, the kickstarter does not need to be removed, it's built onto the cover itself, and slides on and off the actual transmission interior. All you need to do is just slide it back on, and rebolt the cover, if done right, the kick starter will still work fine.

[gluv4u2]

shouldn't this be in the DIY section?

[pigglesworth]

I'm going to try both of these tweaks as soon as the weather permits. I'll be sure to post some pix of the process for all to see

Thanks for the step-by-step!