The Buddy is easy maintenance, has great gas mileage, quick acceleration, excellent technical abilities, well made stock parts and an all around economic deal for transportation. There are many accessories and additions to make your Buddy unique. It's twist-n-go as well as wash-n-go. Weekend Rally coming up and you want your Buddy to sparkle? Hose 'er down and you're off! Scuff marks, tar, street grime got you down? Mr. Clean Magic Eraser does the trick and doesn't hurt the scooter body.
Now what about accessories, you ask?
The first generation of topcases left much to be desired as well as the racks you put them on. Me and my husband traded in a few racks; luckily, the racks were free of charge as they broke one by one.
But soon a better model of topcase and racks replaced the earlier ones and life is grand once again.
The first generation of short windshields were fairly useless as well...unless of course you couldn't get enough of the wind blasting your neck and making wind tunnel sounds as you cruised leisurely down the highways and byways of life.
But I have now seen the new designs of shorter windshields and will most likely try one this year (on someone else's bike before I purchase for myself).
I have had the tall windshield since my first winter and can't say enough about it. Many of you have heard me talk about it in other Forum threads. If it weren't for this particular windshield, I would most likely not ride once the temperatures dived below 45 degrees. I never have a problem with wind being a factor...ever!
There are all kinds of saddlebags that can be purchased at motorcycle dealers. You can open your seat cover, lay the straps across the opening, close the seat and go. I use a Cortech saddlebag and it is waterproof and huge. Between the under seat storage, topcase and saddlebags, I am good to go for at least a 4-day trip.
My biggest expense has been tires (you use a lot of tires when you ride this much!).
Biggest complaint: We were told at time of purchase any needed parts could be in the dealer's store within a couple days because they were coming from Chicago. That has never been the case. I have experienced an irritating amount of time waiting for stock parts like air filters and rollers to be in stock at Genuine and my local dealer. As many Buddy scooters as there are now in America, I find it hard to understand why these parts aren't readily available to dealers; large quantities stocked at both Genuine and the local dealer shelves. I just don't get it.
So I have to work around this problem and get parts where and when I can find them. But all in all, I wouldn't trade the Buddy for anything else.
How long are peoples tires going? I have almost 6000 on original tires.
