Buddy 170i Brand New Speedometer just stopped working

uklemond · Post by **uklemond** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 11:45 pm

Picked it up on Thursday last week, and 5 days later i notice that the speedometer is acting up

Firstly when i accelerate on the throttle it drops to 0, if i let go of the throttle it rises to 45 and then slowly drops.

When at a standstill and then pull of it bounces around 20 30 like a compass needle next to a magnet for a few seconds then rests on 0.

Any idea what it could be and how easy it is to fix?

Edwub · Post by **Edwub** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 11:47 pm

Call the dealer and take it in, since it's not even a week old yet I'm sure they'll quickly help you out. Congrats on your 170 purchase though, hopefully this is a small blip!

uklemond · Post by **uklemond** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 11:49 pm

Edwub wrote:Call the dealer and take it in, since it's not even a week old yet I'm sure they'll quickly help you out. Congrats on your 170 purchase though, hopefully this is a small blip!

Cheers Edwub. I will indeed pop it in tomorrow. Lets hope they dont just think its a quick buck coming through the door

PeteH · Post by **PeteH** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 12:28 am

It sounds a little like your speedo cable isn't correctly seated at either the top or bottom end. Bottom end is easy - it unscrews at the hub, and you can make sure the square drive end is properly seated. The top connection on the back of the speedo unit is Not Fun, as it requires opening up all the plastic on the headset. It could also be a bad speedo or sendingnunit, although around here it's usually cable-related.

Either way, your dealer should be able to set you right, and you're surely under warranty if you bought it new.

JHScoot · Post by **JHScoot** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 12:31 am

PeteH wrote:....you're surely under warranty if you bought it new.

...

uklemond · Post by **uklemond** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 1:56 am

Being new to the buddy range, i checked on their site to see how the warranty works. I do have 2 years warranty and 2 years roadside assistance

However according to Genuine website, cables are not covered under warranty. Maybe i should learn how this is done myself if it is going to be a common fault it could become rather expensive

JHScoot · Post by **JHScoot** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 2:15 am

Genuine is a good company with good CS. They are NOT the dealer, of course. That said it is my unqualified opinion the dealer should serve you in this case, free of charge. It is most likely an inexpensive fix, but with some extent of labor involved. Especially for a DIY'er. But a dealer who has pro tools and commonly works on these scoots should be able to make fast enough work of it.

For all we know it could be dealer prep related? Maybe a cable wasn't checked, or the bike inspected well enough before sale? With that being possible and you not knowing otherwise imo the dealer should satisfy you in this case.

pdxrita · Post by **pdxrita** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 2:32 am

uklemond wrote:Being new to the buddy range, i checked on their site to see how the warranty works. I do have 2 years warranty and 2 years roadside assistance

However according to Genuine website, cables are not covered under warranty. Maybe i should learn how this is done myself if it is going to be a common fault it could become rather expensive

I think when they say that cables aren't covered, they're probably talking more about them as a consumable part. That is, that over time, if you did a LOT of riding, you might wear out a cable. In this case, it's pretty likely that it's just not connected good. It's actually a really simple fix, except that you have to open up the headset plastics to get to it. Having just done that myself (to replace the top piece), I can tell you that getting those back together right is a bear - or, at least it was for me. But once you get in there, you can reach in and tighten or loosen that cable by hand. I'm thinking that sort of thing - a cable being loose - should be covered under warranty.

Take a look at the pics in this headlight changing tutorial:
topic4494.html
This is exactly how you would get in there. Once you get in there, at picture #5, you can see the single black coax-looking cable that plugs in to the bottom of the speedo. That's what's probably loose.

un_designer · Post by **un_designer** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 2:50 am

what you're describing sounds exactly like what happened with mine. Turns out that there is a cable that goes into the right side of the front wheel that's somehow come loose. Once I put it back and tighten it everything was back to normal.

EDIT: here's the thread I started with a picture showing what the cable looks like. It connects to the front fork, on the right side of the wheel.

viewtopic.php?t=21706&highlight=cable

Lokky · Post by **Lokky** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 3:47 am

If it came loose in less than a week it sounds to me like the dealer hadn't prepped it right in the first place and it should be covered under warranty.

silverstreak · Post by **silverstreak** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 4:31 am

Yes take it back to the place of purchase!They should fix it free of charge since it is so new. And congrats on your 170i I hope you enjoy yours as much as i love mine after your speedo is fixed.

skully93 · Post by **skully93** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 2:21 pm

I'm sure it would be fun to learn to do it, however at less than a week old, take it back and have them go over it. I'm sure they won't mind since you just dropped over 3k at their store.

stASH · Post by **stASH** » Wed Jun 06, 2012 2:26 pm

Have the dealer do a thorough check of the bike. My thought is that if they overlooked tightening the speedo cable, they may have missed other dealer prep items.

jd · Post by jd » Wed Jun 06, 2012 4:09 pm

Same thing happened to one of our 125s due to sloppy dealer preparation. The cable isn't tightened properly at the speedo. Dealer can fix it in five minutes.

uklemond · Post by **uklemond** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 12:51 pm

Thanks for the advice guys.

Took it back to the dealer yesterday and they fixed it without a hitch and took a few minutes.

I'm putting 70 miles on the clock every day and they have told me i should bring it in for a service every 1000 miles. Thats around a service a month, and at $60 a pop i think maybe i should start to learn how to do this myself

All in all it is a great bike and so pleased i made the decision to go with it. Love Love Love the Buddy 170i.

2wheelNsanity · Post by **2wheelNsanity** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 1:08 pm

After the first service, according to the owners manual the intervals between services should be 3000 km or 1864 miles. And $60 for a service is a great price. The cost of the oil filter and air filter plus shipping exceeds $40, not to mention the oil and the proper tools.

uklemond · Post by **uklemond** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 1:14 pm

2wheelNsanity wrote:After the first service, according to the owners manual the intervals between services should be 3000 km or 1864 miles.

I like 1864 miles, that makes more sense to me and almost halves the amount of services it will require

2wheelNsanity wrote:And $60 for a service is a great price. The cost of the oil filter and air filter plus shipping exceeds $40, not to mention the oil and the proper tools.

Sounds like I'm getting a good deal then, and TBH i was not moaning at the price being charged, just that $60 a month may have been cheaper to DIY, but from what you have said that clearly is not the case so I'm just going to keep popping it in to the dealers as and when needed.

Just another quick question. I promise they will be far less once i get to know more about the bike and its requirements, but you gotta start somewhere

How many miles should one do before considering servicing brakes for replacements?

ThreeSheets · Post by **ThreeSheets** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 1:40 pm

Hope everything gets fixed! We have not had really and issues with the speedo's on the Genuine's. So once fixed you should not have anything to worry about.

uklemond · Post by **uklemond** » Fri Jun 08, 2012 1:46 pm

ThreeSheets wrote:Hope everything gets fixed! We have not had really and issues with the speedo's on the Genuine's. So once fixed you should not have anything to worry about.

Oh it is fixed now, as mentioned had it done yesterday. Thanks though

2wheelNsanity · Post by **2wheelNsanity** » Sat Jun 09, 2012 12:07 am

I have put 5k on my scoot and no signs of brake wear or fade. However, I do plan on upgrading to the NCY rotor due to the fact that I carry my wife around alot and would like a little more stopping power.

JHScoot · Post by **JHScoot** » Sat Jun 09, 2012 12:39 am

uklemond wrote:
2wheelNsanity wrote:After the first service, according to the owners manual the intervals between services should be 3000 km or 1864 miles.
I like 1864 miles, that makes more sense to me and almost halves the amount of services it will require

2wheelNsanity wrote:And $60 for a service is a great price. The cost of the oil filter and air filter plus shipping exceeds $40, not to mention the oil and the proper tools.
Sounds like I'm getting a good deal then, and TBH i was not moaning at the price being charged, just that $60 a month may have been cheaper to DIY, but from what you have said that clearly is not the case so I'm just going to keep popping it in to the dealers as and when needed.

Just another quick question. I promise they will be far less once i get to know more about the bike and its requirements, but you gotta start somewhere

How many miles should one do before considering servicing brakes for replacements?

Hmm? Oil changes, mostly. Nothing wrong with a well maintained bike, but if it's running good, it's running good. I think some even say every 4000 miles have the scooter "inspected." And many say oil change if using synthetic every 3,000 miles.

I am just against "over servicing" is all. Well, not against it, but i try to avoid it. And some also say the owners manual recs for servicing on these things are too frequent.

But, we all do as we please