Where is the 'Buddy' scooter made?

scooterdoodler · Post by **scooterdoodler** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 6:40 am

I've looked around a bit but can't seem to find out where the Buddy scooters come from. I am interested in possibly getting one of the new 150's, particularily the very retro WW'd, two-tone models.

I'm not overly concerned about their country of origin, and it's not a big deal, just curious........although I'll admit that I would currently prefer it's not China.

Thanks for any info.

ryder1 · Post by **ryder1** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 6:53 am

http://www.genuinescooters.com/buddy.html

Nothing on the Buddy website about where they are made?

I don't think it is in China.

scooterdoodler · Post by **scooterdoodler** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 6:58 am

Ok! I found what I wanted to know on the link to the comparison test between the Buddy 125 and the Vino from the Genuine Scooter site.

looks like Taiwan, which is not a bad thing.

Thanks.

pcbikedude · Post by **pcbikedude** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 7:07 am

The company that manufactures the Buddy is PGO of Taiwan. In most of the world, the Buddy is known as the BuBu.

Check-out their website. It's interesting reading (bad translation) http://www.english.pgo.com.tw/

Eddy Merckx · Post by **Eddy Merckx** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 6:11 pm

Taiwan....

jrsjr · Post by **jrsjr** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 7:06 pm

You can determine any scooter's nation of origin for yourself by looking at the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). The very first letter codes the country of origin as follows:

VIN numbers: L=China. R=Taiwan. Z=Italy ...among others.

scooterdoodler · Post by **scooterdoodler** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 7:27 pm

jrsjr wrote:You can determine any scooter's nation of origin for yourself by looking at the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). The very first letter codes the country of origin as follows:

VIN numbers: L=China. R=Taiwan. Z=Italy ...among others.

Interesting! Now all I have to do is drive the 350 miles to Denver to find the nearest Buddy scooter to check it's VIN.

jrsjr · Post by **jrsjr** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 7:29 pm

scooterdoodler wrote:Interesting! Now all I have to do is drive the 350 miles to Denver to find the nearest Buddy scooter to check it's VIN.

Be sure to tow a trailer so you can take a Buddy home with you!!!

scullyfu · Post by **scullyfu** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 8:27 pm

jrsjr wrote:
scooterdoodler wrote:Interesting! Now all I have to do is drive the 350 miles to Denver to find the nearest Buddy scooter to check it's VIN.
Be sure to tow a trailer so you can take a Buddy home with you!!!

trailer? pppffftttt. ride, baby, ride.

of course, by the time you got a third of the way home you'd have to turn around to return for your 200 mile checkup. do you have any vacation time saved up?

scooterdoodler · Post by **scooterdoodler** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 9:50 pm

scullyfu wrote: trailer? pppffftttt. ride, baby, ride.

of course, by the time you got a third of the way home you'd have to turn around to return for your 200 mile checkup. do you have any vacation time saved up?

Not too likely I'd be interested in a 350 mile run on a 150cc bike though...'adventure' that it surely would be.

That's the 'problem' with wanting to buy something other than a machine from the 'normal' marques if you don't live in a large urban area, lack-o'-local-dealers syndrome.

Keys · Post by **Keys** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 12:40 am

...never stopped me...

--Keys

louie · Post by **louie** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 1:19 am

i am anything but uninterested in riding 350 miles on my buddy. it's loads of fun.

gt1000 · Post by **gt1000** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 2:18 am

I'm in Denver and my VIN starts with an "R". It's also snowing here so you'll want that trailer.

Everyone has an opinion on this issue but I would only consider buying a bike with local dealer support. That said, my Bud has been ultra-reliable and is ridden in all sorts of weather year round. If you're handy with a wrench and have a place to work on your bike (I don't), self maintaining a Buddy should be pretty simple.

louie · Post by **louie** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 4:56 am

the dealer from which i bought my buddy quit selling genuine just after my first oil change. the buddy has been trouble free so far and the scooter shop opening downtown should be selling and servicing genuine soon.

until then the nearest dealer is in chattanooga.

lucky for me PGO of taiwan rocks.

scooterdoodler · Post by **scooterdoodler** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 5:21 am

louie wrote:i am anything but uninterested in riding 350 miles on my buddy. it's loads of fun.

I did that sort of thing back in 1967, when I rode my 8 hp Honda S90 from Pipestone, Minnesota to Ainsworth, Nebraska...and back, about 600 miles round trip.

And it was loads of fun, and quite an adventure for a 16 year old.

But! in the years since then, I've lost all interest in riding a severly underpowered machine on 65 mph roads where I have the choice of either riding on the shoulder (if there even is one, God forbid), or becoming a brightly colored speed bump to the impatient traffic invariably piling up behind me.

I might be willing to take a 250cc scooter out on the road for short trips through the surrounding countryside, but I would limit my 125-150cc travels to my local city riding.

I'm interested in the Buddy scooter because it appears to one of the better units to come from the east, and has a pretty large, enthusiastic following in the U.S. as do the Kymco machines, the other brand I'm quite interested in.....but of course, I would like the 'Bet & Win' 250....which has been dropped from their line, at least here in the U.S.

louie · Post by **louie** » Sun Dec 09, 2007 7:40 pm

i too am age challanged, 48, and i find the buddy quite comfy. there are many sitting positons to change into so as not to get cramped. i think the 125s of today are much speedier than before or maybe my height of 5'2" has something to do with it. we don't get on roads with over a 55 mph speed limit. and maybe i'd do anything to ride a little longer.

Keys · Post by **Keys** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 2:21 am

48 is age challenged?!?!?!? Crap, I better start looking for my walker. Anybody have any used tennis balls for the front....???

--Keys

scooterdoodler · Post by **scooterdoodler** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 4:39 am

louie wrote:i think the 125s of today are much speedier than before or maybe my height of 5'2" has something to do with it.

Must be your height,

my 1966 Honda Super 90 was 8 hp and had a top speed of 65 mph on a level road with zero headwind, that's what Honda claimed for the bike, and I saw 66 on the speedo one time on level highway. That compares very well to most of today's 125 scooters, many (most?) of which cannot do 65 mph.

And if you care to watch how an 'age challenged' 56 year old rides his scooter (sometimes), watch the 7 minute video linked below.

Drumwoulf · Post by **Drumwoulf** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 3:57 pm

scooterdoodler wrote:[
And if you care to watch how an 'age challenged' 56 year old rides his scooter (sometimes), watch the 7 minute video linked below.

Wowee, thanks for the ride! -Looked like 15 miles or so, and only one car on that road?! -Wish we had roads like that in NJ; here, that road would've had at least 100 cars onnit! Makes up for the winters there in SD, eh?

I did break the 'ton' once here in NJ tho (on a 400cc Honda Hawk), but that was in 1980 on a spanking new hiway (Rt 18 ) that had very little traffic yet. Not really safely possible today here, methinks...

BTW, I'm still enjoying my Buddy, and also a Vespa GT at the 'challenged' age of 69.....!

I hate to think what a person who thinks they're "age-challenged" in their forties is gonna be like when they're my age!!

Drumwoulf · Post by **Drumwoulf** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 4:03 pm

scooterdoodler wrote:
scullyfu wrote: trailer? pppffftttt. ride, baby, ride.

of course, by the time you got a third of the way home you'd have to turn around to return for your 200 mile checkup. do you have any vacation time saved up?
Not too likely I'd be interested in a 350 mile run on a 150cc bike though...'adventure' that it surely would be.

That's the 'problem' with wanting to buy something other than a machine from the 'normal' marques if you don't live in a large urban area, lack-o'-local-dealers syndrome.

The Buddy could do it fairly comfortably on backroads. And it fits in the back of a smallish mini-van... (!992 short-back Voyager!)

scooterdoodler · Post by **scooterdoodler** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 6:47 pm

Drumwoulf wrote: Wowee, thanks for the ride! -Looked like 15 miles or so, and only one car on that road?! -Wish we had roads like that in NJ; here, that road would've had at least 100 cars onnit! Makes up for the winters there in SD, eh?

I was just spending some leftover adrenalin from one of my recently departed 'scooters'.......which I bought when I was 50, and put 37,000 miles on it in the next three years. If there's the money for it, I may buy one of the 'new improved' Hayabusas in '09, I like the 'old' bike that much.

The winters here in extreme western South Dakota are much milder than most think. We just received our first snow late last week, and it's always melting on the average. It will 'spike' up into the 50's and maybe even the 60's in January during 'warm' spells, so there's quite a few opportunities to ride during the winter here.

BTW, I'm still enjoying my Buddy, and also a Vespa GT at the 'challenged' age of 69.....! I hate to think what a person who thinks they're "age-challenged" in their forties is gonna be like when they're my age!!

I hope I still have some 'motorcycle craziness' in me when I'm 69.

gt1000 · Post by **gt1000** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 7:44 pm

my 1966 Honda Super 90 was 8 hp and had a top speed of 65 mph on a level road with zero headwind, that's what Honda claimed for the bike, and I saw 66 on the speedo one time on level highway.

Thanks for the pic of the S90. My first ever ride on a motorized 2 wheeler was on the back of my friend Ralph's S90. I'm thinking it was 1968 and it scared me witless. It also gave me the bug and once I actually drove that little bike I was hooked.

I also enjoyed the video. Clever job of rigging the tripod. I was going to ask if the speedo was reading out in mph or kph but then realized you were on a 650 and that answered that. Your roads appear to have much less traffic than the lesser traveled roads here in Colorado. Any issues with large, furry creatures?

scooterdoodler · Post by **scooterdoodler** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 9:15 pm

gt1000 wrote: Thanks for the pic of the S90. My first ever ride on a motorized 2 wheeler was on the back of my friend Ralph's S90. I'm thinking it was 1968 and it scared me witless. It also gave me the bug and once I actually drove that little bike I was hooked.

They were great little bikes, with just a bit more 'snot' than the C200 (pushrod 90) which had something like 6.5 hp to the 'Super' 90's overhead cam 8hp (or was it 8.5?...it's been a loooong time).

Your roads appear to have much less traffic than the lesser traveled roads here in Colorado. Any issues with large, furry creatures?

I made the video run at 11:00 or 11:30 AM on a weekday, so traffic was at an absolute minimum. I believe South Dakota is the second least-populated state in the union with about 750,000 in the entire state. Wyoming is no. 1...or is it no. 50?

That road isn't alwasy as 'vacant' as the video may lead you to believe, though. I just picked the best time to ride it.

Deer are all over the place, both Mule and Whitetail, but again, at the time of day I made the video, they're usually bedded down someplace for the day, but of course there are No guarantees with that sort of thing, so!...........it's a bit of a crapshoot.

jrsjr · Post by **jrsjr** » Mon Dec 10, 2007 11:26 pm

scooterdoodler wrote:...I may buy one of the 'new improved' Hayabusas in '09, I like the 'old' bike that much.

You and a whole lot of other folks.

BuddyRaton · Post by **BuddyRaton** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 12:20 am

louie wrote:i too am age challanged, 48, and i find the buddy quite comfy. there are many sitting positons to change into so as not to get cramped. i think the 125s of today are much speedier than before or maybe my height of 5'2" has something to do with it. we don't get on roads with over a 55 mph speed limit. and maybe i'd do anything to ride a little longer.

Oh louie Ive met you....your lying about your age girl! And didnt you have someone in his later 70's rideover to the Hill on Wheels rally with you? I don't remember his name but he was having a blast!

BuddyRaton · Post by **BuddyRaton** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 12:23 am

scooterdoodler wrote:And if you care to watch how an 'age challenged' 56 year old rides his scooter (sometimes), watch the 7 minute video linked below.

Ain't nothing like taking a Burgman 650 over the century mark is there!

The Buddy is the perfect compliment to that Halfabusa!

scooterdoodler · Post by **scooterdoodler** » Tue Dec 11, 2007 1:26 am

BuddyRaton wrote:The Buddy is the perfect compliment to that Halfabusa!

You may be right! There's nothing at all wrong with a smaller displacement bike, and I find them very attractive in many ways.