The Buddy Kick, oil filter-free

Daves Kick · Post by **Daves Kick** » Wed May 31, 2017 6:27 pm

Apparently the Buddy Kick uses no oil filter (well, not the filter I was used to with my Vespa and Bugddy 125).
I was giving my Buddy a general inspection in anticipation of future routine maintenance and could not find an oil filter. I found the drain bolt, the plug at that houses the oil screen.
I thought I must not be looking in the right location so I called the service department at my dealer and they explained the Buddy Kick does not have an oil filter.
Believing a second opinion is always a good thing, I contacted Scooterworks in Chicago and their service department confirmed, no oil filter! Just the oil screen.
They said the Kick runs so clean there is no need for one.
Anyway, I just thought I would share with other Buddy Kick owners in case they came across the same situation.
Happy scootering!

mike932 · Post by **mike932** » Wed May 31, 2017 6:51 pm

Just change your oil twice as often as they recommend. That's what I did

Daves Kick · Post by **Daves Kick** » Thu Jun 01, 2017 2:32 am

mike932 wrote:Just change your oil twice as often as they recommend. That's what I did

That's a good plan, mike932! I assume you've done this to your Buddy 170i, so I'm wondering how many miles do you have on it thus far?

PhillyKick · Post by **PhillyKick** » Fri Jun 02, 2017 12:49 am

That's not the advice I want to hear about the scoot I bought

At this point I'd almost trade regular oil change intervals and a backup kick start over reliable fuel injection versus (possibly) finicky carb

mike932 · Post by **mike932** » Fri Jun 02, 2017 3:02 am

Nah I am talking about my first scooter. An old 125cc Yamaha Riva with no oil filter. My Buddy 170i does have a filter. Learn to do oil changes. It is a piece of cake. I put 12,000 miles on my Riva. So far I have 4,600 miles on my Buddy which I bought used last year with 360 miles on it.

Daves Kick · Post by **Daves Kick** » Fri Jun 02, 2017 3:41 am

The technician didn't say I needed to do more than the scheduled oil changes, just that there was no oil filter other than the screen. I've done oil changes before, so this is one less thing.
Now I know why I couldn't find it anywhere.

kmrcstintn · Post by **kmrcstintn** » Fri Jun 02, 2017 4:25 am

might wanna research & see if the Prima magnetic drain plug kit that fits the Buddy 125, 150, 170 is applicable...getting all the ferrous bits out of the flowing oil will reduce wear and the magnets hold those bits;

New2Scoots · Post by **New2Scoots** » Fri Jun 02, 2017 11:23 pm

My Honda Metropolitan 50cc also just has a screen. Did 2 oil changes & found nothing in the screen & the oil looked clean. Might take a few thousand miles in hot weather to start seeing sludge. Using Amsoil in both my scoots.

mike932 · Post by **mike932** » Sat Jun 03, 2017 2:17 am

It's not the sludge you need to worry about. It is tiny metal shavings from the engine that you cannot see. If there is no filter, you are better off using cheap oil and changing often than using expensive oil and not changing often.

Snap · Post by **Snap** » Sat Jun 03, 2017 3:24 am

Most vintage British bikes didn't use filters; just a mesh screen.
Oil changes were scheduled at 1500 mile intervals.

Sludge trap in the crank could be expected to have significant crud at 15000 miles.

Tinge of silver in the drained oil from bearing was often seen.

On another note, my lawn mower has no oil filter and it smokes after two years of minimal use but poor oil services.

With no filter, change your oil alot.

Dooglas · Post by **Dooglas** » Sat Jun 03, 2017 6:06 pm

The machined tolerances in older engines (and more crudely built Chinascoots) were not nearly as good as in newer engines. That is why break in periods are shorter, break in oils are not so important and one of the reasons long periods between oil changes are possible in modern engines (as well as the stability of synthetic oils).

Equally to the point. Many Yamaha scooter engines - Riva, Vino, Zuma - do not use a canister filter. They use a centrifugal filtration system mounted on the crankshaft and a fine screen. I owned a Vino for many years. The oil came out of it looking clean when changed and I never saw any reason for going to a shorter oil change period than recommended by Yamaha. I'd say the same is likely to apply to the Kick.

PhillyKick · Post by **PhillyKick** » Sat Jun 03, 2017 10:08 pm

Dooglas wrote:The machined tolerances in older engines (and more crudely built Chinascoots) were not nearly as good as in newer engines. That is why break in periods are shorter, break in oils are not so important and one of the reasons long periods between oil changes are possible in modern engines (as well as the stability of synthetic oils).

Equally to the point. Many Yamaha scooter engines - Riva, Vino, Zuma - do not use a canister filter. They use a centrifugal filtration system mounted on the crankshaft and a fine screen. I owned a Vino for many years. The oil came out of it looking clean when changed and I never saw any reason for going to a shorter oil change period than recommended by Yamaha. I'd say the same is likely to apply to the Kick.

Thanks for this, makes me feel a lot better about it.

Daves Kick · Post by **Daves Kick** » Sun Jun 04, 2017 4:06 am

Well this has certainly been great news!
I guess I was locked into the whole oil filter canister paradigm. Good to know that I won't have to worry about a screen sufficing.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Sun Jun 04, 2017 6:16 am

Most small displacement motorcycles do no have spin-on oil filters. I've never had any oil related problems with them as long as I change the oil every 1500 miles or so.

Choppergirl · Post by **Choppergirl** » Tue Sep 25, 2018 9:41 pm

Thanks to all for the info, was just poking around my engine wondering where the heck the filter was hiding!

Stanza · Post by **Stanza** » Wed Sep 26, 2018 5:09 pm

Just keep an eye on the oil color on the dipstick. When it starts to go black and cloudy, it's time to swap it out.

Point37 · Post by **Point37** » Wed Sep 26, 2018 5:20 pm

kmrcstintn wrote:might wanna research & see if the Prima magnetic drain plug kit that fits the Buddy 125, 150, 170 is applicable...getting all the ferrous bits out of the flowing oil will reduce wear and the magnets hold those bits;

looks like some people have issues with these fitting correctly...

https://www.amazon.com/Prima-Magnetic-D ... merReviews