Comprehensive Review of an Excellent 2006 Scooter
Written: Sep 11 '06 (Updated Sep 11 '06)
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Pros: Excellent engine, warranty, design, storage, speed and handling and good for two up riding
Cons: Stock mirrors too small, turn signals look like an afterthought.
The Bottom Line: I just love this 2006 model scooter. A joy to ride, it handles well even with two riders, is economical, attractive and has a great engine and warranty. Buy it!
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| northgardener's Full Review: 2006 Genuine Scooter Company Buddy 125 |
The essence of this review is as follows:
1) Mechanics: The scooter is mechanically excellent. The engine is a 125cc 4 stroke, air cooled, proven design manufactured by the long time, award winning scooter manufacturer of PGO, out of Taiwan, under license to the Genuine Scooter Company. The engine sound is very nice, a little more "throaty" than a typical scooter.
2) Looks and Storage: It trends toward a classic look, with 10" tires and a longer, more comfortable seat than the Vino 125 (I've sat on both). Underseat storage is fantastic! My medium size, full-face HJC helmet fits INSIDE the under seat compartment. It also has a nice storage compartment under the handlebars.
3) Fuel efficiency: I have just over 100 miles on the scooter, with my first refill of the tank at 89 miles, for just under one gallon of gas. I'm pretty easy on the accelerator during break-in, but it appears mileage will be terrific. My review of the owner's group site tells me I should expect a pretty consistent 90 mpg or better if I don't ride it hard. Hard riding can drop it to 80 mpg.
4) Speed: Unbelievable! The scooter is light (223 lbs.) and accelerates very quickly through 35 mph or so, and the top end reported by others is an indicated speed of 72mph. I have only had mine up to an indicated speed of 65 mph, but still had throttle left.
5) Body: The body is all plastic (great for rust prone Florida) and fit and finish are quite good. An advantage to this body and to Genuine Scooters is that parts are in general expected to be far less costly than Vespa, Yamaha or Honda parts.
6) Warranty: Unbeatable. Genuine offers a full 2 year warranty with 1 year of roadside assistance. Very nice.
7) Size: The scooter is considered a small scooter, good for people with shorter legs, but the seat design is such than tall and short riders are both comfortable. I am six feet tall and fit easily, as does my (much shorter) wife. Best of all, the seat easily fits both of us for double riding, and the scooter handles our combined weight of almost 300 lbs. with no trouble.
As many potential buyers of a new scooter, I did a careful review of the options and concluded the following:
Vespas are elegant, beautiful and very expensive to own, maintain, upgrade and repair. The Buddy is actually faster, even though the Vespa LX series has a larger 150 cc engine.
Kymco's are excellently made and well supported, but you have to like their style and they are also more costly and heavier and therefore slower for the same size engine.
Honda's are nice, but very expensive like Vespas, and the style issue creeps in again. They don't carry a 125cc model.
Yamaha's Vino 125 is a nice scooter with great finish, a good price and broad dealer network, but you really can't comfortably ride two up, the scooter is slower and seat storage is less.
I chose the Buddy 125 for the design, storage, speed (I live in an area of primarily 45 mph roads, which means people travel 50 - 55), and two up comfort. I am totally satisfied.
The manufacturer's website is "Genuinescooters" with the usual prefix and suffix, and has links to both the Buddy riders group and to reviews far better and more extensive than mine.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 2,499
Condition: New
Model Year: 2005
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Epinions.com ID:
northgardener
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Reviews written: 2
Trusted by: 0 members
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