2008 Buddy Series Italia 125

by David
(Long Beach, California, USA)

When I went scooter shopping, I was pretty sure I wanted a Buddy - the organizer of my local scooter club said it was a reliable and speedy scooter. The Italia was an unexpected surprise at the scooter shop - I was seriously grabbed by the color scheme.

Many people compliment me on the looks of my scooter, even though I live in a California college town where scooters are not uncommon.

The 125cc engine has really good acceleration - I can punch it if I need to jump ahead of traffic. For the most part, I accelerate, coast and brake conservatively, and over the course of 800 miles, my fuel economy averaged 89 MPG (assuming that the scooter's odometer is accurate, and it probably isn't).

On a few occasions, I've needed to brake quickly, and the brakes worked great.

The only maintenance problem occurred at about 1500 miles - when I spun the starter motor, the engine just wouldn't start. My local scooter repair place gave it a tweak, and now I haven't had problems in the last 3000 miles.

Like many scooters, the Buddy's speedometer shows an inflated speed. If the speedometer says I'm going 50, the road sign radar says I'm going 43 (I don't know how accurate those radars are, though). I don't know if the odometer reading is similarly flawed, or how this alters my gas mileage calculations.

The stock rear tire only lasted about 4500 miles before being worn down to its tread wear indicator. I don't know if this is typical.

I love the Genuine Buddy - when I eventually wear it out, I'll probably buy another scooter made by Genuine (maybe the Stella 4 stroke).

I'd recommend the Buddy 125cc over the Buddy 50cc. Sometimes traffic conditions require you to go 50 mph, and the smaller engine won't do this. You're not sacrificing that much fuel economy if you go with the 125cc.