Modern Buddy

tl;dr: Bought a 2009 Buddy 50, could use a little help with initial diagnostic/part sourcing

Hi all! I've been lurking for a few weeks or so now, in anticipation of at some point wanting to get a used scooter for my wife. Well, I won one at an auction in Denver today, a week before her birthday! It being from an abandoned/confiscated auction, it needs some love. I anticipated some of it, and bought oil, a battery, an ignition switch assembly, gear oil, spark plug, brake fluid, seafoam, etc.

Since this was an online auction, there are some rough pieces now that I have it in person that I didn't see to start. To give me a head start, I was hoping everyone here could help me with a couple of weird things that I could probably figure out, but you all could save me so much time.

Most of the questions I have initially are in the file comments, but:

• What is that metal piece they stuck through the front? The seat release, or part of the ignition assembly that isn't that?
• What's the part that is missing under the bag holder hook causing the gap?
• Any general advice or alarm bells seeing the state of the cables?
• Any advice on how to fix plastic that is losing color like that?
• Do you have any other general advice or things to keep an eye out for on a Buddy that's had a hard road to this point?

Thank you all for any advice and help you have! I look forward to getting my wife up and going as she's wanted for years, and to be a part of the forum here.

Wash and dry that interior black plastic. When it is dry, rub it down with a rag damp with ATF mercon. Let it sit for a couple of days, and buff off any oil that's left. After a week, repeat. It will look new again.

That cable looks like the seat latch cable. Here is a link to one.

https://www.scooterwest.com/seat-latch-cable-buddy.html

DeeDee wrote:Wash and dry that interior black plastic. When it is dry, rub it down with a rag damp with ATF mercon. Let it sit for a couple of days, and buff off any oil that's left. After a week, repeat. It will look new again.

That's awesome to hear, thank you! I was worried about how best to wash it.

Point37 wrote:http://www.modernbuddy.com/forum/topic17349.html

Thanks, I had already gone through those and some others, but at least one of the ones there I missed when I came across that post before joining!

loganx4 wrote:That cable looks like the seat latch cable. Here is a link to one.

https://www.scooterwest.com/seat-latch-cable-buddy.html

That's what I was hoping, thank you for the reply and the link!

You can also use a heat gun to carefully warm the plastic and make the chalkiness go away. Be careful as it’s easy to go too far and damage things.

That missing cover below the hook reveals the VIN stamped in the frame tube. It was probably removed somewhere in the LEO/auction process to obtain and verify the VIN.

In fact, it's described in the parts manual as "VIN Cover" probably with a p/n of P5623010650 - but it is dependent on the body color of your scoot - I think yours is light blue.

eggsalad wrote:That missing cover below the hook reveals the VIN stamped in the frame tube. It was probably removed somewhere in the LEO/auction process to obtain and verify the VIN.

In fact, it's described in the parts manual as "VIN Cover" probably with a p/n of P5623010650 - but it is dependent on the body color of your scoot - I think yours is light blue.

That makes a ton of sense; I really appreciate the info!

Alzero wrote:You can also use a heat gun to carefully warm the plastic and make the chalkiness go away. Be careful as it’s easy to go too far and damage things.

Good to know! Since it looks like I've got some work ahead of me in that department anyway, I may as well take that step. I'll definitely be careful to not burn through anything too, haha.

another option for the faded plastics is PlastiDip spray. It is a rubberized peelable coating that is easy to apply. I used it on my scooter for the faded central plastics including the rubber floor mat. I think it looks good and has been durable. If it ever goes bad you can just peel it off and do it again. Cost about $6 at Walmart for black or grey, comes in multiple other colors from other sellers.

DynamicMenace wrote:

Alzero wrote:You can also use a heat gun to carefully warm the plastic and make the chalkiness go away. Be careful as it’s easy to go too far and damage things.

Good to know! Since it looks like I've got some work ahead of me in that department anyway, I may as well take that step. I'll definitely be careful to not burn through anything too, haha.

It’s not so much burn through that you need be on the lookout for, but shrinkage, warping and distortion. If you have any faded broken trim that you are going to replace with new or with junkyard parts practice on that first....

PNWbuddy wrote:another option for the faded plastics is PlastiDip spray. It is a rubberized peelable coating that is easy to apply. I used it on my scooter for the faded central plastics including the rubber floor mat. I think it looks good and has been durable. If it ever goes bad you can just peel it off and do it again. Cost about $6 at Walmart for black or grey, comes in multiple other colors from other sellers.

I will look into that as well, thanks for the info!

There are also several lines of rattle can exterior paint that are formulated for use on plastic such as Krylon Fusion. Come in many colors and easy to apply with minimal surface prep. A good way to bring old panels back from the dead as the colors are bright and durable. Also less prone to future staining and fading than the plastic itself.

I fully endorse building up salvage scoots. I just built up a 9K mile Buddy 125 that someone literally threw into a dumpster after trying to suss the electrics (it was the stator, duh) and am keeping that one, selling off the near-perfect low-miles 2009 that wasn't as much fun because it needed nothing.


Maybe *I'm the one that's wired wrong...