Modern Buddy

I was riding around town and on my way home when I hit a bump. Afterwords the Gearbox was making a strange noise when I was accelerating past 20mph. Any idea what it could be?

Open the cvt cover and check it out.

scooterbro wrote:I was riding around town and on my way home when I hit a bump. Afterwords the Gearbox was making a strange noise when I was accelerating past 20mph. Any idea what it could be?

nine times out of ten it is a bent johnson rod

Can you describe the noise?

First thought is that the kickstart shaft shifted slightly, causing it to rub the belt or the driven face of the variator. It's held in alignment by a c-clip. If the clip breaks or gets shifted out of the retaining slot, the shaft can move a bit in and out of the housing.

Does the transmission still seem to variate properly when accelerating?

Second thought, you somehow jarred the rollers in the variator and one was knocked out of position. It could be turned 90 degrees in the ramp slot.

I went over a small bump in the road, then the noise started happening.

The first thing that came to mind was a coat hanger being run over and getting stuck on my scooter. Checked the tire and the surrounding area. Nothing there.

Then I started accelerating, made it okay to 20 mph without the noise. Then after 20mph the noise cameback (think loud muffling, lots of exertion coming from that area then "shifting to higher gear" with no noise)

Also, LOTS OF VIBRATION COMING FROM UNDER THE SEAT AREA. Thats when I thought darn it's inside the scooter. I put it on the stand and accelerated to see if it was the motor but it didn't sound like it was. Sounded just like it typically does.

Just for clarity, does the noise appear to be coming from the gearbox or the ransmission?

Sorry guys, according to this graphic, it would be the transmission.

http://www.scooterloungeonline.com/buddy125transmission

Depending on miles and if the scoot gets ridden in/left in the weather, it may just be the kickstart arm. It sits in a recess in the case and gets dried out and a bump will cause it to slightly engage and cause a weird buzzing sound. Engage it a few times and see if the noise goes away. If it does, you will have to pull the cover and grease some stuff. Not hard at all. Also, I have had the rear fender drag on the tire while in motion, when moving the wind would push it down. Again, simple to check/fix. Let us know what you find.

ScooterDave wrote:nine times out of ten it is a bent johnson rod

So Dave, has yours gotten bent lately?

And it's stuck under the bike
Bad joke. Like the bump was a coincidence and it's a belt or variator problem as others mentioned. Hope you get it fixed!

I hit the kickstart arm a few times with my foot to see if anything would change and decided to take it out for a ride. Sound and vibrations are still there just not as loud.

Sample

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ffr7neJ2BH4


Since it's under warranty I'm taking it in and hoping they can adjust whatever needs to be touched.

I hope you'll let us know what the problem turns out to be. We learn from these issues.

I have been experiencing some squeaky noises when I start my Blackjack. I have about 26,000 miles on my Buddy Blackjack so far.
Seems like the noise is definitely coming from the gearbox area. If I were to try and start the scooter by the kick start, it keeps slipping and doesn't seem to be engaging properly.
--This was at least my 4th time changing the back tire and the squeaky noise started after I reassembled everything

Anyone have any ideas?
- Maybe take off the back tire and reassemble everything again?
or
Could have something in the gear box gone out coincidentally, when I changed the tire?

or point me in the right direction to another post if there might be a similar situation....

Thanks for you time guys!!! Keep on riding!!!

The gearbox and kickstarter aren't connected. The kickstarter is connected to the engine crankshaft.

In fact, depending on your idle speed until you rev it up, the gearbox isn't even engaged.

Perhaps the squeak is coming from the clutch. Open up the transmission, check the belt, blow out the dust, and close it up.