Adjust, leave alone, or buy a new carburetor

Discussion of the Genuine Buddy, Hooligan, Black Jack and other topics, both scooter related and not

Moderator: Modern Buddy Staff

Post Reply
ucandoit
Member
Posts: 360
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 12:21 am
Location: Minnesota

Adjust, leave alone, or buy a new carburetor

Post by ucandoit »

My Buddy 125 had 3000 miles on it when I bought it and had carb.problems, though the owner said they had put in a new carb. It stuttered a lot; the oil smelled like gas and at one point had fuel coming out the airbox when the engine was off and the scooter just sitting, etc. Anyway, I cleaned the carb twice, to my Newbie ability, (it did have debris in the float bowl) and messed with the float height (which I think helped), and installed a new petcock. It now has 12,000 miles on it, but all these years my gas mileage has been, IMO, poor, around 73 mpg and there is still some stuttering, though nothing horrible. It has good speed and acceleration. I've used Seafoam in the past.
I've lived with this because I don't want to make things worse, and I don't really know what to change with the carb or how to truly get the correct float height, if that is even the problem. I think it is a stock Buddy carb, not a cheap one.
Am looking for advice on whether to continue to ride it as is or venture into trying to improve it or even buy a new one, though I notice stock carbs. are out of stock on some sites (haven't really investigated this thoroughly). The scooter has been a charm other than the poor mileage. Thank you for any suggestions.
User avatar
DeeDee
Member
Posts: 1100
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2014 5:07 pm
Location: Denver

Re: Adjust, leave alone, or buy a new carburetor

Post by DeeDee »

If you go to fuelly.com, you'll see buddy mpg around 82. How does the plug look when you pull it? A new Genuine carb is $250 when you can find one. I'd spend $15 and replace the float needle, float and gasket before buying a new carb. You may have the wrong main jet in there for your elevation. http://www.epfguzzi.com/scooterpunks/parts/buddy.html
Attachments
Screenshot 2021-07-25 9.13.07 AM.png
Screenshot 2021-07-25 9.13.07 AM.png (86.14 KiB) Viewed 2092 times
Less chit chat, more riding, Buddy 50, 125, 170i, RH50, Yamaha C3
ucandoit
Member
Posts: 360
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 12:21 am
Location: Minnesota

Re: Adjust, leave alone, or buy a new carburetor

Post by ucandoit »

Thanks for responding, Dee Dee. I have never replaced the carburetor gasket, which may be a good idea. I also haven't checked the spark plug in quite a while. Come this fall, I think I'll remove the carb, clean it, replace the gasket, float pin and float and see if I can figure out what size the main jet is. My elevation is around 1000 ft. I will read up on jet sizes and also on setting the float height, which I've never truly understood. I'm surprised at the 82 mpg on fuelly. I thought Buddys were getting in the 90s mpg, or even 100. Thanks for the parts site. It's excellent. So clear cut.
scootERIK
Member
Posts: 714
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2012 3:40 am
Location: Lake Geneva, WI

Re: Adjust, leave alone, or buy a new carburetor

Post by scootERIK »

In all the MPG testing I have done over thousands and thousands of miles and several motors 85 mpg seemed to be my average(with a 92 main jet) for normal riding(at least for my area which is fairly rural.) But the odometer on my scooter is off by ~9% so really it is more like 77 mpg. If I am doing more long fast riding my mpg can drop into the 60s. On the other hand when I rode mostly backroads at 35 mph and never gave it more than half throttle when accelerating I was able to push up to close to 120 mpg.

I am now running a 95 main jet so I need to do more testing to see what my mileage is at. From the few times I checked it I think it is going to be several miles less a gallon. I know when I do a long fast ride it really sucks up the gas.

As for jetting size I live at ~875 feet and a 92 main jet was always just a tiny bit lean, not lean enough to worry about but still lean. I went up to a 95 to richen it up a little(and I have an NCY exhaust that I run sometimes.) I might be able to go up one more size but I will probably stick with the 95. The 92 main jet will probably be the best for mpg.

I wouldn't buy a new carb since you will have a hard time saving enough on gas to cover the $250 the carb costs.
User avatar
DeeDee
Member
Posts: 1100
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2014 5:07 pm
Location: Denver

Re: Adjust, leave alone, or buy a new carburetor

Post by DeeDee »

Good info ScootERIK. Doesn't get any more helpful than this.
Less chit chat, more riding, Buddy 50, 125, 170i, RH50, Yamaha C3
ucandoit
Member
Posts: 360
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2014 12:21 am
Location: Minnesota

Re: Adjust, leave alone, or buy a new carburetor

Post by ucandoit »

Thank you for the info. scootERIK. I don't plan to buy a new carb. As you said, the cost would not be worth it. Does the 92 main jet come with the stock Buddy 125? My elevation is 1000.
scootERIK
Member
Posts: 714
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2012 3:40 am
Location: Lake Geneva, WI

Re: Adjust, leave alone, or buy a new carburetor

Post by scootERIK »

ucandoit wrote: Wed Aug 11, 2021 3:13 pm Thank you for the info. scootERIK. I don't plan to buy a new carb. As you said, the cost would not be worth it. Does the 92 main jet come with the stock Buddy 125? My elevation is 1000.
I think most Buddy 125s have a 92 main jet.
Post Reply