Modern Buddy

I'm a first time scooter owner and just bought a 2014 Buddy 50 with under 500 miles on it.

When I put the battery on the trickle charger it indicated that it was fully charged so I disconnected it. It can be started with the kick start, but when trying the electric starter, it is dead- no sound when the button is pressed. When kick starting it, the headlight is dimmer than it should be and blinkers don't work (although both worked after I turned the bike on when I first brought it home). The horn is emitting a low volume constant beep and will only stop if the horn button is pushed down.

Looking for advice on how to stop the horn from beeping constantly. Also, am I not riding the scooter long enough to keep the battery charged? Or is the battery on it's way out? Thank you in advance for your help.

Did everything work correctly before you hooked up the "trickle charger"?

I would guess the battery is chemically degraded by age, and even though it might show a full charge to the charger circuitry, it doesn’t actually have any power capacity. When you kickstart it the power generated by the scooter’s electrics is being perturbed by the bad battery and causing this havoc.

Old batteries on secondhand scooters are a common problem although the symptoms often present differently.

I would replace the battery, charge it fully before installation, and see what happens.

eamartin wrote: ↑Wed May 11, 2022 3:11 am Did everything work correctly before you hooked up the "trickle charger"?

No, the auto start wasn't working and the engine would stall out after a short distance when kick started. I only put the battery on the trickle charger for about a minute and removed it when I saw that the indicator showed a full battery charge. The previous owner thinks he replaced the battery a year or two ago, he had it on a trickle charger but didn't ride it very often the last couple of years.

Pull the battery and have it tested. I use Batteries Plus for battery testing, plus it's free. If the prior owner "Thinks" they replaced the battery that usually means they "Didn't" replace the battery.

I wouldn’t even bother troubleshooting a battery that might be two years old. They don’t last very long in the first place and the time you waste testing a $25 part might just as well be spent on a replacement.