Modern Buddy

Just a few minor mods that I think make my b125 look boss!

Painted mirror’s (chrome was rusting)
Front headlight ring
Front horn cover
2nd passenger foot grooves
Stock rear handles/rack thingamajig
and Chrome muffler heat shield (not pictured)

I plan to paint the chrome ring around the speedo and the chrome pieces on the rear turn signals. The chrome speedo ring does not look like an easy removal job.

NICE!
you've got a pretty sick ride there!

Love the flat black on the chrome spots. Looks perfect.

it does look cool

Very nice touch...nice improvement!

I want a Buddy that looks exactly like that! The only thing I would even think about changing would be running the stripe on down the front fender.

How did you paint the headlight ring, horn cover, mirrors? Anything special?

Again, nice job!

-John

what kind of paint did you use for the blacked out chrome parts?

Beautiful job!!!

Cherry.

The black mirrors are boss.

Thanks for the comment everyone. I used RustOleum flat black universal all surface paint from Home Depot. I sanded all the parts with 150 grit sand paper and cleaned them with Windex before the paint was applied. Does anyone in MB land have any experience removing the ring around the speedo? If so I need some tips.

toddrw2251 wrote: Does anyone in MB land have any experience removing the ring around the speedo? If so I need some tips.

I'll bet it's easier than you think. I'll be at Dana gardens tomorrow, with tools.

Lagerhead wrote:

toddrw2251 wrote: Does anyone in MB land have any experience removing the ring around the speedo? If so I need some tips.

I'll bet it's easier than you think. I'll be at Dana gardens tomorrow, with tools.

Take the headset off by first disconnecting the speedo at the wheel, next remove the 5 screws necessary for the headset, next remove the cable at the speedo. Once the headset is in your hand remove the 3 gold screws and Bingo your done

For some reason nobody thinks to disconnect the cable at the wheel first..WAY Easier

Yep. Not disconnecting the cable was my problem. I think I was getting tired at that point and decided to give up and save it for another day. Thanks for the input.

Lagerhead, unfortunately it looks like I will be working tomorrow night and not be at Dana’s. I’m also leery of any mechanic work that happens in the parking lot of the wonderfully sketchy joint known as Dana’s.

Very Nice!

Oh Dude. That is awesome. The orange and black is great together. Question, where did you buy the front racing stripe?

And the sticker? Is that custom decal or a sticker?

Looks really great!!

I love that first shot. You nailed the stripe. Good work.

bruce13 wrote:Oh Dude. That is awesome. The orange and black is great together. Question, where did you buy the front racing stripe?

And the sticker? Is that custom decal or a sticker?

They are actually three separate stripes. I bought a roll of white and black vinyl automotive striping from pep boys. Each roll had 5 to 6 different widths of on it.

The decal was part of a bumper sticker for the Bengals that I bought at target. I have a duplicate sticker on the rear fender. They were meant to be window decals. They both were pretty easy to apply.

toddrw2251 wrote:They are actually three separate stripes. I bought a roll of white and black vinyl automotive striping from pep boys. Each roll had 5 to 6 different widths of on it.

Lucky. I have hit every automotive parts store around here and the best they can get me is 3/8-inch wide. I looked online, but to get something 3/4-inch or larger, I'd have to buy at least 50 feet.

I did find some white vinyl tape at a marine store. I'll have to cut it as it is about 2.5-inches wide, but they only charged $3 for the roll of about 10 feet. This place had a "leftovers" bin and there were some crazy pinstripe rolls in there. As I was digging through it, I kept thinking "That'd look good on the Italia" or "Perfect for the tangerine ..."

Anybody looking to stripe up their Buddy should check the boat shops in your area.

The largest on my roll was 3/4 inch and goes down to 1/8th of an inch. From the size of my roll it looks like I had to buy at least 20+feet. I think they were 6 bucks a roll if I remember correctly.

Will you come up and paint mine for me?? I'm only a few hours away, I'll give you beer and brauts!! Seriously, you did an awesome job, love the flat black and the stripes. I'm surprised the black looks so good with your brown seat, grips, etc., it looks like it was meant to be.

Great looking! Quite clever of you.

pamalama wrote:Will you come up and paint mine for me?? I'm only a few hours away, I'll give you beer and brauts!! Seriously, you did an awesome job, love the flat black and the stripes. I'm surprised the black looks so good with your brown seat, grips, etc., it looks like it was meant to be.

Sorry. Thats a bit far for me.

I was also surprised how good it looks. I was going to just paint the front horn cover and the back rack, but I couldn't stop painting once I saw how it looked. Hopefully I will have some time to finish it up soon.

have you thought about doing a black "interior"?

MikieTaps wrote:have you thought about doing a black "interior"?

I had, but I am not sure I want to paint the textured plastic. I'm still up in the air on how it will hold up. I was also considering buying a new black rubber floor mat.

i am definately painting the mirrors, horn cover, and rear "handle?" I have officially stolen your idea

MikieTaps wrote:i am definately painting the mirrors, horn cover, and rear "handle?" I have officially stolen your idea

Go for it! FYI it wasn't much fun masking off the mirrors and the Genuine logo on the horn cover. Don't forget to mask off the threads on the mirror or you may have trouble screwing it back on the bike.

good points. ill post pics this weekend, so you guys can see what it looks like on a red buddy

Bump.

SKA'D_Scooterist here are the pics you were talking about. Thanks for the PM.

Rusty

The rear turn signals would look better black.

Yeah...That and the speedo ring. Just got lazy. It's on my to do list.

toddrw2251 wrote:Yeah...That and the speedo ring. Just got lazy. It's on my to do list.

How does the speedo ring come off? Noticed in the crash thread that one "popped" off. Is it a snap in type deal?

I'm considering a little bit of black on my sunset bud.

The speedo ring is not too easy to get off. You have to undo the 4 screws under the headset and unscrew the speedometer cable near the front tire. Once that is done there are two plastic clips that need to be unhooked near each brake lever. The headset should lift up far enough for you to unhook the speedometer cable attached to the back side of the actual speedometer. The whole headset should be loose now and it should give you access to removing the ring. I hope this helps. I was running out of daylight when I was painting so I didn't make it this far.

Nice job; good looking results! Now you need a black accessory luggage rack, and perhaps a flat black Givi topcase!

Tres cool!