![]() One rider ( 27 year old male) said it felt as fast as, if not faster than, a Piaggio Fly up to about 35 MPH. The Buddy accelerates smoothly and feels like it has more than 125cc under the cowling. This was with a 175 pound rider ( my wife wouldn’t do the top end test). The top end on the Buddy was an indicated 67 MPH ( as shown on the scooter’s speedometer) and an actual 61.5 MPH ( as verified by GPS). With the same rider, the Vino took just under 6 seconds – yes, the Buddy is almost 2 seconds faster. With a 120 pound rider, it took about 4 seconds to go from 0 to 30 MPH. As I mentioned previously, several people rode this scooter so I have “test” results other than just from a 200+ pound rider. In other words, when the speedometer on the scooter indicated 50 MPH, the actual speed was about 45 MPH ( 45.4 to be exact). I used a ( borrowed) Garmin GPS and found that the speedometer was a fairly typical 10% optimistic. Speedometer Reading, Speed and Fuel Useage but that’s not the end of the story ( go ahead, skip to the end of the review if you like). The scooter went back to Bob after a few days…. This scooter was ridden by several people and the responses were uniformly positive. I picked up the Buddy from Bob at Scooterville on a Tuesday afternoon and ran around the Twin Cities for a good bit. The Buddy and the Vino are about the same price, have the same engine displacement ( though not the same performance – more on that later), and I suppose one could say they have a similar look. My wife Beverly bought a Vino and has been quite happy with it. Why? Because in my opinion the Buddy is aimed squarely at the same buyer as the Vino and, more importantly, I have one in my garage. ![]() Throughout this review I will compare the Buddy to the Yamaha Vino. Founded in 1964, PGO manufactured components for Piaggio from 1972 to 1982 and has won numerous quality awards. The Buddy is manufactured in Taiwan by PGO. If the history of the Stella is any indication, we can expect a fine assortment of accessories for the Buddy. The introduction of the Buddy adds a “new school” automatic scooter to compliment the established “old school” manual shift Stella line. The metal-bodied 2-stroke Stella is a wonderful scooter ( I own a red 2005) and Genuine Scooter Company has built up quite a fan base. Both Scooterworks USA and Genuine Scooter Company have been resounding successes and an absolute boon to the US scootering market. Around Christmas of 2002, he announced Genuine Scooter Company and the Stella scooter. Philip started Scooterworks USA in 1989 and that company quickly became THE source for scooter parts and service. The Buddy is marketed by Genuine Scooter Company of Chicago Illinois, the brain-child of Philip McCaleb. This two-wheeled Buddy is doing it’s best to take over Gilligan’s spot in my brain. I’m sorry, it’s really just a function of my age and late 1960s television. “Buddy” brings visions of The Skipper and Gilligan. OK, I need to get this out of my system…. It is available in black, red, orange, seafoam green, light blue & white. It has a two-year warranty and two-year roadside assistance. The Genuine Buddy 125cc now has an MSRP of $2,699. Click on the image above or CLICK HERE to get more info. The Buddy is being offered in a 50cc 2-stroke version with a price of about $1,900 and a 125cc 4-stroke version for about $2,500. we do all love The Stella, don’t we? Hmmm, my wife could have had a Stella, and she picked a Vino instead, my friend Camille went with a Venice, OK – maybe there really are “other” scooters in the world aside from The Stella.Īpparently Phil at Genuine realized this ( long before I did) and has expanded his offerings with some high quality automatic scooters ( see also The Black Cat) According Bob at Scooterville, the Buddy is a lower seat height than The Stella – which should make for a better fit in the under-31-inch-inseam crowd.
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