Random Scootering by Stephen "Hell Cat" Heller Rattler Buck-Ten
It still has the cut out on the front disk brake, the yellow shock with the external reservoir on the back, and the motocross style handlebars. But most importantly, it has a 110 cc 2-stroke motor in it. For those that are not 2-stroke fans, this is not a big deal. But I really like 2-strokes. Because the nature of a 2-stroke engine is different versus a 4-stroke engine, a 2-stroke should have more power. According to the Genuine Reps, the Rattler 110 is very similar to the Buddy 125 4-stroke. I found that the Rattler has more torque initially, but kind of loses steam in the midrange. In the gravel around Scooterville, I got the bike to 45mph. In a quick side-by-side with the Buddy 125, the Buddy was faster all the way through. I was pretty surprised by how the Rattler behaved. It really didn’t feel like a 2-stroke at all, more like a larger capacity 4-stroke. Stella’s Back! New Buddy Colors It also appears that the Series Italia was only the first in the international theme of “The International Colors of Buddy Town.” No joke, reportedly a St. Tropez and a Barcelona themed Buddy are in the works, along with the colors of the Stellas when they were introduced, which were ice mint green, orange, and red. Genuine’s marketing of the Buddy made it the 2006 scooter of the year so I guess that we’ll just have to wait and see how “The United Colors of Buddy Town” turns out. Scooters have been a growing trend for a few years and it doesn’t look like it is going to slow anytime soon. Which makes throwing out a sign and selling a few scooters like a pretty temping business plan. There are some that are trying to make a legitimate go of it with the off, off scooter brands. I talked to Marty Mataya of Gomoto in Osseo, MN about Baron Scooters, the brand sold at his shop, and other Chinese scooters. Selling 4-stroke scooters from 50 to 250cc, Mataya doesn’t believe that the reputation of the Chinese scooters fits for Baron, “Mechanically, they have been great.” But that isn’t necessarily true for all Chinese scooters though, and he knows it. He is willing to work on anything with a CVT, including the scooters purchased from the Internet. Mataya says that scooter owners have been very grateful when they find out Gomoto will work on their scooter. Mataya has seen a problem with the bikes purchased online not being properly set-up by the owners when they are delivered. But added that the lower priced scooters being sold on the Internet tend to have the costlier fixes, like failing magnetos. Gomoto can be reached at 763-315-MOTO or gomotomn.com Scooterville on the Move More next month. M.M.M. |
*This article was originally published in the August 2007 issue.
The front headlight has been upgraded to a halogen. There is still one bulb for the two lenses, but at least it will be a bit brighter. The size of the lenses are now about 3 inches in diameter and kind of stick out instead of being set into the body. It makes it a bit more Zuma-looking than the Rattler 50. Also, there is a new color scheme: black, accented with red. It looks pretty sharp and a bit more visible than the silver and black color scheme.