Modern Buddy

So on my way home from work at 3am last night my front brakes started screamin at me. I was less than a mile from home so I finished the trip. When I got home I found my rotor to be hotter than the sun and my wheel to be dragging MUCH more than when I got the bike about a month back.

I took off the caliper this morning to find that one of the floating pads had fallen out of its float and was lodged in the caliper because it was wore down to the metal and was to thin to stay in the holder...fun.

I purchased the scooter used and it only has about 1800 miles on it....I assume the previous rider was a little heavy on the front brakes because it seems like these pads wore down WAY to fast.

Let me know who has replaced pads and at what mileage....

...The only good that comes out of this story is that with the new pads will come my new stage 1 upgrade from scooterworks heheheheh.

I've got about 2500 on mine, but I try to be really careful about using both brakes to stop then just the front once I'm stopped. I'd imagine, though, that the previous owner was VERY heavy on the front brake, since there are riders with a lot more mileage than me who haven't had your problem yet.

When I had my Rattler, the rear breaks totally sucked!!!! I don't think they would stop me at all. I would use them, but I know my front breaks were the only thing doing any work, but even after a couple thousand miles they were still fine. Breaks should last you a while!

I've just past 4200 miles on my RH and my brakes seem to be doing very well. You're making me nervous now though, so I might take it in to make sure they're looking OK.

They guy I am getting my buddy 50 from replaced his at about 1700 miles, be he was fully aware that when he first started riding he was using the front way too much causing it to wear too quickly.

brake pad life seems to vary, when I first got my RoughHouse, I was a little heavy on using mostly front brake, as my rear didnt seem to do much, I had to replace my pads at 2000 miles, they still had a sliver of pad left, but they had start to sound like they were just about metal on metal. Im at 5400 miles now and have barely put a dent in the second set of pads, as I have checked them recently because I was expecting to have had to replace them by now, but they are doing much better, I also use more rear brake now, but I dont think thats the reason for the extra life, I think its the pads. Im also wondering how do I know when I need new shoes for the rear drum, will I just be able to tell kind of like I can with the front pads? Why do they last so much longer than the pads in the front?

Latch wrote:brake pad life seems to vary, when I first got my RoughHouse, I was a little heavy on using mostly front brake, as my rear didnt seem to do much, I had to replace my pads at 2000 miles, they still had a sliver of pad left, but they had start to sound like they were just about metal on metal. Im at 5400 miles now and have barely put a dent in the second set of pads, as I have checked them recently because I was expecting to have had to replace them by now, but they are doing much better, I also use more rear brake now, but I dont think thats the reason for the extra life, I think its the pads. Im also wondering how do I know when I need new shoes for the rear drum, will I just be able to tell kind of like I can with the front pads? Why do they last so much longer than the pads in the front?

Drum brakes tend to last longer in general. But, the lasting longer is also what results in the slower stopping times. They're not grabbing as tightly as a disc brake does, so there's less wear, and less quick stop capability. If you're taking it in for services, you dealer should be looking at the drums then. If not, I know there was a service manual around somewhere, I think someone posted a link for download. I would think (though I could be wrong) the service manual should give a general estimate as to when the shoes should be changed probably in millimeters though, not miles). I'm considering breaking out the manual to change the pads on my RH. I'm a little gun shy though. I can change the brakes on a car, and I'm assuming their the same basic principles, but I'm also not into having extra repair costs if I screw something up. GRRR.

Heard a bad grinding noise from front brakes. Jumped on here to search for answers and found this. I have 1500 miles and pulled caliper off to find paper thin pad left. Must be heavy on the front even though i feel like i squeeze both brake handles evenly. Just ordered some ncy racing brake pads with hopes they will last longer. Been reading what a pain in the butt I'm in for so the further between replacements the better.

You're replacing pads at 1,500 miles?

GregsBuddy wrote:You're replacing pads at 1,500 miles?

That's correct. It does seem premature even for aggressive riding but I did adjust my back brake tension not to long ago because I tested stopping with just it and it was pretty much just coasting to a stop so you could say it was all front brake and no rear until recently.

Hmmm. I admit to not using my brakes a lot, but I have 12,000 miles on mine and they're hardly warn. Are your brakes dragging somehow? Do you ride with the brakes slightly on? Just thinking...

Never noticed any major issues until right now. I would say in the last 100 miles or so the front brake would kinda of chirp while riding. Start off slow and increase while I accelerated but would go away when I got up to speed.

I was able to push the piston all the way back by hand and everything on caliper seems to be free and move easily. It is dirty looking due to brake dust but I will clean it all up once my new pads arrive. Scooter is kept in garage and ridden in good weather. Only a couple times has it sat in rain while I was at work. There is no corrosion on anything.

I do sometimes stop hard with just front brake just messing around but I wouldn't think I have done that enough to cause any issues, never hard enough to lock tire up just to make a quick stop at low speed.

GregsBuddy wrote: Do you ride with the brakes slightly on? Just thinking...

Only touch the levers when I intend on stopping or see something that I might need to stop quick (ie. a car flying up to a stop sign and it looks like they are going to take off and haven't seen me) but then no pressure just hovering over the brake levers.

New pads are on, I've never wanted to throw something across my garage so bad in my entire life.

Can anyone recommend a brand of front disk pads and or where to buy them?

Prima, ncy, or OEM. OEM would come from your local shop, others would be from here:
https://www.scooterworks.com/

I checked at 2,800 miles and I was just starting to grind through the first rivet due to a small squeaking noise. I got my replacement Original Pads off of https://www.scooterdynasty.com I couldn't get to my local shop by the time they closed each day.

By the way, setting the pads in is absolutely a pain considering the extra meat on the new pads. I pulled the caliper into two removing the slide pin, set them in there only to do this 10 times before I got it right and carefully put it back together while compressing the caliper slide pins. Good luck

I'm now at 14,500 miles with very little wear. I ride longish distances of ~13 miles and hardly use the brakes. Maybe I should use them more!