Modern Buddy

Any tips on changing the front brake pads on a Roughhouse 50 ? I've done it 2 times in warm weather but it seems impossible to do in the cold.

The only real tip I can give you is get your litany of curse's ready. With just 1-1.5 mm to work those pads into place, it is by far the hardest brake I have ever worked on.

My tip is bring it to your dealer and let deal with it! I bring mine to them for that even though I do the rest of the maintenance myself...only cost me $50-60 I believe.

I'm going to give it another shot on Friday when it's 50 degrees. I agree that they are the hardest pads to replace...

Good luck to you. When I did mine it I thought it was going to be a 10 minute job, 40 minutes later with neighbors covering their childrens ears and several new nicks on the fingers I was able to get them in place. Next time I just may pay the extra $'s to let someone else have the pleasure.

So how did it go? Need the back story now.

Well, I have 2 scooters. Had to replace the ignition coil and change gear oil on my Buddy 50. Took a break for lunch. Started working on the Roughhouse brakes and it was still kind of wet on my driveway and then the sun went away and it got too cold for my hands to work, so I decided to scoot in to Boston and have the shop do it. Luckily, he was ok with that and it only took him 15 minutes and I saw how a professional does it. Only cost me $20. too. The secret weapon appears to be that he grinds the pad down a bit to get it on easily. Just witnessing him do the job gives me some insight in how to do it consistently. We'll see how it goes next time around, but I think I will have more confidence doing it when they need to be changed again when it warms up.

Good deal with the install at your shop. And a very good tip for future installs.

just did mine.

holy S#!~ that was frustrating

theemptythrone wrote:just did mine.

holy S#!~ that was frustrating

Are your neighbors ears still bleeding?

Hahaha seeing as we share a driveway then probably yes
That Damn spring clip.
Seriously

I have done mine on the 2009 RH50. Yes, swearing helps a lot. Also helps to have files, sandpaper, brake grease, and a C clamp handy. But you can do it in your driveway. Expect to spend an hour on it.

Really quite an easy job with no real intricacy to it. But #%*€¥&@$ the fit is crazy tight to get them back in! I was even questioning if I received the correct parts. But after a bit of time, cursing, some more experience in the art of throwing tools, and finally patience, they fell in to place. Only to be followed by the need to bleed the air out afterwards. I got lazy and didn't clean the debris off of the piston before I pushed it in (my fault). It's actually a very easy job, but realistically is a test of physics and patience. Next time I'll bevel the leading edge of the pads and make it A LOT easier.

so glad i read this thread. I thought I was just inept after this the minute job took me hrs.....

then compress the pistons all the way in by prying the old pads apart as far as possible...it doesn't matter if you damage those ones. Then put it all back together. Hardest part for me was dealing with the clips and the pads, but it wasn't that bad. It took me about 30 minutes. I've also done lots of brakes on various cars and mountain bikes, which helped, I'm sure.
Hope that helps a bit!
Stephen

Once you do about 20 sets, you figure it out

I guess this is going to be a bit more challenging than my motorcycles. It's always something. You'd think it would be a piece of cake considering. . .

When I first got the new Roughhouse back in April I noticed the brake fluid well looked half full. I thought it was an oversight until I popped the top and saw that it was already full and the false reading is due to the angle it sits on the handle bar.

Thanks for the tips!

My trick is to remove the caliper pin (the other 12mm bolt) and rotate the caliper body out to install the new pads. Sometimes it's a bit tricky to rotate it back in but it's quite a bit easier to me.

It's all 2nd nature after your 5th beer. It's true sometimes they need to be ground down a little bit obviously take the 12mm bolt out and swing the brake pad housing out... I can't believe someone had done it without doing this. These are a pain. It really is worth having someone else do it that has done it many times if you ask them about there first time they will certainly tell you it wasn't easy. My first time I cursed with it for easily 30 minutes. Until I got them just so and went to put the caliper on and the pads fell out.

For those of you that are die hard do it yourselfers and also winter ride I recommend having a buddy front brake caliper installed on your R50. The calipers go longer without binding from corrosion and the pads are easy preazy to replace.