Sticky Clutch (or something) - Buddy 125 - any ideas?

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Graeck
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Sticky Clutch (or something) - Buddy 125 - any ideas?

Post by Graeck »

When my scooter is cold/first started and I give it gas the clutch takes a second to engage, and when it does the whole scooter lurches forward, sometimes enough that I almost lose control and/or the front wheel almost leaves the ground.

And then when I stop at a light or stop sign (during the first few minutes of operation) the clutch does not disengage properly and as soon as I come to a stop, the clutch re-engages and again briefly and the scooter lurches forward ... one time the front wheel did leave the ground. Not too fun at an intersection. It has also stalled the scooter as well.

After operating the scooter for 2-3 minutes, the problem goes away completely and everything runs fine.

There's only maybe 800 miles on the scooter, but it's out of warranty (and the dealer I bought it from has gone under). Any ideas on what the problem might be or how to fix it (links to docs of videos)? Or maybe I just need to adjust something?
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Tocsik
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Post by Tocsik »

Seems strange at only 800 miles. But 800 miles and "out of warranty"?
Did it sit around a lot?
If the engine is running strong without sputtering or other fuel-related symptoms, maybe it just needs to be ridden a little hard to free-up sticky transmission parts.
Once you get going at speed, does it seem smooth or do you feel any "jerkiness"?

I would take off the transmission cover and do a quick visual inspection (it's about 6 8mm bolts). Look for bits of rubber from the belt inside.
If you are comfortable going in a bit deeper, it would be a good idea to remove and clean the variator and roller weights. This requires a 17mm socket and a strap wrench for removal and a torque wrench for reassembly.
The clutch/rear pulley assembly can be removed and reassembled with the same tools. If you have access to an air compressor, give everything a good "blow-out" from lots of different angles.
But, with only 800 miles, I can't imagine there's much wear in the transmission. Could be some bit of plastic or paper somehow made it past the transmission air intake filter and is gumming up the works.
.::I know the voices in my head aren't real, but man do they come up with some great ideas::.
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Graeck
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Post by Graeck »

The Back Story: Opps, I meant to say only about 800 miles on the clutch, not the scooter. The scooter itself has about 1500 miles on it. The dealer I had bought it from (unbeknownst to me) put an aftermarket clutch in it, before I bought it - "brand new". (Yeah, thanks guy for voiding my warranty!) Anyway, the aftermarket part completely burned up after 9 months (I had to get towed!). The dealer "supposedly" replaced it back with a stock Genuine Buddy part. After 6 months of that, I started having the problems as described above. I took it in, they said they just had to make some adjustments. It was fine for a while longer, but then I started having the same problems again. I went to take it in yet again and the place had been bought by a new owner who said they aren't doing repairs at the moment, to "come back in a month or two". So I waited and tried again...this time, the place had been closed for good. I had 1 month left of warranty, but no repair shops within 50 miles. So I didn't make the warranty. It's now been sitting in a garage for 9 months, but with summer coming, I really would like to get this fixed.
Graeck
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Post by Graeck »

Thanks for the tips Tocsik. I'll give them a try this weekend.

I rode it for a couple months with the clutch issue, but it was slowly growing worse, so I had to stop riding it. I was riding it for an 8 mile round trip to work and back ... to work is almost all up-hill (some quite steep), and I get going about 50mph for a stretch, so I wasn't doing "light" riding. Riding wasn't making it better, but worse.

I guess it's possible that when the aftermarket part was in there, and subsequently burned up (or rather, eaten up) that it wore another part out and that part wasn't replaced by the dealer. Hm.

Well, I'll open it up and see if there's anything obvious....
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easy
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Post by easy »

Could be dust build up inside the clutch bell housing. Spraying brake cleaner will work if you don't have air compresser.
what did you trade the day for?
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Lostmycage
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Post by Lostmycage »

This sounds like the retainer nut on the clutch assembly having come loose. When this happens, the pulleys can move further apart and the shoes are pushed into the cupped portion of the clutch bell. This effectively never disengages the clutch while also grinding away at your clutch bell which builds up heat and can lead to the bell distorting from heat if left unchecked.

I believe the retaining nut is a 39mm flat nut (it's been a few years since I've looked at one, so double check that). When you take the cover off, be cautious: if the nut has backed off too much, it could be ready to fly apart once the pressure is released.

You'll need to remove the clutch assembly, remove the bell and hold the sprung halves of the clutch together and tighten that retaining nut. I'd suggest blue locktight. If you take them apart, be VERY CAREFUL. The pulleys are under tension from the contra spring and it's got enough force to shoot the pulley half well across the room. DON'T take it apart with your face over top of it, especially if the pulley is not secured.

If you have decent hand strength, you can squeeze the two pulleys together while you start the nut by hand (never with a tool or you could cross thread it). Once they're together, you can use a clamp or your body weight to hold them together while you tighten the retaining nut.

Look up CVT Clutch repair videos on Youtube and you can get a pretty good idea of what you're looking at.
Check out :arrow: Scoot Richmond's new site: My awesome local shop.
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Tocsik
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Post by Tocsik »

I was going to suggest that, too LMC. It's happened to me.
But Graeck mentioned everything was fine after 2-3 minutes. I don't see how it could auto-correct if the nut had backed out.
Definitely worth checking, though.
I would go through the whole transmission as a first step then start looking at bearings.
.::I know the voices in my head aren't real, but man do they come up with some great ideas::.
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