Riding all winter, Rear brake issue

kooky scientist · Post by **kooky scientist** » Mon Feb 10, 2014 3:25 am

Had a weird thing happen to me last week. After riding all winter, it appears that my rear brakes didn't like all the gunk that was getting in there. One day my scooter wasn't going too fast and then I started to smell something funny. Immediately abandoned my scooter at the coffee shop and walked the rest of the way to work. Pushed the scooter to my friends garage to have him check it out the next day and it turned out that the brakes were semi-frozen on and all gunked up. He cleaned it out for me and all seems well now. Wore down quite a bit but still works OK now. First time that has happened in riding all winter for 6 straight years. A lot of sand, salt and snow on the roads this year.

theemptythrone · Post by **theemptythrone** » Mon Feb 10, 2014 4:55 am

same thing happened to me a few weeks ago, rear brake was smoking,scarred the hell outta me.

Stinkdyr · Post by **Stinkdyr** » Mon Feb 24, 2014 12:43 pm

Thanks for the tip, bcuz mine now seem to want to freeze up. I ride her all winter also. Maybe the return springs inside the drum are broken, bcuz the brake arm does not want to release and return.

Will take it apart to inspect, clean and grease it all up the next warm day we get.

2009 RH50 10k miles on her.

kooky scientist · Post by **kooky scientist** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 3:18 am

Do you take it to Scooters-Go-Green or work on it yourself ? I don't have the tools to take off the rear wheel and don't trust my skills as a mechanic for safety concerns yet.

Stinkdyr · Post by **Stinkdyr** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 12:47 am

2009 RH50 10k miles on it.
I do the work myself. But Scoots Go Green here in S.Boston is good.

Do I need to remove the exhaust pipe in order to remove the rear wheel?

Or can I slip off the wheel without removing the muffler?

thx.

theemptythrone · Post by **theemptythrone** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 4:50 am

gotta take off the pipe

Stinkdyr · Post by **Stinkdyr** » Sat Apr 19, 2014 1:04 am

Yep, thx, gotsta remove the exhaust pipe. It needs replacing anyway. The rear lug nut size is 15/16" in case anyone wants to remove the wheel. And you will want a big breaker bar and extender pipe to help you, if the wheel has been on there for a long time. The wheel and brake insides were clean and fine. Plenty of life left on the shoes and springs were perfect. So I just went to work spraying lots of WD-40 inside and outside of the pivot pin and swing arm of the drum brake. Hammered it back and forth about 59 times. Eventually it freed up. Now the rear drum brake is working fine. Next I have to unfreeze the center stand. I hope WD-40 will do the trick again!

OldGuy · Post by **OldGuy** » Sat Apr 19, 2014 3:57 am

PB Blaster is a good penetrating fluid for loosening stuck nuts and bolts and such. But sometimes you just gotta hammer it back and forth about 59 times!

bennfine · Post by **bennfine** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 6:19 pm

kooky scientist wrote:Had a weird thing happen to me last week. After riding all winter, it appears that my rear brakes didn't like all the gunk that was getting in there. One day my scooter wasn't going too fast and then I started to smell something funny. Immediately abandoned my scooter at the coffee shop and walked the rest of the way to work. Pushed the scooter to my friends garage to have him check it out the next day and it turned out that the brakes were semi-frozen on and all gunked up. He cleaned it out for me and all seems well now. Wore down quite a bit but still works OK now. First time that has happened in riding all winter for 6 straight years. A lot of sand, salt and snow on the roads this year.

Wow-thanks! Was just coming here to ask about my roughhouse 50 back wheel "sticking" for lack of a better word. If I try to push it by hand out of the garage it doesn't want to budge, but once throttle is going it does move. Sounds like its winter gunk as I also rode during the Boston winter season.

I am a mechanical idiot and don't have the time to take the bike to scooters go green...can i randomly apply WD40 or will I do more harm than good?

thanks!

agrogod · Post by **agrogod** » Wed Apr 23, 2014 7:58 pm

The gunk kooky was referring to was up inside the brake drum area. Your tire needs to be removed to get any gunk out. DO NOT and I repeat DO NOT spray WD40 or any other type of lubricating oil in the brake area. This will just turn your ride into an accident waiting to happen.
Either find the time and take it to your local shop and have them check it out or hunker down and get your hands dirty by learning some simple maintenance. Either route you take your ride we love you for it.

bennfine · Post by **bennfine** » Thu Apr 24, 2014 6:58 pm

agrogod wrote:The gunk kooky was referring to was up inside the brake drum area. Your tire needs to be removed to get any gunk out. DO NOT and I repeat DO NOT spray WD40 or any other type of lubricating oil in the brake area. This will just turn your ride into an accident waiting to happen.
Either find the time and take it to your local shop and have them check it out or hunker down and get your hands dirty by learning some simple maintenance. Either route you take your ride we love you for it.

Thanks for the sage advice! Is this a nuisance or causing real damage? The issue I guess is i can't get it checked for a week or so. This morning bike seemed fine...afternoon started ok but definitely was "gunked" up after a red light stop.

agrogod · Post by **agrogod** » Thu Apr 24, 2014 10:31 pm

What can eventually happen is excessive wear to the drum and pads. This will lead to brake failure. You definitely don't want that to happen. Then your ride will be out of action until you get an expensive repair done, which can include replacement of the entire rear wheel. The drum is integrated into it and once damaged it needs to be replaced. Your best course of action is to stop riding until you can get it to the shop and have them check it out for you.
Play it safe and you won't turn into another statistic.

kooky scientist · Post by **kooky scientist** » Thu Apr 24, 2014 10:36 pm

This can cause real damage. Your brakes can get stuck in the on position without you even knowing it and burn out. Your speed will decrease to 10 mph at full throttle. You will burn out your engine and you will start to smell something bad. Get it done by a pro for $50. and you will be able to ride all year. My rear brakes burned out quite a bit until I realized what was going on and stopped.

bennfine · Post by **bennfine** » Fri Apr 25, 2014 1:33 pm

kooky scientist wrote:This can cause real damage. Your brakes can get stuck in the on position without you even knowing it and burn out. Your speed will decrease to 10 mph at full throttle. You will burn out your engine and you will start to smell something bad. Get it done by a pro for $50. and you will be able to ride all year. My rear brakes burned out quite a bit until I realized what was going on and stopped.

Thanks! where do you get your work done around the boston area? scooters go green or somewhere else?

kooky scientist · Post by **kooky scientist** » Mon Apr 28, 2014 10:54 pm

You can get it done @ Scooters-Go-Green probably, but I got it done by my buddy who has a garage in Beverly.

Stinkdyr · Post by **Stinkdyr** » Sun Aug 17, 2014 4:44 pm

bennfine wrote:
kooky scientist wrote:This can cause real damage. Your brakes can get stuck in the on position without you even knowing it and burn out. Your speed will decrease to 10 mph at full throttle. You will burn out your engine and you will start to smell something bad. Get it done by a pro for $50. and you will be able to ride all year. My rear brakes burned out quite a bit until I realized what was going on and stopped.
Thanks! where do you get your work done around the boston area? scooters go green or somewhere else?

Any shop (car, motorcycle, bicycle, scooter etc) can handle this job. It is very easy. You can do it too, quite easily, in your driveway or garage. Bring it to Boston, with a 6pack of good beer, and I can help you with it.

Modern Buddy

Riding all winter, Rear brake issue

Riding all winter, Rear brake issue

Re: Riding all winter, Rear brake issue