Modern Buddy

The front wheel of the Buddy has developed a squeak. The weird thing is that it only squeaks when walking the scoot backwards. No squeaking when moving forwards, braking, etc. So... any ideas?

Is it your front brake?

My 125 has emitted some odd sounds. I started noticing it when I'd position it for parking for the night, which involves (you guessed it) rolling it backwards. I thought it was coming from somewhere near the center stand. I've been trying to trace it but so far haven't had any success. And now, with the holidays and the weather, I've only ridden the Buddy one day out of the last 10.

I'll keep looking and listening once the weather improves. Hopefully someone else has some ideas. It's unpredictable and intermittent on mine.

ericalm wrote:The front wheel of the Buddy has developed a squeak. The weird thing is that it only squeaks when walking the scoot backwards. No squeaking when moving forwards, braking, etc. So... any ideas?

Mine also gives a squeal sometimes when rolling at very low speeds (i.e., walking it). Maybe it is a bearing getting "loosened up"? MY gf's VW does the same thing in the morning when starting out...

rajron wrote:Is it your front brake?

Nope. It's neither of the brakes. The sound seems to be coming from the left rear of the bike.

back left huh? Maybe something with the belt/tranny/gears?

ericalm wrote:The front wheel of the Buddy has developed a squeak.

GatsbyGirl wrote:

rajron wrote:Is it your front brake?

Nope. It's neither of the brakes. The sound seems to be coming from the left rear of the bike.

Clearly ericalm and GB do not agree on "front" and "rear".

lobsterman wrote:

ericalm wrote:The front wheel of the Buddy has developed a squeak.

GatsbyGirl wrote:

rajron wrote:Is it your front brake?

Nope. It's neither of the brakes. The sound seems to be coming from the left rear of the bike.

Clearly ericalm and GB do not agree on "front" and "rear".

I'm so tempted to make some kind of joke about the state of our relationship as a result of these fundamental disagreements... but I do have to go home tonight...

The squeak first appeared soon after I installed the halogen headllight bulb. I thought it may have been the speedo cable (which I'd tugged a few times while liberating the headset), which I disconnected at the wheel and securely re-connected.

My front brake does the same thing. Just backwards and slowly...like backing out of the garage. Doesn't seem to affect my stopping abilities, so I leave it alone. Brake pads should be cheap and easy to replace if I need to. I suspect, though, that it is simply the pads floating as they are designed to do...to follow any imperfections in the rotor...and moving a bit as you go in the direction they haven't molded themselves to follow.

--Keys

ericalm wrote:The front wheel of the Buddy has developed a squeak. The weird thing is that it only squeaks when walking the scoot backwards. No squeaking when moving forwards, braking, etc. So... any ideas?

Mice?

ECS

My front brake squeaks when I am slowing down. I think it may be the pads grabbing, and I do have minor scoring on the rotor. Perhaps the caliper is prone to seizing?
2000 miles on the bike.

ericalm wrote:

lobsterman wrote:

ericalm wrote:The front wheel of the Buddy has developed a squeak.

GatsbyGirl wrote: Nope. It's neither of the brakes. The sound seems to be coming from the left rear of the bike.

Clearly ericalm and GB do not agree on "front" and "rear".

I'm so tempted to make some kind of joke about the state of our relationship as a result of these fundamental disagreements... but I do have to go home tonight...

The squeak first appeared soon after I installed the halogen headllight bulb. I thought it may have been the speedo cable (which I'd tugged a few times while liberating the headset), which I disconnected at the wheel and securely re-connected.

Hmmm, now that I think about it, perhaps it's that bolt you dropped and lost isntalling the halogen headlight rubbing up against something?

My front wheel has been tightening up. Not moving freely. This morning I went out to take a ride and could barely rotate the front wheel. My guess is that it has something to do with the front caliper. I problem has been intermittant for a couple of weeks then this morning was just too tight to ride. Afraid it might lock up on me.

dnpicardy wrote: My front wheel has been tightening up. Not moving freely. This morning I went out to take a ride and could barely rotate the front wheel. My guess is that it has something to do with the front caliper. I problem has been intermittant for a couple of weeks then this morning was just too tight to ride. Afraid it might lock up on me.

Yeah, that sounds like it may be a warranty issue...

OK, so turns out it is the brake. But it also turns out that it's the rear brake.

Took it to the DMV lot on Saturday to practice my circles again and when I was steady on the left brake during the constant turning it was a full-on squeal.

GatsbyGirl wrote:OK, so turns out it is the brake. But it also turns out that it's the rear brake.

That's actually a wholly new and different squeak! So now we have 2. I can't imagine where a third would come from.

ericalm wrote:

GatsbyGirl wrote:OK, so turns out it is the brake. But it also turns out that it's the rear brake.

That's actually a wholly new and different squeak! So now we have 2. I can't imagine where a third would come from.

The headset bearings? Does it squeak when turning? You might not hear it once moving.

Something attatched via the CVT? That could be lots of things...

Certainly tough to diagnose squeks over the net!

Yeah. I think it's definitely something that can wait for a scheduled maintenance to check out. Thanks!