Front Brake Free Play

BeefSupreme · Post by **BeefSupreme** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 3:15 am

My girlfriend just got a "new" 09 Buddy 125, it had been sitting on the showroom floor for 3 years. Gotta question about the front brake. There is about 1/2" free play before the brake handle even makes contact with the piston on the reservoir. Is there any kind of preset similar to some motorcycles on a buddy lever that can be adjusted? Haven't pulled the headset off yet to look. I'm also thinking of bleeding her brakes, my kymco engages very strongly with very little movement and I love it, hers seem a little squishy, they do the job but it seems you have to pull them tight to get much of a response. Maybe that's just the way they're designed and i'm not used to it??? So is the lever adjustable? And can a bike that's been sitting for a few years develop air in the brake lines? The dealership is too far away to really transport the scooter back for them to give it once over (or second over), which we really should have double checked everything when we picked it up. Me thinks their dealer prep was for a new bike, not one that had been sitting for 3 years.

Post by **ericalm** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 5:09 am

Nope; that's not right. The brake should have even resistance and engage immediately.

I think you may need to bleed them. Have you checked the level?

az_slynch · Post by **az_slynch** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 5:54 am

Another possibility is that the brake fluid has been contaminated with water. Decatur is right on the Tennessee River and it gets powerfully humid there in the summer (used to live upriver in Huntsville). If it has sat for three years, the fluid probably got moist.

Brake fluid works due to its relative incompressibility and thermal tolerance. Water, on the other hand, has some compressibility to it and water will boil in a hot brake caliper, causing mushy brakes.

Bleed those brakes out and get some fresh DOT4 fluid in there.

More info here.

BeefSupreme · Post by **BeefSupreme** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 1:32 pm

Thanks for the quick response guys. I had a feeling the Buddy's disc brake had more oomph than that. I'll be sure to bleed them before she takes it back out. I know that will solve the squishy symptoms, and hopefully the "slack" too. But man, after lurking MB for a few years and finally getting to ride one, I see what all the hoopla is about. It's an amazing machine and way fun to ride. I love my Kymco, but man I'm all sorta a jealous of her Buddy!

BuddyRaton · Post by **BuddyRaton** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 1:37 pm

If it is a "new" under warranty have the dealer do it! The stock Buddy brakes are really above average. Now go get your own Buddy!

BeefSupreme · Post by **BeefSupreme** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 2:17 pm

Yes, the warranty question. I was debating on that. If getting the scoot back to Decatur wasn't a P.I.T.A. i'd bring it back in a heartbeat and have them do it being as it apparently wasn't done during the "dealer prep". Maybe an oversight being as it had been sitting for so long. Would this be a warranty covered item if we were to take it to our local scooter shop here in Birmingham? I need to get her to make some phone calls today and find out.

BuddyRaton · Post by **BuddyRaton** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 2:29 pm

I would call Genuine too to see if they would cover it with a local shop

BeefSupreme · Post by **BeefSupreme** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 2:55 pm

Thanks BuddyRaton, I think we'll try with Genuine first and see what they say. I know brakes are a wear items, but the fact that the lever has play seems mechanical, I would think it would be covered.

BuddyRaton · Post by **BuddyRaton** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 3:47 pm

She hasn't been doing a bunch of stoppies has she?

Seriously...that much play the pads would be gone. I would emphasize the safety aspect of this to Genuine in a nice way.

BeefSupreme · Post by **BeefSupreme** » Tue Oct 30, 2012 6:08 pm

She spoke with the dealer we got it from, they said they bled the brakes and test drove it and thought it was fine. Hrmmm... well we'll still be stopping in our local scoot shop this weekend to get their point of view, have em squeeze the brake and see what they think. I just got a gut feeling the system needs to be flushed, not just bled. az_slynch may be right about water forming in the system. I'll update once we figure it out.