I recently got this scooter and one of the first things i noticed was that the front brake is soft. If i pull it i can easy-ish get it to go all the way to the grip, ive never really had this before. The brake works, its just soft. Do you think it will fail an mot on this and what do you think the problem is. Im guessing it needs topping up with oil or new pads.
look face on to the front wheel you should be able to see the disc and the two pads either side of it. you can then tell if they are somewhat thin on the abrasive pad. 9-10 times its pads are down to the wear point and need replacing ....... depending on use you could also treat the brake res to a topup of dot4 brake fluid . hope that helps answer your question Mr Skeedle and welcome to the scooter shack
Thanks very much for the response. I will take a look tomorrow and see what needs doing. Id rather fix the obvious things before i take it for a mot. Cheers again
you can always do a pre mot check your self before putting it in, it gives you a good idea on how the scooter is holding up and allows you to get to grips with the machine and its ins and outs. i think most of us do some sort of pre check before we put our scoots through saves you the heartache of a fail and then forking out to have the repairs done so it can re-test. heres a pre mot check list you can follow. pre - mot checks : wheel bearings front and rear, hold the wheel at top and bottom and try to wiggle it , pull in top push out bottom, if the wheel wiggles the brearings may be failing. brake pads check they are not close to the limit wear mark, the rear shoes are a little harder as you may need to remove the wheel to check them, BUT you should find a wear indicator on the rear hub puller bar the cable connects to make sure its not at the max limit (usuall a couple marks min and max ) lights. check brake leavers engage the rear brake light front and rear, check low beam - high beam - side lights. check horn - check indicators, check idiot lights for indicators on the handle bar console works to . steering head : sit on the bike so front wheel comes off the floor, turn the bars left to right slowly, it should feel smooth , bike off stand push the bike forwards and stab the front brake a little they should not clunk or have play in forward pushing when the brake is jabbed , you can pop left hand if possible above the steering head tube if when you stab the brake you feel a knock in your finger its a clear sign the bearings are worn / the headstock is loose, when truning the bars if you feel like a little diviot ie the handle bars kinda want to click into a rut then pop out, that means the ball races are warn and need replacing. exhaust : make sure its nice and tight and is not very loud, when running run hand around pipe without touching to feel for blowing areas. Tires : check they have good tread and not at minimum 1mm mark : check for cuts / splits : check and make sure they have correct air pressure in them. both front and rear Forks check the silver fork stantions for pitting/rust , check the forks for leaking fork seals, if they have a rubber boot over them ( stantions) leave them alone ( mot stations are not meant to lift the rubber boots to check the fork seals, if there are no boots they will check them for leaks ) check engine coolant : engine oil make sure its topped up if a 4 stroke, if water cooled check water level and top up if need be. check rear shock for leaking : rust on the inner piston rod between the spring. pop bike of stand and push down on rear to check shock rebound lift the rear to check shock bushings are nice and tight ( if loose check the nust holding them are tight or replace the rubber bushings/shock ). body work check its all nice and secure a little tug will do, check for any loose parts or anything that may fall of at some point. Thats about it and your pre - mot check is done
I have a problem with my tyres actually. Look at these pictures, they are like racing tyres but im not sure if they need replacing because they dont have much tread. http://prntscr.com/flr4j6 http://prntscr.com/flr4n9
If the brake lever is soft and can be pulled to the grip it could be air in the system but there so easy to bleed.... Just remove the brake fluid cap and then loosen of the brake bleed nipple pull brake lever then close bleed nipple then release Brake lever... repeat 3-4 times... job done
heres a little tip..... on the side of your tires there is a small mark its either an arrow or a small like triangle marking and it points towards the tip of the tire, if you follow that point line with your finger you will see the tread , thats what we call a wear indicator, in your tyres tread where that arrow points is a flat pad of rubber when this starts to show with the tread ie the tread and wear pad look like a break in the tread pattern thats when you replace the tyre. if your unsure when you have mot you can ask the mech to point out the wear indictaor and show you it in the tread pattern so you can keep and eye on it now and again. but they look ok and still have a little life left in them
the good thing about tyres and tread for an MOT on a moped is you only need visible tread all the way round. but you must have all the original tread.
if the brake goes on and then you need to keep pushing for the brake to stay on, it may be the piston seals in the master cylinder. It would feel like you are pushing the piston through the brake fluid after the initial contact of the pads with the disc, but I would bleed the brake first to see if there is any difference.
