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Post by ellpee on Sept 9, 2013 16:52:08 GMT -6
My maiden summer with the Ice Bear Magnum continues, now just over 700 miles. For background, a couple weeks ago I discovered the right rear brake caliper hanging by one bolt, replaced the bolt and tightened both with plenty of Loctite. BOTH rear calipers currently appear to be tightly connected and functioning as intended.
Went on a run today and noticed, when coasting downhill and applying rear brakes, a little bit of an intermittent scraping noise. Not metal-on-metal by any means, just a sound that suggested the pads are not gripping the disc continuously -- sometimes more, sometimes less.
Newbie logic says the calipers and the disc(s) are not aligned as well as they should be. Am I thinking right on that, and if yes, what's the cure? Or will it just even out with further brake use?
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Post by alleyoop on Sept 9, 2013 17:23:56 GMT -6
You should be able to tell look at the pads and if the Caliper is not aligned the pad will be worn more where it is hitting the most and less on another part of the pad.
Alleyoop
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Post by ellpee on Sept 10, 2013 7:55:13 GMT -6
Is aligning the calipers better to the discs going to involve adding shims or spacers or something like that? And I just remembered that when pushing the scoot backward out of the garage yesterday, I also heard a little bit of a squeak from something in the rear end. Bearings need lube, maybe? Just trying to get a handle on everything that might require attention before I go through the hassle of pulling off the rear fenders again (though I might be able to get at the brakes without doing that).
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Post by ellpee on Sept 10, 2013 13:27:24 GMT -6
UPDATE (YOU AIN'T GONNA BELIEVE THIS!): Pulled both rear tires just now and was able to get a good look at everything to do with the rear brakes. -- Right rear, the one where I had completely lost a bolt a couple weeks ago, everything looks fine. -- Left rear, no bolt issues noted, but NO PAD AT ALL ON THE OUTSIDE!!!!!Some slight scoring on the outside of the disc, fortunately not bad enough yet to make the disc a writeoff, but certainly no more scooting until the pad is replaced. With a bit over 700 miles on the Magnum, no way it was delivered without that pad, but I can't imagine how I could have completely lost just one pad. Maybe it fractured into pieces and the pieces fell out? Whatever, I now need to replace at least the left side pads, so anyone who can steer me to a site where I can by same for the 2012 Ice Bear Magnum, please post here. I'll be googling too in the meantime, but I want to be sure when I order the pads, that they're going to be the right ones for this particular scoot.  Trying my luck at adding three photos related to the above. s982.photobucket.com/user/paholskila/media/007ScooterBrakes_zps3aedd70f.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0s982.photobucket.com/user/paholskila/media/004ScooterBrakes_zpsc84b2f99.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1s982.photobucket.com/user/paholskila/media/003ScooterBrakes_zps726d099a.jpg.html?sort=3&o=2Okay, looks like the links work, so here's the story to go along with the pix. First one shows the little slider thingie that pushes on the INSIDE pad; point of this pic is, note the O-ring on the left side, which was broken, and note that there was NO O-ring on the right side, it had presumably also broken and fallen completely off. I would assume that would result in uneven pressure on the slider and pad, and over time uneven wear and jerky braking. The other pix show the pads, with a tape measure for size reference, and of course the outer one is only the 1/8" metal plate, pad material completely gone. Looks like it was glued onto the plate and just came loose and fell out somewhere along the way. If anybody can tell from this, "Oh yeah, that's part number 1x2y3z4a5b!", by all means let me know. |
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Post by ellpee on Sept 11, 2013 13:40:45 GMT -6
Pads are on order from -- ta da! -- RapidJim, so all others can just read the above for genrul edjicashun.
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Post by alleyoop on Sept 11, 2013 21:14:44 GMT -6
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Post by ellpee on Sept 12, 2013 7:54:21 GMT -6
Geez, thanks, Alley. IceBear (thru Jim) wanted 3x that including their exorbitant shipping and handling. Will be buying yours within the hour, with free shipping. How did you go about finding those? I googled all over the place (I thought) and found nothing comparable. "Analyzing" your link, it looks to me like what I'm driving is really the front end of a two-wheel scoot, welded to the back end of an ATV!
Other general info for my fellow newbies: I thoroughly cleaned and lubed the left caliper yesterday, and discovered a number of O-rings that are apparently intended to hold in the lubricant for the slide rods; checked their condition, all OK, filled the holes with lithium grease, all ready to go as soon as I get the new pads. Plan to thoroughly check the other side as well just so I have a good both-sides baseline on rear brake condition. Would note that the slide rods (see picture #1 above, the gizmo with the O-ring visible) had very little lubrication; I had some difficulty removing them from the caliper, and there was a lot of crud on the rods and in the holes. Another thing to watch on Chinese scoots, I'd say; dismantling and cleaning/lubing the calipers is a rather extreme PDI step, but my experience would suggest it might be worth the trouble. Doesn't look like the factory spends all that much time making sure of caliper condition.
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Post by rapidjim on Sept 12, 2013 9:41:47 GMT -6
Sorry I can not control what Ice Bear charges for shipping and handling, I just pass on what they charge me. I have mentioned this to them before but they get what they get. Very rarely do they ship USPS most of it is UPS and we all know how much UPS gets. They and I both lost a sale because of it.
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Post by alleyoop on Sept 12, 2013 10:53:56 GMT -6
Yep, I got a set for mine last year for the front and rear to have ready to slap on since I have over 10k miles on mine. All you need to know is the part number and then google for it. The pads are not expensive there are other places that also has them anywhere from $10.48 and up.
Just about all the other parts you can get don't forget the Trikes are converted from a 2 wheeler. They take the rear off and build a rear swing arm to carry the axle and the two wheels. The rest of the Trike is your basic Chinese Clone of a two wheeler.
Even the bearings in the axle and tranny you can get anywhere all you need to know is the number stamped on your current bearings.
About the only thing you may not find is the Rear Decking and the axle itself.
Saves you a lot of money because Ice Bear does charge a lot for parts plus they are hefty charges of shipping. I know I have been personally dealing with them early 2009.
Alleyoop
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Post by rapidjim on Sept 12, 2013 11:43:22 GMT -6
Yep, I got a set for mine last year for the front and rear to have ready to slap on since I have over 10k miles on mine. All you need to know is the part number and then google for it. The pads are not expensive there are other places that also has them anywhere from $10.48 and up. Just about all the other parts you can get don't forget the Trikes are converted from a 2 wheeler. They take the rear off and build a rear swing arm to carry the axle and the two wheels. The rest of the Trike is your basic Chinese Clone of a two wheeler. Even the bearings in the axle and tranny you can get anywhere all you need to know is the number stamped on your current bearings. About the only thing you may not find is the Rear Decking and the axle itself. Saves you a lot of money because Ice Bear does charge a lot for parts plus they are hefty charges of shipping. I know I have been personally dealing with them early 2009. Alleyoop Wow Alley I didn't know you were an Ice Bear dealer. |
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Post by ellpee on Sept 12, 2013 13:47:52 GMT -6
No foul, Jim, would've liked to do bizniz with you, unfortunately I.B. put you in a no-win situation. For 10-15% difference I'd have liked to go with you, but they were WA-A-AY over that. My one experiencing ordering a part from the Roketa people was similar, a lot more expensive than I later found the same item elsewhere on the Internet. If our Asian friends are really trying to get a foothold in the US marketplace one would think they'd try a little harder, AND create a market situation more favorable to their dealers. We all know darn well that at the end of the day, these minor parts are all coming from the same source in somebody's chicken coop in the boondocks of China. Savvy buyers of Chinese scooters surely go into the transaction with their eyes wide open about that, but all the same ....
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Post by alleyoop on Sept 12, 2013 14:47:21 GMT -6
Yep, I got a set for mine last year for the front and rear to have ready to slap on since I have over 10k miles on mine. All you need to know is the part number and then google for it. The pads are not expensive there are other places that also has them anywhere from $10.48 and up. Just about all the other parts you can get don't forget the Trikes are converted from a 2 wheeler. They take the rear off and build a rear swing arm to carry the axle and the two wheels. The rest of the Trike is your basic Chinese Clone of a two wheeler. Even the bearings in the axle and tranny you can get anywhere all you need to know is the number stamped on your current bearings. About the only thing you may not find is the Rear Decking and the axle itself. Saves you a lot of money because Ice Bear does charge a lot for parts plus they are hefty charges of shipping. I know I have been personally dealing with them early 2009. Alleyoop Wow Alley I didn't know you were an Ice Bear dealer. Jim, I dealt with them personally always talked with Wendy and Fernando which is now a manger they even sent me paper work to become a dealer back early in 2009. As a matter of fact I still have it in my computer(HAHA). The office in Atlanta used to call me and ask for advice and help with other customers trike problems. They asked if it was ok to give them my email address and telephone number(HAHA). They asked for pictures of certain things because they had never taken anything apart on a trike and I sent them pictures. I told them some of the things that were wrong and how to possibly fix them. Do you know that the axles now come with a floating ring on each side of the axles about 6 inch's from each end. That was one of my suggestions to help the axles from moving out to far. They did not take my first suggestion because of to much expense and that was to extend the SLEEVE on the Worm gear that the axle slips into and put a pin or screw through the Sleeve and into the axle which would eliminate any possible movement of the axle moving out. It would also have an access hole on the Axle tube to rotate to unscrew the holding pin to be able to pull out the axle if need be. I had to draw a diagram because at that time they did not have anyone very mechanically inclined. So NO NOT A DEALER but I sure know how they operate. I have been dealing with them from almost the beginning when they started selling Trikes in the US. Alleyoop |
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Post by ellpee on Sept 12, 2013 16:37:01 GMT -6
From my brake pad experience it looks to me like some entrepreneur with a modest amount of capital could buy a lot of common, generic, fairly high-use wear'n'tear parts like filters, belts, brake pads on EBay, stock them in his garage, and market them Craigslist-style at, say, a 20% markup and STILL considerably undersell Ice Bear, Roketa, and the other distributors. I'm too newbie to know what those parts might be, but somebody who tinkers with scoots and hangs around the forums could probably come up with a list of, maybe, 50 items. Do I hear opportunity knocking?
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Post by alleyoop on Sept 12, 2013 16:49:09 GMT -6
You can do even better, the problem is you have to buy in volume.
A good example are CARBS you can buy the CARBS for $10.00 but you have to buy 100 of them at a crack.
So you can get the China stuff really dirt cheap but only in volume.
Alleyoop
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Post by rapidjim on Sept 12, 2013 19:46:57 GMT -6
From my brake pad experience it looks to me like some entrepreneur with a modest amount of capital could buy a lot of common, generic, fairly high-use wear'n'tear parts like filters, belts, brake pads on EBay, stock them in his garage, and market them Craigslist-style at, say, a 20% markup and STILL considerably undersell Ice Bear, Roketa, and the other distributors. I'm too newbie to know what those parts might be, but somebody who tinkers with scoots and hangs around the forums could probably come up with a list of, maybe, 50 items. Do I hear opportunity knocking? It all depends on what parts you are talking about. The internet is full of sites ( along with ebay ) that sell aftermarket common parts lower than the majority of scooter/trike distributors. Just like NAPA, Carquest ect. sell common car parts cheaper than the local Chev, Dodge, Ford dealers. I will be the first to admit that when it comes to common parts for the 50cc and 150cc trikes and scooters, I buy from Scrappydog, PartsforScooters and Valley Scooters depending on what I am looking for and if they have the stuff I need. I stay away from EBAY because of being burned a few times, but that is me. When it comes to the 300cc trikes I don't buy from anyone but Ice Bear. Those motors are not the same as the common Linhai 250. I have yet to find another company that sells the correct piston. The 300 used in Ice Bear trikes has a different piston skirt and the piston pin is not in the same location as the Ice Bear. I also perfer to buy electrical parts for the trikes from Ice Bear. I have yet to get a bad electrical part from them and I don't have to worry about compatibility issues. I do agree that their shipping costs are higher than some, but they are not the worse I have come across. You can do even better, the problem is you have to buy in volume. A good example are CARBS you can buy the CARBS for $10.00 but you have to buy 100 of them at a crack. So you can get the China stuff really dirt cheap but only in volume. Alleyoop Not only buying in volume but you also have to worry about Customs and import licensing. I would love to have the resources to be able to buy direct from China, just not in the cards. Jim |
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..BAD TO THE BONE..
