Back tire is hard to turn, squeaky

[greenzhiqiang]

I know it is the middle of winter, but the weather hasn't been bad this year, so I want to ride as much as I can! I have a few problems though. First, my battery is crap, so once it gets below about 20 degrees nothing I do can get the little dude started. I can live with that. My main issue is my back tire. The last few weeks it has been squeaking as I come to a stop or slow down, even if I'm just coasting to a stop without brakes. I put it up on the center stand a couple days ago and revved it up for about 15 seconds. On the way up to speed and then when I let off the gas it makes that same squeak, like I have old brakes or something. I have less than 800 miles on the scooter and I bought it brand new in late August. I doubt I need new brakes. The odd thing is that once I let off the gas the tire doesn't slowly come to a stop, it stops pretty quick. The tire is tough to turn by hand too. I loosened up the brake cable thinking that might be it, but that didn't seem to have any affect on it. Is there another way to increase the clearance between the tire and brake, or am I looking at an entirely different problem?

The scooter is a 2012 Roketa MC75-150. I'm not amazingly good with scooters, this being my first one, but I'm pretty good at tinkering and following directions. So any help would be much appreciated!

[urbanmadness]

could be a couple of things. Did you change the gear oil? If that's good, I'd pull the rear tire and make sure it's not dragging a brake.

[inuyasha]

Hi
Some possible causes
1 brake dragging
2 low or no gear oil could be gears seizing
3 Bad wheel bearings
If not these it could be a problem in the variator
Take care and ride safely
Yours Hank

[greenzhiqiang]

How do I know if it is the brake dragging? I've never messed with the back tire before. Thank you so much for even what you've told me!

[scootercapecod]

Pull the lug off the axle and just slide the rear tire off. A dragging brake will show signs of premature wear. You also might want to look at the rear wheel bearing, if that's not greased right you can seize the whole rear end up causing an accident.

[h3nry]

The rear breaks have two springs that return them to the normal position if they are drum breaks, one of them may have broke and got lodged somewhere keeping them from being able to move away from the drum (the inside of the rear rim) will cause a lot. Of drag and squeeking. Take the tire off and check the rim and breaks out, if a spring is not broken check clearences. Also, the rear tire is hard to get off sometimes but rest assured its only the one bolt holding it, just use a 2x4 or rubber mallet to slowly loosen it up

[greenzhiqiang]

Thanks! I was a bit scared to pull the entire wheel off, but it doesn't sound hard at all. I'll look in to it as soon as I can tomorrow. Does this seem to be a common problem?

[rockynv]

First lets answer the gear lube question. If you did not change it out the moment you got the bike you have a problem there already especially if you have been riding it on the shipping oil in 20 degree weather. 800 miles on that stuff and your gearbox could already be failing.

It is a twin shock bike with a right side swing arm so you could also have a failed bearing in the swing arm.

Here is a link to the parts break down for your bike:
www.roketapartsdept.com/catalog/MC_75_150_PARTS-370-1.html

You need to take off the muffler, detach the right shock, remove the axle nut and remove the swing arm before you can remove the rear tire and check the brakes. If the wheel spins freely once you remove the swing arm then you need a new bearing in the swing arm.

Riding on salted roads can also cause problems with the bearings and rear brakes on your bike.

Once you get the rear wheel off the axle shaft should turn freely by hand. If it is still dragging then you have a problem in the gearcase or possibly the clutch.

Gearcase parts are not terribly expensive and the gearcase requires no real special tools aside from possibly a pair of snap ring plyers to work on it. When ever you take the cover behind the clutch off you will need a new gasket.

Forum sponsor Parts for Scooters carries all the internal gearbox parts.

As far as common goes rear wheel dragging on bikes and cars is a common issue but can be avoided most times by proper care and maintenance. Things like changing out all the lubes as soon as you get the bike then following the manufactures break-in schedule and changing all the lubes again after the first 50 to 100 miles after which changing the lubes every 500 to 1,000 miles can go a long way towards avoiding problems like this.

On your bike you should have changed the lubes out three times already and are getting close to time for the forth change if you go by mileage. Some manufacturers reccomend a monthly change that over-rides mileage.

In the winter at 20 degrees you also need to consider the oil/lube viscosity. Use too heavy a engine oil or gear lube and the stress on the sheet metal cages that keep the balls in the bearings evenly spaced can shatter causing binding and squeeking.

Get started on the diagnosis and everyone here will be happy to help you work through it.