Warped Rear drum brake
Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2015 2:25 pm
Hi all. I picked up me new PCX 150 a week or so ago. First lights 50 meters up the road I noticed jerky braking. All subsequent braking using the rear brakes caused jerky/uneven braking. Before anyone tells me the front and rear brakes are connected, in our country they are not. Left brake rear, right brake front. I hoped it was just me on a new bike & uneven road surfaces so road it all the way home. Once home a dedicated ride on perfectly smooth quiet streets even with the motor off on downhills just to avoid all vibration and every time rear brake used bike brakes unevenly & is very obvious. I am near 60, a motor mechanic who has spent the last 20 working years in a job where the only thing I did was fault finding on vehicles. I know how to test brakes and diagnose faults.
Rang dealership and informed them. They informed me they have never heard of that before in our country or anywhere. I had to take the scooter back so they could test it. No way were they going to believe me. Sure enough they had to agree it was there. But here is the thing. Scooter is new. I paid for a predelivery service. It is part of the purchase price. The service book is signed saying it was road tested which included testing the brakes function. When I pointed out that I noticed the defect at the first set of lights 50 meters up the road and that whoever tested it should have picked it up both when the bike was first assembled and certainly whenever they claim to have road tested it in predelivery they were most offended. "What am I trying to say" they said. No apology offered to me in any way. Then they offered me several other likely causes of the fault other than warped brake drum (or run out; whatever you like to call it) these included, bent axle, faulty wheel bearings, the person who assembled the wheel at the factory might have had grease on his gloves and got it onto the brakes, & my personal favourite, "The drum is allowed to have up to 1/3 mm run out". (Clearly this then must make it ok; not). I pointed out that to any normal person that any fault that can be felt during braking or riding was never acceptable.
Now no other wheel is available in my country. It has to come they say from Japan. (Never mind where they are assembled or made at). Would take at least 1 month or more to come after ordered. The uneven braking is considered by our laws to be a Safety Defect. One which would get you put off the road or not be allowed to reregister your bike. But The Dealership Manager & workshop manager agreed that I must ride the bike for 1000 kls and it might go away on its own. Just wear in. (yeah right. Brake warp always just goes away). I informed them that as I bought a brand new scooter having my drum machined as a repair was not acceptable. The rear drum must be new to factory speck not machined & they need to organise it now. But alas, they are not interested until I have done 1000 klm of riding suffering jerky braking should I ever dare to apply the rear brake. Hell they were not even interested in trying to prove or disprove any of the other theories they offered me. But now I own the bike and the problem is mine, all because I trusted them to sell a good product or at least rectify any fault that became evident in good time, let alone they should never have got it to me in that condition. All because I did not ride the bike they planned to sell me before it got registered in my name. (they do not like anyone riding a non demo in case they do not buy, then it does not look so new to the next person.)
So my 2 remaining options other than the wait & see game they want is to get my own wheels (non genuine or whatever I can find) and to let the world know; Buyer beware and road test what you intend to buy before it becomes "your" problem. Maybe your dealership might actually apologise & attempt a quick resolution. Lord knows it is hard to get a email address or contact number for the manager of Honda Country wide here. I tried that too. I got sent a after sales survey to fill out in much detail about sales attention etc. I hope someone there reads it sometime this month. I am not liking using the rear brake with my head bobbing back and forth as I brake.
Rang dealership and informed them. They informed me they have never heard of that before in our country or anywhere. I had to take the scooter back so they could test it. No way were they going to believe me. Sure enough they had to agree it was there. But here is the thing. Scooter is new. I paid for a predelivery service. It is part of the purchase price. The service book is signed saying it was road tested which included testing the brakes function. When I pointed out that I noticed the defect at the first set of lights 50 meters up the road and that whoever tested it should have picked it up both when the bike was first assembled and certainly whenever they claim to have road tested it in predelivery they were most offended. "What am I trying to say" they said. No apology offered to me in any way. Then they offered me several other likely causes of the fault other than warped brake drum (or run out; whatever you like to call it) these included, bent axle, faulty wheel bearings, the person who assembled the wheel at the factory might have had grease on his gloves and got it onto the brakes, & my personal favourite, "The drum is allowed to have up to 1/3 mm run out". (Clearly this then must make it ok; not). I pointed out that to any normal person that any fault that can be felt during braking or riding was never acceptable.
Now no other wheel is available in my country. It has to come they say from Japan. (Never mind where they are assembled or made at). Would take at least 1 month or more to come after ordered. The uneven braking is considered by our laws to be a Safety Defect. One which would get you put off the road or not be allowed to reregister your bike. But The Dealership Manager & workshop manager agreed that I must ride the bike for 1000 kls and it might go away on its own. Just wear in. (yeah right. Brake warp always just goes away). I informed them that as I bought a brand new scooter having my drum machined as a repair was not acceptable. The rear drum must be new to factory speck not machined & they need to organise it now. But alas, they are not interested until I have done 1000 klm of riding suffering jerky braking should I ever dare to apply the rear brake. Hell they were not even interested in trying to prove or disprove any of the other theories they offered me. But now I own the bike and the problem is mine, all because I trusted them to sell a good product or at least rectify any fault that became evident in good time, let alone they should never have got it to me in that condition. All because I did not ride the bike they planned to sell me before it got registered in my name. (they do not like anyone riding a non demo in case they do not buy, then it does not look so new to the next person.)
So my 2 remaining options other than the wait & see game they want is to get my own wheels (non genuine or whatever I can find) and to let the world know; Buyer beware and road test what you intend to buy before it becomes "your" problem. Maybe your dealership might actually apologise & attempt a quick resolution. Lord knows it is hard to get a email address or contact number for the manager of Honda Country wide here. I tried that too. I got sent a after sales survey to fill out in much detail about sales attention etc. I hope someone there reads it sometime this month. I am not liking using the rear brake with my head bobbing back and forth as I brake.