AK 550 Strange Sound

[Quick-Star24]

Early spring I had a new tire put on the rear wheel after I took the wheel off myself.
Either right after putting the new tire and wheel back on or shortly after the bike started making a strange sound.
Was not sure if I could keep riding or not till I got it checked out. I did ride it but not a lot.
Just took it up to Cleveland Moto....the guy has a great Scooter business and sells Kymco's.
He got mad because I did not mention the strange sound when I emailed him and instead just wanted an appointment for thorough check-up and maintenance.
He said he has a few AK's still sitting in his shop for over 3 months or more waiting on parts.
So he did not want another scooter taking up space. I asked him when I got there to ride the bike and see what he felt was causing the sound. He had no idea after riding it.
A week later he calls to say the bike is done and mentioned the rear brake disc was warped. I HOPE HE IS RIGHT!
Just ordered the disc from bike-parts UK. I told him I rode it home 2 hours when purchased with the parking brake on. The guy at the dealership rode it out of the shop to the parking lot and I got on it and rode home, not knowing he had put the parking brake on.

But why is the rear disc just now in the last couple months making this sound?

He said I could still ride it and the brake works fine. I put new pads on it when I took the bike apart to paint it. I asked him if he was sure that sound was nothing major that could cause me my life and so forth and he said it is not anything major...it's the warped brake disc.

Jeff

[rjs987]

Good call on replacing the disc. Not good for that to be warped since a warped disc can cause premature wear of the pads and other brake issues as well as possible tire issues.
I wouldn't ride it outside the neighborhood with a warped disc since braking might be unpredictable depending on how bad it is.
Surprised the issue didn't really show up until the rear wheel was removed/replaced unless it is just slightly warped. But still even then it would not be good to leave it that way.

[Quick-Star24]

Good call on replacing the disc. Not good for that to be warped since a warped disc can cause premature wear of the pads and other brake issues as well as possible tire issues.
I wouldn't ride it outside the neighborhood with a warped disc since braking might be unpredictable depending on how bad it is.
Surprised the issue didn't really show up until the rear wheel was removed/replaced unless it is just slightly warped. But still even then it would not be good to leave it that way.

I cannot believe these discs can get warped....and as I was saying in my post I HOPE IT IS THE DISC that is making the sound I hear. The guy at the shop could possibly be wrong. Of course he did not take the disc off and inspect it.

So I'm replacing it and we'll see if that solves the weird sound situation.

[rjs987]

Easy way to determine if it is warped. Put the bike on the center stand and run the engine up over 2000 rpm to spin the rear wheel. Watch the disk from behind and see if it wobbles in the caliper at all... even a very little bit. May have to put your finger on it while also against the caliper to feel if it wobbles. It shouldn't. The caliper is bolted to the frame so is very stationary.

I can see a brake disk becoming warped due to being overheated. Riding it with the parking brake on would cause a lot of drag and make a LOT of heat. I can also see the disk becoming warped from bad handling while replacing the tire. But that would take a lot of force and likely be VERY obvious while the wheel is spinning.

[Stig / Major Tom]

I can see that riding "for two hours" with the parking brake on could warp even a heavy disc. Pads must have stunk, too.
I was getting my flat tire replaced on my Forza 300 one day. I noticed a tech working on a scoot like mine and wandered over to ask what he was doing. "Replacing the disc. Rider rode for miles with the parking brake on!"
This made me aware of the damage, (not warrantied) that I could cause if I were to make the same mistake.

Stig

[Neil955i]

I can see that riding "for two hours" with the parking brake on could warp even a heavy disc. Pads must have stunk, too.
I was getting my flat tire replaced on my Forza 300 one day. I noticed a tech working on a scoot like mine and wandered over to ask what he was doing. "Replacing the disc. Rider rode for miles with the parking brake on!"
This made me aware of the damage, (not warrantied) that I could cause if I were to make the same mistake.

Stig

Stick to the asparagus band parking brake Stig!

[Stig / Major Tom]

Stick to the asparagus band parking brake Stig!

Absolutely....keen eyes can spot them in my every photo!
You know - you can't drive off with that thing on your right grip - just one more safety feature from our vegetable growers!

Stig

[Neil955i]

Yep, I paid nearly £5 for my hi-tech solution, you got yours for free!

[Quick-Star24]

Easy way to determine if it is warped. Put the bike on the center stand and run the engine up over 2000 rpm to spin the rear wheel. Watch the disk from behind and see if it wobbles in the caliper at all... even a very little bit. May have to put your finger on it while also against the caliper to feel if it wobbles. It shouldn't. The caliper is bolted to the frame so is very stationary.

I can see a brake disk becoming warped due to being overheated. Riding it with the parking brake on would cause a lot of drag and make a LOT of heat. I can also see the disk becoming warped from bad handling while replacing the tire. But that would take a lot of force and likely be VERY obvious while the wheel is spinning.

I'm still not getting notified when there are responses here.....and I often forget to come back and check....anyone who knows me or is around me much knows I have the World's worst memory....and I blame my Monkey Mind racing with a 1,000 things on my mind at every moment....I do pay attention to people when they are looking at me and talking....but subconsciously....obviously....my mind is secretly on something else and so I forget what I heard within minutes.....this is exactly why many millions of people all over the world....except in the USA meditate....to shut down the Mind (Devil) and open a space for a Divine connection....LOL that's it for the Spiritual talking.....please forgive me!

[Stig / Major Tom]

I'm still not getting notified when there are responses here.....and I often forget to come back and check....anyone who knows me or is around me much knows I have the World's worst memory....and I blame my Monkey Mind racing with a 1,000 things on my mind at every moment....I do pay attention to people when they are looking at me and talking....but subconsciously....obviously....my mind is secretly on something else and so I forget what I heard within minutes.....this is exactly why many millions of people all over the world....except in the USA meditate....to shut down the Mind (Devil) and open a space for a Divine connection....LOL that's it for the Spiritual talking.....please forgive me!

So, you mentioned 2 weeks ago you were getting the disc replaced.
Did you, is the noise gone?
And sorry, we do not notify you that someone has taken the time to respond to your request for assistance.

hope you got it sorted!
Stig

[Neil955i]

And sorry, we do not notify you that someone has taken the time to respond to your request for assistance.
Stig

I do get an email prompt Stig?

[Iahawk]

I noticed some email prompts from the site recently, too...there is a 'Notify' button up top to the right of 'reply'.

[Stig / Major Tom]

I noticed some email prompts from the site recently, too...there is a 'Notify' button up top to the right of 'reply'.

Hey Hawk - thanks.
Never noticed that!
Might have been there for some time?
Problem is - I never do two things:
1) answer the land line phone
2) check my emails

I know, I know - no telling how many calls I've missed from the last 3 presidents!

Stig

[rjs987]

Whats a "land line phone?"

Oh, yeah. I remember. I disconnected mine about 18 years ago and put a solid cover plate over the connector box in the wall.
Too many spam calls and NO calls that mattered to me on that line.
I now have Google call screening that automatically screens my calls so I very rarely get any of those presidential calls on my cell phone. If my cell phone actually "rings" then that's the only strange sound I hear on or off my AK 550.

[randyo]

Whats a "land line phone?"

Oh, yeah. I remember. I disconnected mine about 18 years ago and put a solid cover plate over the connector box in the wall.
Too many spam calls and NO calls that mattered to me on that line.
I now have Google call screening that automatically screens my calls so I very rarely get any of those presidential calls on my cell phone. If my cell phone actually "rings" then that's the only strange sound I hear on or off my AK 550.

land line is all I have, I can't say attached to a copper wire, cause we've had fiber here for 35 years
with caller ID, we have screened out the junk calls to the point that we get fewer and fewer, almost none now. The majority of my spam comes by snail mail

I think my AK sounds like a 50hp outboard motor most of the time but with the street sound of slight burbling under decel