CF Moto Fashion 250--Steering Issue

[tpdavis]

OK, I back out of a stall; twist and go leaning a little left and wheel turned slightly left. The scoot "feels" like the front wheel is loose. As I speed up and right, everything is fine, but my out loud statement is, "what the heck was that?". I figure I'm imagining it so have been riding around all week and that "feeling" has recurred sporadically (about 4-5 times).

I review the service manual looking for some maintenance I should have done or something else to check. Not much help. Scoot is 2009 with 7500 miles all of which I put on it. I put scoot on blocks and check front end. Nothing is loose (front back or sideways). Shocks and forks appear to be correct. Wheel turns with no noise. There appear to be no xerxes to add grease.

Question--anyone have any idea what's going on? I'm a very experienced rider so I do know it isn't "right". I'd take it into a shop except no one will work on it because it's Chinese. I'm reasonably good with tools, but don't want to get too far into it since it still rides ok with the exception of the occasional "what was that?". I suppose I could wait until something breaks, then I'd know for sure what to fix, but Murphy tells me that breakage will occur 20 miles from home on the day I forget to take my cell phone.

[cheapeto]

http://www.booxt.com/products/explor..._technical.pdf

I was looking at this, a bit this morning, and it does seem to say, you should check your wheel nuts, (I'd guess the bearings also) steering stem nut every 12 months or so.

This is probably not your exact manual, but it may offer some info to you, well I hope so anyway.

I'm guessing a bad front wheel bearing, but I'm not a scooter mechanic, but I do wrench on mine, as best I can.

[tpdavis]

Thanks, that manual is just about the same as the one I have. I'm surprised there's no grease fittings for the bearings, but I guess if they are properly sealed there's no need for injected grease. The manual does say that if one were to remove the bearings that they should not be reused; so before I tear it down, I'll go get some new ones. Does anyone know if these bearings would be identical to the ones for the Honda clone?

Also, there appears to be several special tools needed to remove the bearings...they appear to be press fitted so the tools look like several variations of mauls. Has anyone removed their front wheel bearings without the special tools and successfully reassembled them?

[spandi]

Originally Posted by tpdavis

Thanks, that manual is just about the same as the one I have. I'm surprised there's no grease fittings for the bearings, but I guess if they are properly sealed there's no need for injected grease. The manual does say that if one were to remove the bearings that they should not be reused; so before I tear it down, I'll go get some new ones. Does anyone know if these bearings would be identical to the ones for the Honda clone?

Also, there appears to be several special tools needed to remove the bearings...they appear to be press fitted so the tools look like several variations of mauls. Has anyone removed their front wheel bearings without the special tools and successfully reassembled them?

Yeah, I took out both front and rear bearings (I replaced them with high end ceramic versions) I just used a brass drift pin and mallet, carefully tapping around them from the other side until they just dropped out. (put back both sets the same way)

[tpdavis]

Thanks, I've taken bearings out and replaced them that way in other machines, I could try that...but now I'm starting to think it isn't the wheel bearings at all. I'm getting more experience with the "feeling" of what is wrong. It seems that something is resisting me from a slight turn to the right. The fork turns freely with the handlebars in large movements, but wiggle movements don't seem to be smooth. I'll check what I can out without dismantling the fork tube; I just hope it isn't the cone bearings, it is a lot of disassembly to get at those.

[tpdavis]

Anyone know what the "rocker arm" does in the front suspension?

[tpdavis]

OK, I take apart the front wheel (tip: Stuff something between the plates in your disc brakes before completely removing the wheel--hardest part of reassembly was trying to get the disc back in the pads). Nothing seemed wrong with the rocker. But as I was down there I moved the fork around and heard a plastic sounding pop; then the wheel wouldn't turn to the right without a lot of force. Didn't do it all the time. AHA! So I remove the front underfender and what the manual calls the fork fender. The fork fender rides on the underfender. What I found was the top side of the fork fender had been chipped away and deformed. I don't know by what since after I removed it there wasn't anything that looked like it would get in the way. In any case, I left off the fork fender as well as the underfender and I'll see if the loss of steering occurs again. If not, then I'm good since I rarely ride on wet roads so no real need for those two extra pieces of plastic.

Thanks, all, for letting me whine and for the helpful tips.