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Post by flatland2d on Jun 17, 2014 20:40:21 GMT -5
I've been reading up on Chinese scooters for over a year now and finally bought my first one. It's a used JMSTAR Princess with 240 miles and wasn't running when I bought it, but it was an easy fix.
Anyway, the scooter only came with one brake lever on the right side for the front disc brake. On the left, where the brake lever should go, was just a bracket welded to the handlebars with a threaded hole for the mirror to screw into. Most of these brakes levers have that threaded hole built into them, but this one clearly came from the factory without a brake lever on the left. The strange thing was that a drum brake was installed, cable and everything, for the rear brake. I've already installed a new brake lever for the drum brake so I have proper front and rear brakes, but I'm still wondering if this is common practice? I just can't see why they would install everything up to the lever and leave that off. Maybe it's a production line thing where they are only set up to build with rear brakes but this model was manufactured for a lower range so they left it off?
Just curiosity really. Is this normal? I'm happy to say I've done all the tune-ups and fluid changes and it's running great now. Just need to get it registered and inspected.
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Post by jjoshua20213 on Jun 17, 2014 22:34:29 GMT -5
More than likely the previous owner broke it and took ot off. It would we a waste of money to install breaks and no lever.
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Post by toddscoot71 on Jun 17, 2014 22:35:55 GMT -5
I've been reading up on Chinese scooters for over a year now and finally bought my first one. It's a used JMSTAR Princess with 240 miles and wasn't running when I bought it, but it was an easy fix. Anyway, the scooter only came with one brake lever on the right side for the front disc brake. On the left, where the brake lever should go, was just a bracket welded to the handlebars with a threaded hole for the mirror to screw into. Most of these brakes levers have that threaded hole built into them, but this one clearly came from the factory without a brake lever on the left. The strange thing was that a drum brake was installed, cable and everything, for the rear brake. I've already installed a new brake lever for the drum brake so I have proper front and rear brakes, but I'm still wondering if this is common practice? I just can't see why they would install everything up to the lever and leave that off. Maybe it's a production line thing where they are only set up to build with rear brakes but this model was manufactured for a lower range so they left it off? Just curiosity really. Is this normal? I'm happy to say I've done all the tune-ups and fluid changes and it's running great now. Just need to get it registered and inspected. Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk Yeah... No, that doesn't sound normal. I have a hard time believing even a really cheap Chinese scooter would come with just one brake. Some of the brake levers are clamped on to the handlebars. I would bet someone broke the left one on your bike and took it off. Not normal at all and the brakes on most of these are marginal at best so I would make sure both work. |
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Post by geh3333 on Jun 19, 2014 6:40:48 GMT -5
I actually think the brakes work just right , when I first started riding my scoot I though the rear brakes were weak but the last thing you want is to lock them up and these scoots aren't that heavy . I always use both brakes unless I'm in a turn , then I just use the rear brakes . If u keep the rear drum brakes adjusted u should have no problem stopping when applying both front and rear as is recommended .
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Post by ng5y on Jun 19, 2014 7:22:52 GMT -5
I agree with most of the others, the previous owner(s) had something to do with the missing brake lever.
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Post by flatland2d on Jun 19, 2014 8:28:42 GMT -5
I'll post a picture of it this weekend. I might not still have the threaded part, but the base of the bracket it still visible. It's not welded on like someone was messing around with it. It really looked like it came out of the factory that way. Anyway, I'll take a pic once I have time to take the front cover off again.
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Post by jerseyboy on Jun 19, 2014 8:39:52 GMT -5
The brakes on mine are fine,,the rear got better with time,,and like said you don't want to be able to lock up the rear,,I use them both at the same time too,,I will pull the rear in just a little and when I put my finger on the front the scoot stops on a dime,,the rear is good if you are in a corner and your not sure of the terrain but need a little braking action.Its easier to control a rear slide than a front slide..lol..my front brakes will put you over the bars,,especially after changing out the fluid with synthetic and bleeding  Remember,,front brakes=75-80% of your stopping power and rear are 20% of your stopping power. The rear brake comes in handy if racing,,you can slide in the corners some,,but if you hit the front to hard in a corner you cant slide with the front,,you will go down fast! |
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Post by toddscoot71 on Jun 19, 2014 9:50:34 GMT -5
I suppose I should restate my last post. The factory brakes on my TaoTao were terrible when I got it. After adjusting the rear and putting NCY pads up front mine stops very well too. The factory pads on the front almost didn't do anything. I suppose it's possible they were contaminated with oil or something. The initial impression I got of Chinese scooters has been very bad but I'm slowing getting everything fixed and the thing actually seems decent at this point  Either way, I wouldn't want to ride with just one brake and I can't imagine any would come from the factory with just one but who knows? Maybe someone just messed up assembling it. Kinda sad the original dealer didn't notice it was missing. My money is still on the first owner breaking something and just removing it. |
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Post by geh3333 on Jun 19, 2014 12:21:18 GMT -5
The brakes on mine are fine,,the rear got better with time,,and like said you don't want to be able to lock up the rear,,I use them both at the same time too,,I will pull the rear in just a little and when I put my finger on the front the scoot stops on a dime,,the rear is good if you are in a corner and your not sure of the terrain but need a little braking action.Its easier to control a rear slide than a front slide..lol..my front brakes will put you over the bars,,especially after changing out the fluid with synthetic and bleeding Remember,,front brakes=75-80% of your stopping power and rear are 20% of your stopping power. The rear brake comes in handy if racing,,you can slide in the corners some,,but if you hit the front to hard in a corner you cant slide with the front,,you will go down fast! Anytime I am coming to a turn a little to quick I'll hit both brakes then let off the front just incase of any debris or gravel on the road . Like u said it's easier to control if the rear starts to slide then the front. |
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Post by geh3333 on Jun 19, 2014 12:26:20 GMT -5
I had at thread awhile ago about he rear brakes . I just changed the stock rear shoes with 12,000 miles and still had nearly 1/2 pad left on both . I adjusted the brakes fully 3 times . I was shocked to see I still had pads left . I had new ones and put them on anyway.
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Post by jerseyboy on Jun 19, 2014 12:37:28 GMT -5
Thanks for that info geh3333,,I have a long way to go before 12k miles..lol
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Post by geh3333 on Jun 20, 2014 8:54:01 GMT -5
I'm really not sure if that is normal or not , I really didn't get any other replies.
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Post by flatland2d on Jun 20, 2014 11:14:06 GMT -5
I'm trying to post this from my phone so we'll see if this works. In this picture you can see the real brake lever I installed, with the bracket I cut off and old brake lever held to the side. I forgot to mention that it had something like a lever, but too short and not connected to the cable (looks like it was machined that way, not cut). The bracket and weld that connects it to the bars are gold colored like everything else (not sure what it's called? something like a galvanizing process?) which makes me think it came out of the factory this way. I take it from the responses so far that this is not normal which answers my question, but I'm still pretty convinced this wasn't a modification. Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk Edit: Tapatalk attachment didn't. Here it is:  |
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Post by kattman on Jun 22, 2014 22:41:20 GMT -5
I see a broken lever mount!  |
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Post by flatland2d on Jun 23, 2014 14:45:02 GMT -5
That's part of a wiring harness. If you look closely, you can see the retaining clips on the sides.
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