Modern Buddy

So I have 6000 Mi on my Black Jack (NCY front Brakes) and decided to check the front brake pads. I removed the two bolts that hold the caliper on and ....... It appears that the caliper won't come completly off the rotor unless the wheel is removed first. Am I missing something or is this indeed the case. I've replaced brake pads on a Buddy 50 with no problem.

Yes, you have to remove the front wheel. At least you have to with the 125 and 150 stock calipers. I assume the NCY is the same. It's only one more bolt, so it's not that much more work. But make sure you block up the scooter underneath so when you remove the wheel the Black Jack doesn't pitch forward and have the fork tines hit the ground. The only pain in the butt is getting the speedometer/odometer boot back on and in the right position when re-assembling. It seems you need four hands when doing this.

But unless you're having problems or noises when braking, you can usually get an idea of how much pad you have left by using a flashlight. At 6,000 miles you should be OK unless you've been doing stoppies regularly. Shine between the fork and disc and you'll see the reddish pad. You can estimate if there's 2mm or more left. Granted, you'll only be able to see the outboard pad, but usually they wear pretty evenly. And again, this is for the stock 125 and 150 caliper. I'm assuming it's the same for the NCY.

Make sure you torque everything correctly when re-assembling. You also might have to grease the inside of the speedo/odo boot if it looks dry. A little blue loctite on the caliper bolts probably wouldn't hurt either.

Actually, I didn't need to remove the front wheel when I removed my front brake caliper (Buddy 150). I have the stock set-up so I don't know if the NCY big brake kit requires more dis-assembly.

Tocsik wrote:Actually, I didn't need to remove the front wheel when I removed my front brake caliper (Buddy 150). I have the stock set-up so I don't know if the NCY big brake kit requires more dis-assembly.

I don't need to either. But IIRC, the Black Jack has the upgraded larger diameter disc. If so, you wouldn't have enough room to remove the caliper without removing the wheel. But, I could be wrong. Maybe it's the same disc or an upgrade, but the same diameter. Doesn't the Psycho also have a fancy upgraded disc?

So maybe I should have made it more clear. With a stock 125 or 150, you shouldn't have to remove the wheel. But if you have an upgraded disc over what comes with the stock Buddy's, then you probably have to remove the wheel.

I was hoping someone with Black Jack experience was going to answer, but since there's so few out there I thought it might take a few days. So I gave it a shot. Especially since it's the weekend and the OP probably wanted to knock it out quickly.

Thanks to all for the replies. K1dude's post reminded me that the disc is larger on the Black Jack, so now it makes sense that the wheel needs to come off even if the caliper is the same size.

Sorry for the thread resurrection, y'all.

I had to undo the brake rotor bolts in order to gain the clearance to remove the wheel from my blackjack.

Without doing so, the caliper can't be rotated out from between the brake rotor and wheel rim. Unless some room can be gained by pushing the brake pistons into their recesses and maybe dropping the pads somehow?

So, caliper and wheel weren't enough on this one.

Did my search not turn up a more detailed thread maybe?