warped rotor

[adambee]

Longtime lurker, first time poster. In large part due to all the reading I've done on this board, I bought my 2013 PCX150 three weeks ago with 299 miles on it for $3000 OTD (but no tag, title, or reg) in MD. It has been a blast to ride.

Today I forgot about my brake lock on the front disc, and tried to take off twice before realizing what was happening. Both starts were fairly gentle. I looked at it and the brake pads are touching the rotor (which I hear is normal). But when I put the bike up on the centerstand and try to spin the front wheel, it spins fine through some parts but rubs tightly on the brake through other parts. The rotor looks straight as I look at it, but as I turn the wheel I can tell that the rotor presses on one pad and then the other, so the rotor must be slightly out of whack, from the disc lock hitting the left side of the fork.

My question is: what should I do next? Will the rotor somehow straighten itself out? Is there any way to increase the gap between the pads on the front brake? If the rotor needs to be replaced, is this something I can do myself? (I have a bunch of experience fixing bicycles, but not motorcycles.)

Any advice you can give is much appreciated!

[Alibally]

If the rotor is damaged its best to replace it. Stopping is quite important. The wheel has to come off to replace it but it's an easy enough job. The rotor retaining bolts are supposed to be replaced but a touch of thread lock on the threads will probably suffice.

[adambee]

FWIW, I rode the bike a couple miles and it seemed fine, maybe a touch of drag, but maybe that was in my head. I can just barely make out a soft "shiing" metallic rubbing sound at the same part of each rotation when the bike is turned off and I am rolling it to the parking spot.

[Alibally]

If there is no judder when braking then you might get away with it. If the disc lock was in one of the holes in the braking surface there may be slight damage that could be filed or sanded off. Without seeing it it's difficult to tell.

[Mgalutia88]

The disk should cost less than $20 and is a half hour job to change. Very easy. If you don't replace it you risk adding that load to the bearings and shortening their life and your fuel economy. I'd just replace it but that's me. You'll never think about it again if you do. I have a worse habit of forgetting about my parking break and I keep readjusting my rear shoes lol.

[ben]

Its well worth buying an alarmed disk for this reason. From a theft point of view its easy to get by the alarm but it means YOU will know its still there as soon as you take it off the stand!

[gn2]

If its not too badly bent you can straighten it by hitting the high point with a hammer.

[adambee]

Yeah it actually is an alarm lock, but I didn't install the battery because I was worried about false alarms in extreme cold. But that's why it didn't come with a reminder lanyard.

Is there a place I can order a replacement rotor? Does it have to be PCX-specific? Should I just take it to a shop and have them sorry about ordering the right one?

Also, is there anything special I should worry about when putting the front wheel back on? I figure if it's straight and the nuts are tight it should be good?

[adambee]

Yeah I guess if I'm planning to replace the rotor anyway a few thumps with a rubber mallet couldn't hurt. It really is fairly subtle.

[you you]

Yeah I guess if I'm planning to replace the rotor anyway a few thumps with a rubber mallet couldn't hurt. It really is fairly subtle.

You can't unwarp a rotor with a mallet or a hammer

[Mgalutia88]

Either go to the dealer, $28 or $33 USD depending on which of the two part numbers you have or if it's a esp model there usa third part number which is $56 usd. Or you can get one from Webike?

[maddiedog]

You can get the part here: http://www.mrcycles.com/oemparts/a/hon/ ... ront-wheel, or at your local Honda dealer. The dealer will have to order it for you, so it might take less time to order online. You want any of the 3 options for #7 on the microfiche. I believe the Nissin is what the bike ships with, but the Sunstar one should work fine. The former is Honda part number 45351-KVG-951, and the latter is 45351-KVG-901.

If you want an aftermarket option, there's a few here: http://japan.webike.net/HONDA/PCX150/Di ... 4/1012/mc/. You didn't list the color of your bike, but I bet the red disc would look REALLY cool on a red bike.

I strongly advise you not ride until you fix the rubbing. You will definitely wear down your pads faster, and risk damaging the calipers if too much heat builds up. Worse-case scenario, you'd ride at high speed and the friction could make the brakes ineffective completely, and you'd be relying on the rear drum to stop, which sounds entirely precarious to me.

Also, welcome to the forums!

[adambee]

Great! I ordered a new rotor and it should arrive in a week or so. Will keep the bike wrapped up til then. Thanks everyone!

[adambee]

FWIW, I finally replaced the rotor yesterday, as spring has finally sprung here in DC. It was indeed a very easy job--the only tools you need are a metric ratchet set and metric allen keys. Took under a half hour.

I thought I would need a front stand to lift the wheel off the ground, but what I ended up doing was putting a towel on a cinder block and slipping it under the body while my pal lifted the bike's front end.

Now it's back to good as new! I think I will keep checking the various bolts on the rotor, caliper, and axle before each ride to make sure they don't loosen up, though. They were really tight when I took them off, so I tried to torque them to the max upon reassembly, but who knows.

[maddiedog]

You could remove them and apply loctite -- that'll prevent them from going anywhere.

[illegal]

Good to hear you didn't damage anything else
I got one advice for you, while using a disc lock, always park your bike in the way, where you have to go back from a parking spot (with front towards wall, curb, etc.). This means, you won't be able to use engine's power to leave the spot and you won't damage anything if you forget to remove the disc lock. This saved me for 2-3 times

[adambee]

What's the best Loctite for this kind of thing? Threadlocker Blue 242?
http://www.loctiteproducts.com/p/10/15/ ... ue-242.htm

Yeah, now I've got the batteries in the alarm, so it beeps at me whenever I forget it. I think I will probably put a lanyard on there too, bc I still usually do forget it.

[Mgalutia88]

Loctite red or high heat red.

[Alibally]

The blue stuff will be fine. As long as it says thread lock on the bottle and not bearing lock or you might not get them out again.

[you you]

Just use blue ffs