Wondering about my rear wheel

[golfmade]

I'm pretty much clueless to most things mechanical but I've noticed something about my scooter recently and was wondering if it's something I should get fixed soon.

I ride a Yamaha Majesty 125cc.

Lately I noticed when I have it on the kickstand and start it up, the rear wheel does not spin freely, of course if I rev up the motor it spins but when I'm not using the throttle it doesn't spin at all.

I think this is odd because it used to spin freely even without throttling.

Is this a serious issue or something I could wait a while to get fixed?

[CookMySock]

That doesn't sound good mate.

Try starting it with the stand up and see if that makes a difference.

Steve

[golfmade]

That doesn't sound good mate.

Try starting it with the stand up and see if that makes a difference.

Steve

First off I apologize if this is in the wrong section, I just noticed there is a section for talking about tires.

Secondly I'm not sure I understand. What I mean is, when I start it and it's on the kickstand (ie the rear wheel is not touching the ground) it does not spin freely any more.

[thealmightytaco]

Do you mean it used to roll over itself somewhat, or are you trying to spin it by hand? If the latter I got no idea, but if the former, it just sounds like a good ol' centrifugal clutch just wearing a bit, when they're new they're tighter and will spin the wheel a bit even though not properly engaged, but as it gets older and looser it wont, still nothing wrong with it once you give it a rev though, until it's really far gone that is.

I can think of an analogy here but I'm not gonna say it.

[YellowDog]

If you have it up on the stand, try spinning it by hand to see if it moves easily and freely?

Does the clutch slip at all when you are riding i.e. the revs increase but the speed does not?

[golfmade]

Do you mean it used to roll over itself somewhat, or are you trying to spin it by hand? If the latter I got no idea, but if the former, it just sounds like a good ol' centrifugal clutch just wearing a bit, when they're new they're tighter and will spin the wheel a bit even though not properly engaged, but as it gets older and looser it wont, still nothing wrong with it once you give it a rev though, until it's really far gone that is.

I can think of an analogy here but I'm not gonna say it.

What I mean is when I first bought it (and it was 2nd hand when I bought it) it'd be up on the kickstand, I'd start the engine and before I dropped it to the ground I notice the rear wheel would slowly spin while the motor was idling.

Feel free to PM me the analogy as I'd like to know what it is haha.

If you have it up on the stand, try spinning it by hand to see if it moves easily and freely?

Does the clutch slip at all when you are riding i.e. the revs increase but the speed does not?

Try to spin it by hand and it moves a bit but almost stops right away.

And yes, I've noticed it slipping lately, some times pretty severely as in, I'll be going along 50-60km/h, I try to speed up to pass a car and it slows down a bit before kicking back in.

[cs363]

Get it serviced, it's 10 years old and the clutch has most likely seen a good amount of use, particularly if you are riding in Taipei traffic or similar.

It's shouldn't be too expensive given your location, there's certainly no shortage of scooter parts or shops up there
I'm not 100% familiar with your model, but I do know they run a centrifugal clutch with a belt drive to the rear, so at worst you're up for some labour (which I imagine would be cheap there) clutch shoes, springs and maybe a drive belt.
Wouldn't be surprised if all the parts are available locally from an aftermarket supplier if you don't want to pay a higher price for genuine.

[golfmade]

Get it serviced, it's 10 years old and the clutch has most likely seen a good amount of use, particularly if you are riding in Taipei traffic or similar.

It's shouldn't be too expensive given your location, there's certainly no shortage of scooter parts or shops up there
I'm not 100% familiar with your model, but I do know they run a centrifugal clutch with a belt drive to the rear, so at worst you're up for some labour (which I imagine would be cheap there) clutch shoes, springs and maybe a drive belt.
Wouldn't be surprised if all the parts are available locally from an aftermarket supplier if you don't want to pay a higher price for genuine.

Aye, it's not too expensive as there is no shortage of legit Yamaha mechanics around but the last year or so it seems like I'm putting ~100USD into it for this and that and I'm just getting tired of that, plus I've been thinking about getting a proper bike for a while now and if I can just sell this off 'as is' and use some of that money to get the bike I'm looking at then I'll be good to go.

Problem is this Chinese New Years is coming up and everything, and I mean everything, get's jacked up price wise. I'll have to wait until end of February before I bother to look at prices for the motorcycle I'm thinking of.

And traffic is a lot more chaotic down here in Kaohsiung than up in Taipei, so yeah. That said I'm still happy with the bike while I've had it, 10 years old but still runs like a champ for the most part.

[cs363]

Kaohsiung sure is chaotic, made a brief visit there on business some years back - was very glad I was in a taxi
Certainly an interesting set of road rules they run in Taiwan....

Those scooters are pretty bullet proof and you've had a pretty good run out one of the components that gets a hiding in stop/start traffic. I hear what you're saying re: Chinese New Year......so I guess that doesn't leave you much option but to run it as is until the end of the month and then go from there. Hopefully it'll last the distance for you, odds are it will - it seems to take a lot to totally kill a scooter judging by some of the unmaintained examples I've seen!

[golfmade]

Aye, then again taxi drivers here are some of the worst offenders.

Biggest reason for this post is just that, I'm going to have to ride it until March but would rather not have to put more money into it if I don't have to. I'm not inclined at all with moto-knowledge so hence I ask for advice, and graciously accept all that's been given to me thus far.

Thanks for the help, obviously if I feel it getting worse I'll get it fixed but going to try to make it, plus well during Chinese New Year I'll most likely be inside playing mahjong with the inlaws for a week straight drinking booze and not riding the scooter so that'll help hahaha.

[cs363]

Sounds like a bloody good plan!