HI Guys: I recently purchashed an older Kymco movie 125 scooter. Its ugly so no one will steal it, and nimble enough to get me through traffic. Im quite happy overall.
However, it has shii–umm, Crappy drum brakes that need a HULK-Like hand grip in order to stop quickly.
I need better brakes!! :fume:
When drum pads are changed and in good shape, do they work pretty good? Can you lock up the tires if needed?
If not, I need to consider upgrading the front at least to disk brakes. IS that even possible?
Any suggestions appreciated. (No, I am not planning to buy another bike, but if you have a cheap one with disk brakes, drop me a line)
BR Jerry (Really missing my Honda VFR )
Yes, new drum brake shoes will certainly improve your braking.
Many bikes I come across also have not had their brakes adjusted or lubricated in a while, so I might recommend checking both those points too.
If you get your drums pulled off, then check the mating surface between the drum and shoe. It is very common to find that the metal drums themselves are heavily scored, and this will affect your braking performance.
Yet another thing to be sure of is that your cables are free and lubricated. It is also another common case that the cable itself is sticking and provides too much force against pulling and releasing. This causes undue wear to the brake shoes within the drum.
Drums on bikes, in my opinion should be serviced every second or third service in order to keep them well lubricated and just as importantly free of dust. The dust which builds up within the drum and is caused by wear to the brake material will actually lubricate the mating surfaces, causing lack of friction and which results in poor braking performance.
As far as upgrading your brakes to better, safer, more efficient disks and calipers, this is strictly and stupidly prohibited in Taiwan. :fume: :raspberry:
Vehicle brake specifications must always remain standard. At worst you may be fined or not be able to transfer your vehicle to a new owner should you improve your brakes. You can blame the backwards authorities for this.
Personally, I would choose to ignore the authorities if you can’t improve your braking performance, as safety is more important that stupid legislation. I can not however offer this advice to you and you must be responsible for any modifications you make to your vehicle.
Upgrade feasability will probably depend on whether there’s a later/higher end model of that scooter with a disk. This is often the case (eg Jog and JogPro, IIRC).
If there is, it might be a relatively simple bolt-on mod, and they might not notice at inspection, though it’ll still be illegal.
It’ll probably be good enough just to fettle your existing system though, as Mr S says.
[quote=“Ducked”]Upgrade feasability will probably depend on whether there’s a later/higher end model of that scooter with a disk. This is often the case (eg Jog and JogPro, IIRC).
If there is, it might be a relatively simple bolt-on mod, and they might not notice at inspection, though it’ll still be illegal.
It’ll probably be good enough just to fettle your existing system though, as Mr S says.[/quote]
That wont be illegal at all! If there is another new model with disk brakes than it isn’t illegal to upgrade. They wouldn’t even check that!
As for feasibility, well that wont be cheap even if you buy used parts. I converted my Yamaha Cabin 50cc years ago to a disk setup. I went to the junk yard and found the same model just newer that had the disk setup. You will need to buy a new or used front wheel, caliper, brake pads, master cylinder, shocks, and brake line. It will at least cost you 15,000nt. It won’t be cheap! But it will be worth it! Drum brakes are the worst!!!
For reference, to upgrade my Sym FIghter rear brakes from drum to disc was going to cost me 11,000nt.
[quote=“rk1951”][quote=“Ducked”]Upgrade feasability will probably depend on whether there’s a later/higher end model of that scooter with a disk. This is often the case (eg Jog and JogPro, IIRC).
If there is, it might be a relatively simple bolt-on mod, and they might not notice at inspection, though it’ll still be illegal.
[/quote]
That wont be illegal at all! If there is another new model with disk brakes than it isn’t illegal to upgrade.
[/quote]
My understanding is that, under no-brainer Taiwan regulations, any modification, of any kind, is illegal.
As an example, my RZR had its fairing removed, in a conversion to a naked RZX, which also exists and is legal model in Taiwan.
Its completely illegal, and can not be re-registered in this form.
Not the same thing.
As I said, you might get away with it, but it’d be illegal.
Thanks for all the help Guys! Mr. S, you were spot on. 
The brake pads In there were cheap replacements, and the drums were full of dust. After replacing the pads and cleaning, the brakes haved improved quite a bit. Still not as nice as disks, but good enough for now. Things to look for on the next bike: Disk brakes & Bigger tires. BR Jerry
My understanding is that, under no-brainer Taiwan regulations, any modification, of any kind, is illegal.
As an example, my RZR had its fairing removed, in a conversion to a naked RZX, which also exists and is legal model in Taiwan.
Its completely illegal, and can not be re-registered in this form.
This could be the case! I could see someone at the DMV not allowing your RZR naked to pass because the fairing is pretty obvious. Maybe it was written down in the books as a full fairing RZR. It probably just depends on the guy that day. But yeah, you are probably right! You might get away with changing your brakes from a drum to a stock disk setup. I doubt they have that information written down that originally the front brakes where drums, but you never know!
I bought a Yamaha RSZ 2 years ago which some mods, including aftermarket front and rear shocks, exhaust, brake caliper and larger disk. They only thing the guy who sold it to me had to change back to stock was the exhaust. Years ago, I had an old Suzuki BS 125cc 2 stoke. It was totally original, but I changed the rear brake light. It was actually bigger and was way brighter and made more sense than the stock one. Once I sold it, I had to change that back to stock. It is so backwards here with motorcycle/scooter mods. It just all depends who helps you at the DMV.
Had upgraded and sold a few scooters over the years with no problems. Not sure how ‘strict’ they are on the laws.
If ‘any upgrades’ warrants a failure to comply (does not pass standards) I would be very surprised. There is aftermarket stuff all over the place and it passes all the time (my ex-scoots included). If “any/all” modification was outlawed then there would be no aftermarket shops…logic there or not?.
Exhaust, on a scooter has to have a ‘shield’ that is law as of about a year an a half ago (cant run the decent looking/sounding stainless deals). The blinky light stuff on the end is not tolerated now either. But you can upgrade and sell it later. Yea the laws, my scooter guy does the maintenance on the whole police station in my neighborhood for their oil/maintenance and they also agreed there is nothing wrong with upgrades.
And who cares, upgrade, keep the OEM parts and if you have problems selling later swap them out. But in my experience it is not a problem. I had a 125cc that was bored out and was running about 160-170cc, loud as heck and sold it legally to another foreigner (2011). Biggest interest to the motor vehicle dept is the lights work, and it has a plate that matches the registration.
No offense Mr S, I know you are the car guy on this forum but the local police have more to worry about than ‘upgrades’ to a scooter. A car doesn’t pass inspection, they just take it to another place with a larger ‘bribe’, with that lax of inspection on cars the scooter world is a bit more grey.
Anyhow, good luck to you and your upgrade on rear brakes, I have them on my majesty and love it. Asked the police man at my scooter shop an they are totally legal, but then again the law and actual police work are two worlds I know!
Well you only need to go up YangDe Boulevard on a weekend evening and find a few police stopping and fining scooter riders for “illegal modifications”, which include lights, exhausts, shocks, and all sorts.
Not that it proves a general trend, but I recently had my SYM Wolf transfered to my friend’s name the other week and it failed its “Inspection” because it had a small rear attachment for a rear box. Even with the box off, they failed it because the screws were still in place. Screws out, and it passed with flying colours.
As I said earlier though, I wouldn’t care to follow local “laws” if they actually prevented me from being safer.