Slight knock when applying front brake.

[Gavin]

Baotian BT50QT-9
400km

When moving slowly, and I apply the front brake, I get a slight knock, or clonk, from the front end somewhere, (it could be the suspension). Does anyone else get this, and is it normal, or is it a sign of something needing tightening before it gets worse?

[baotian]

well i get a slight clonk noise when i apply the brakes very hard, i think it might be were the front mudguard hits the tyre, but shouldn't happen unless you jam on the front brake.......

[dmilo]

Hey,
The only slight knocking I had from my front end was when I needed the front ball bearing changed . I replaced everything brakes,spedometer cable etc until I found it was the bearings
Had to have someone change them for me I didnt have the right tools
dmilo

[Gavin]

Thanks, but it is not banging on the front mudguard, as this seems to occur at low speed, even pushing, and I don't think it will be a bearing as it has been like this from new.

Just had a closer inspection, and it probably is the suspension, just as it starts to contract, i.e. under low pressure, if more pressure is put on the knock is not noticeable, so I will just keep an eye, and ear, on it.

[Gavin]

Baotian BT50QT-9
500km

Feeling bored today, so I decided to investigate further re. the slight knock at the front when braking using the front brake.

I did find a problem which if left unattended, could have got much worse.

About 25mm below the ignition switch, and on the steering column, there is a large nut, about 50mm across the flats, and this is locked with another nut, about 35mm across the flats. When I applied the front brake, and pushed the scooter forward sharply by hand, I could hear the slight knock coming from the area around these two nuts, and I could see visible movement just below the nuts, on what appears to be a bearing. Both nuts appeared to be tight, but this was because of the lock nut effect, and when I tried loosening the top nut and tightening the lower nut, the lower nut must have gone about 3 turns before gripping, I then locked this with the top nut. This has made the steering a bit stiffer, and I am not sure if I have tightened the lower nut too much, (opinions welcome), but it has got rid of the knock, and I feel happier knowing that it won't get worse, or fail under braking.

[hypojam]

Make sure you dont overload the steering bearing

[hypojam]

if your steering has become stiff then i reccomend lossening the nut slightly. Just enough so u dont have stiff steering

[Gavin]

Thanks for the feedback, I thought overtightening might be an issue when I found it had been set with a lock nut. The steering is not too stiff, but stiffer than previous, (not surprisingly), so I will try a run tomorrow and if it feels stiff after, I'll slacken it off a bit.

[Ginger Phil]

All this talk of being stiff, I'm sure there's a joke somewhere but I don't like to be too rude.

[Badobsession (the real one)]

Never stopped you before