2011 Yamaha TMAX XP500A Maxi-Scoot

[90GTVert]

I started the day off great. Decided to finally put the new brake pads on the TMAX that have been sitting here for a few months. Went to do the rear first and one bolt was barely over finger tight and the other was rounded. I think I saw the rounded one last time, but thought it wasn't that bad. I always torque to manufacturer spec.

I got the rounded one loose with vise grips. The problem is that it sits behind the e-brake and brake hose fitting. Removed the e-brake bolt so it would clear. The stock TMAX fitting had a curve to go up and allow the caliper bolt to be removed. Malossi's braided stainless kit has a straight fitting that's in the way. It's barely in the way though, so I figured I could squeeze it out of there. I was way wrong. I cracked the think junk aluminum fitting on the brake hose. I guess they're good for lightweight racing stuff, but I haven't liked how fragile the fittings seemed from day 1. I just found out the hard way how fragile they really are. Even cheap amazon hoses have steel fittings that you aren't going to come near breaking with minor pressure from something like this.

(The slight bend in the fitting was not me. That's their ineffective attempt to make clearance. The silver line right at the banjo is where it cracked.)



I think, well at least it's just a short hose. I'm gonna go with Yamaha. I don't want junk on this bike.




I look up Yamaha's hose on Partzilla. $170!!! They only sell the entire thing... hose at the lever, steel line in the middle and hose at the end. Can't get just the one part from Yamaha. Malossi kit is $200-ish and I don't want it anyway. I look at sites like Galfer and so on... TMAX not even listed. Well, I'm not giving Yamaha that kind of money for one piece of standard hose.

Looks like it's 20.5" overall. 10mm banjo on one end. 10mmx1.0 inverted flare on the other. I found these parts on Jegs. Much better price. I think the length will be close with fittings installed. I still need a new brake bolt though. Not sure if that will be more universal or I'll be waiting a week or so for Partzilla. EDIT : $30 for 2 bolts/pins from Partzilla. Sometimes you see parts listed for a hundred applications. These pins are only used on TMAX, Majesty and Morphous so they aren't common or in stock.




I know you shouldn't put any pressure on brake hoses. Not saying I'm not to blame. I do indeed wish to stay away from thin aluminum fittings from now on though. I was shocked when it cracked with what I'd call fairly light pressure. Did not expect it at all with what I was doing. The new hose will be straight too, but I'll bleed the brakes before I pay the money they want for full hose kits.

[aeroxbud]

We have a couple of companies like HEL that will make you custom lines in the U.K. There must be a company that can make you a line in the U.S.
It would probably be cheaper than OEM replacements.

[190mech]

Might look at Summit Racing for prebuilt lines..

[90GTVert]

Thanks fellas, but the stuff above was already ordered.

I went out and figured I might as well get the front done at least. Discs didn't look good. Minimum thickness spec on them is 3mm. Measured 2.8mm.

These are Galfer discs all around, sold by Malossi. Malossi sintered pads. The originals were taken off at 28,000 miles. These are beyond spec at 14,000 miles. OK. No more sintered pads for me. I assume it's that anyway, since I can hear these pads since switching. It sounds like they should be wearing stuff. I figured I'd order Yamaha front discs and original pads. Just the discs for the front are $460 without tax!!!

I looked for Malossi, but ScooterTuning doesn't have them so I could get a break and ScooterPartsCo that usually has good Malossi prices doesn't either. There's a brand called Arashi on Amazon and AliExpress selling all discs (front and rear) for $230. I'm considering it. They have a lot of good reviews. Not sure if I want to go there. Brembo is $350 for the front pair. Rear is worn down over a 1mm too, so I wouldn't mind having them all. Hmmm.

[Timmer]

460? For front brakes on a maxiscooter? Damn, the front discs on my GTI weren’t even that expensive… and those were from EBC (dealer would probably charge me that much, but that’s cause they have the legal right to rip you off)

[90GTVert]

I looked up part numbers directly from EBC. While there, I saw they claim their sintered pads don't damage discs. I looked back and I did use EBC sintered shortly after I got the TMAX and yet my discs still lasted. So either Malossi/Galfer rotors suck or Malossis sintered pads do.

I can't get front rotors by EBC or even check price. They seem to no longer exist, even using the EBC direct site.

[90GTVert]

I read more forums with people on fast stuff like Busas and liter bikes saying the Arashi brakes are working well for them. All 3 discs from them and 3 sets of EBC sintered pads came out to just under $320. Way more than I wanted to spend right now, but better. I'll probably put it back together when the new hose stuff comes in and just do all of the other brake stuff when the discs come in. They say 6-12 days, but some say they don't make it that fast.

[90GTVert]

I got an email from Partzilla today. The brake bolts/pins are backordered with no ETA. It would have been nice if it didn't take 5 days to let me know that when I opted for the expedited option. I wouldn't think they could be that far off of something else, but I don't imagine a parts guy is gonna wanna go bin to bin trying to see what may be close enough. For now, I'm probably going to try and grind the head so it works with tools again and hope they can get one to me before long so I can do a full brake job when I have the rotors.

[90GTVert]

Now Partzilla says Oct 23 for the brake pins. Still too long.

[Lucass2T]

Sept 26, 2024 21:21:35 GMT -5 90GTVert said:

Now Partzilla says Oct 23 for the brake pins. Still too long.

Very creative!
You left a nice easter egg for the next owner by cutting that bolt to imperial while the rest of the bike is metric

[90GTVert]

Arashi brakes came in the other day. They look pretty good, but I took measurements for reference. All state 4.5mm minimum thickness. One front and the rear are 5.08 and 5.1mm. The other front is 4.85mm. This seems like a quality control issue to me, but I’ve seen reviews that you have to ship back to China on your dime and one reviewer said they never got a response after shipping back.











For now, I just want any to get the rear done so I can get it back to roadworthy at least. Went to remove the punch bolt for the rear axle and it broke off. So that’s down 3/4” in a hole and I’ll probably have to pull the muffler off to have room to get to it. Another bolt that is always torqued to spec. I was removing with a ratchet, so not even going after it with a big impact or anything.



I used to like the TMAX. LOL

[aeroxbud]

That looks like it's going to be a pain to get out. 😔

[90GTVert]

Sept 27, 2024 14:52:15 GMT -5 aeroxbud said:

That looks like it's going to be a pain to get out. 😔

It was a whole lot of words that I won’t say here.


I drilled it with a LH drill bit. Off center, but good enough. Or not. Would not budge with a screw extractor, heat and PB Blaster. Drilled a bit more and used a bigger extractor. Broke that off hoping the leftovers would move.



Broke a LH bit, then got in there with a carbine burr and made a small hole beside the broken off screw extractor. That was enough that eventually I hammered out chunks of the broken stuff with a punch. Tapped for a larger standard bolt.






There’s the EBC sintered (left) with Malossi sintered.




Still have to do the front, but with the way things have been going I left it alone.

[aeroxbud]

What a nightmare.
I'm glad you got that extractor out.

[90GTVert]

I haven't really rode the TMAX much lately. Too focused on the small scoots. I went out to ride with a few 150s today though. Some of the same folks that I rode with at the car show this weekend. It's a guy I knew a little 20 years ago and his wife and son. Very nice people. They try to be on time and like to ride rather than always standing around somewhere. Didn't ride long, but they were coming near my area so I had to get out for a few. The father and son have a very fast old Toyota Corolla that goes 8s in the 1/4 IIRC. Another guy that I've rode with many times now has one of the top 10 fastest Honda non-VTEC Civics in the world. I just heard tonight that another guy in their group has a rare Viper (ACR something or other) that is apparently 1 of 32 or so and then turned it into one of the top 10 fastest Vipers in the world. Not what people think about when they picture us scooter folks, is it? The father said he was getting tired of the race car. Still loves it, but it's a lot of work. Rode a scooter once and it was so fun that he has 4 now for the family and a spare and this only started for them about 3 months ago. Sounds a lot like my story though. I had a turbo Mustang and it was getting ridiculous. I realized the scoot was just as much fun for way less money and hassle.