Help! Mechanical Advice needed

[MrGrumpy]

Oops...something very odd has just happened to my mk3 Tmax.

Over the last couple of weeks, I have heard the odd funny squeal from the front end, when I set off, but only briefly and occasionally. Today I was out - all fine on the way out, but when I returned and set off, I heard this strange squeal, but it stopped after a couple of seconds. Everything felt fine initially, but as I went along I could feel that something was wrong - there seemed to be a vibrating sensation from the scoot. It got progressively worse so that the whole scoot now seems to be shaking underneath me. Fortunately I wasn't that far and managed to ride home very very slowly.

Any clues as to what's happened?
The tyres and brakes seem fine. There's nothing obvious to the naked eye, but there are still the odd nasty noise when you wheel it along. Could it be a wheel bearing has failed or something along those lines?
I'll have to get it to the workshop, but they've chosen this week to go on holiday!

[Data]

Grumpy, are you sure both calipers are tight? What about the coolant level & oil level? Other than that it sounds as if something in the transmission might be loose or failing. Not really easy to go further on this without seeing/hearing the issue. Good luck though. Let us know how this develops.

[Ralph]

Grip the front wheel and push and pull trying to rock it side to side
any movement could be wheel bearings, if you can get the front wheel
off the ground give it a spin and listen for the noise.

[MrGrumpy]

No obvious slackness in front wheel. I'll try it again tomorrow.
When I was riding I wasn't really feeling the shaking through the bars directly - well, you could feel it, but it wasn't as though it was coming directly from the front wheel, but from somewhere else - which makes me think that Data's suggestion that something has failed in the transmission might be correct, which sounds expensive. The funny squeals were from the RHS as well - they sounded like they were from the front, but the TMax transmision is fairly far forward (alongside the rider) so they could have come from there.

[Funkycowie]

Right side implies the drive belt area, when was the drive belt and sliders last changed? There are bearings for the shafts for the driving and driven pulleys, it could be one of those gone but I doubt it.

I'm thinking wheel bearing.

[MrGrumpy]

The belt is quite new - only around 1000 miles. Its still got the DrPulley slider thingies you put in.

[Data]

Wheel bearings don't just suddenly go out to lunch. You get lots & lots of warning that something is wrong. Wheel bearing failure also often affects brakes. Wheel bearing failure is usually indicated by a humming & or whining noise. If you don't do something about it the next step can be bearing failure but that is massively noticeable as the affected wheel will have play in it and lots of noise. I suspect from Grumpy's description that something internal with the tranny is the problem.

I wouldn't ride it Grumpy. Just in case the variator retainer is loose. You don't want that exploding. If the belt was only replaced 1000 miles ago that could be a clue! Was the variator torqued correctly? Was the retaining nut renewed? General rule is never use the same nut twice on any variator. That way you don't get trouble if it's torqued correctly.

[Greyerbeard]

What Ralph said - jack the bike up so the front wheel is off the ground; then rotate it and see if it spins freely with no rubbing/grinding noises (push the brake pads back a bit if necessary). Also grasp the top and bottom of the wheel and feel for any play - there should be none.
Might be worth checking the back wheel as well, as a confidence check, if the whole bike is wobbling.

[MrGrumpy]

Wheel bearings don't just suddenly go out to lunch. You get lots & lots of warning that something is wrong. Wheel bearing failure also often affects brakes. Wheel bearing failure is usually indicated by a humming & or whining noise. If you don't do something about it the next step can be bearing failure but that is massively noticeable as the affected wheel will have play in it and lots of noise. I suspect from Grumpy's description that something internal with the tranny is the problem.

I wouldn't ride it Grumpy.

Ride it? I'ts practically unrideable! Very scary....I just about got it home yesterday - I was doing 10mph max by the end. When my workshop reopens, I won't even ride it there - they'll have to collect it.

Yes, bearings do normally wear and make nasty droning noises, but I wasn't aware of anything like that. And the bike was in the workshop last week having corroded brake pistons replaced. I'd heard a few squeals, but they were short lived and only occasionally happened. Whatever happened yesterday happened quite suddenly - or at least there probably was a developing problem, but it suddenly went critical.

[Ralph]

Ha the plot thickens, have a very good look at the parts they worked on / disturbed.