The bracket can become a bit bent, and I've seen it. Someone not knowing about this can seat the platter carelessly or just drop it in place, and catch a significant part of the rubber idler, pulling the entire assembly down to a point where it resembles a badly aligned front tire on a nice car. Older units develop stiff and sticky idler brackets which do not retract fully as they would when they were new. It should not be tilted down, as they sometimes are. Another thing to check is whether the idler wheel is horizontal as you sight it at rim-to-eye level, comparing with the deck. As good practice, retract the idler using the speed shift lever, each time you lift or re-seat the platter so that the rim does not catch the rim of the idler. This is particularly important with extra heavy platters. After, wipe the alloy dust from it using a clean cloth and isopropyl alcohol and then absolutely do not touch it before remounting it on the unit again, to avoid finger oil. You'd probably feel an out of round rim when doing so, as well. One of the small aspects of servicing is to not only dress the idler as Hugh describes (great to use a drill press for this if you have one), but to lightly sand the inside platter drum with 220 grit (or 300, something like that) evenly all the way around.

This means servicing the motor, reading similar threads about operational issues for models land others close-in to the 1225 period. It is important to note that if a 1225 has never been serviced as per the guides here at the forum, it needs to be. How does the platter spin when not engaged with the idler? The issue is likely going to be something which has been mentioned in this thread. However, it might also be a very dirty platter bearing which meets resistance during a turn. But, I'm pretty sure if true that it would be visible. I agree with Hugh, and it suspiciously 'sounds' like an out of round platter rim.

Garrard zero 100 idler tire