Improving breaking

[Bitten]

Hi All

I posted some questions specific to my bike in the Suzuki pages about improving braking but are there some more general tricks to get better braking performance from older drum brake bikes

I have new cables and brake pads and will look to re sleeve the drum but anything else that I can do?

Can anyone recommend someone to re-sleeve in Sydney?

Cheers in advance?

[Kenneth S (222)]

Hi Bitten,
I'm wrestling with the same thing on my 79CR250. One thing I am trying is moving the lever further down the bar so I give myself more leverage by pulling the very end of it. Seems obvious but I rode the whole year without trying it out.

[Montynut]

I don't know about anywhere Sydney or even resleeving but I believe that Bultaco Parts Australia has Bultaco brake hubs metal sprayed and then machined out to OEM diameter. Works a treat I understand.

You can also have your hub machined slightly to true it (if it is only slightly worn or warped and then have oversize brake shoes made with soft compound material relatively economically. I know there is a shop in Sydney that does this work but can not remember who it is . Maybe someone else knows.

[Bitten]

I may be mistaken but I thought I read on here somewhere that you could have your drums relined or re-sleeved

Is this not the case?

Cheers

[GMC]

I may be mistaken but I thought I read on here somewhere that you could have your drums relined or re-sleeved

Is this not the case?

Cheers

I’m not sure but I would have thought that the liner would have been cast into the hub making it unfavorable to replace.
The metal spraying sounds better than replacing the liner to me.

A lot of people have had hubs machined to true them up.


I have fiddled with a few brakes to improve performance but I need the hub and backing plate complete to go over everything.
I have found that some replacement shoes aren’t true to the originals and don’t match the hub properly.
Can also fiddle with leverage ratios.

Also…
Is the breaking that bad or are you used to a disc?

[curly001]

Bitten, had my old honda hub skimmed and the shoes arc'ed to the right size at Burt Bro's Farfield st/rd Fairfield. Only cost a $100 , the drum has to be really bad before they will skim it. Curly

[Bitten]

Thanks guys

Firstly I will take accurate measurements to see if the drum is is out spec and by how much and make a call from there

Geoff you are probably right and I am used to a front disc and forgotten what is was like 30 years ago!

Cheers

[chrisdespo]

Even a drum brake can lock a front wheel when set up right. back in the seventies you never had to worry as you could get all the new bits you wanted, but on the road race bikes we use a brake lining a green looking material worked real good still have a set in the old t20 front. or ithink the others were Mintex woven linnings either of these would stand any bike on its nose. But you probabley can't get them any more.
the local brake place used to bond them on for us give them a grind and go racing.

[mitch75]

Try sanding the hub and pads to rough them up.
Sand it in all directions with some emery paper.

[bazza]

any one tried longer brake plate arm?

[jerry]

Stan S suggested a longer lever for my Bultaco front brake (10 mm) I remember from school that torque = force x distance well bugger me it worked a treat. Brake performance up from pathetic to adequate. I'm rapt and thanks to Stanley once again. J