H: Hubs, Wheels and Tyres Trevor Southwell re brakes
- Thread starter fogrider
- Start date
Hi Bruce, my computerability is not good but here goes anyway. Cheers, Stu.
That 2mm stiffener plate is essential and I suspect is the main gain in Bert Weitz's mod. I rather think letting the cam end self centre would be of bigger benefit since the cam moves the shoes in somewhat unequal distances/pressures. Not so easy to arrange.
Linings and lining lengths make a huge difference. The AM4's I had were very good, but when visiting Norman Friston ( Sir Frizzer ) , 20 odd years ago, he had a long roll of Mintex M24. He swore it was the ONLY lining any good for 7" cast iron drums - it was OE for Mini rear drums. I bought enough to do the front shoes . They were excellent, even without all the stiffener mods I would do now. It's no longer available, but some re-liners say they have the equivalent on stock, to quote Mandy Rice Davis, they would say that, would,nt they !
Work in progress....
Linings and lining lengths make a huge difference. The AM4's I had were very good, but when visiting Norman Friston ( Sir Frizzer ) , 20 odd years ago, he had a long roll of Mintex M24. He swore it was the ONLY lining any good for 7" cast iron drums - it was OE for Mini rear drums. I bought enough to do the front shoes . They were excellent, even without all the stiffener mods I would do now. It's no longer available, but some re-liners say they have the equivalent on stock, to quote Mandy Rice Davis, they would say that, would,nt they !
Work in progress....
Blimey, I've just spent an hour reading all the stuff listed under davidd in the search bar. Incredible ! The range and breadth of info is fascinating. Wise and experienced riders with lots of different ideas. Yes it does, no it does'nt , mind boggling !
I think I'll stick to the simple life from now on.....
I think I'll stick to the simple life from now on.....
One very easy front brake upgrade is to fit Venhills Featherlight cables. They are Teflon lined and have greatly reduced friction vs a lubricated conventional cable. You never have to lube them and you don't have to worry about any nipple coming off, that's not going to happen. The ends are all birdcaged and silver soldered.
Glen
Glen
Until the beginning of this century, I kept updating my original front brake whenever something was invented, thicker cables, longer levers, reinforcement of the brake plate and also the Bert Weisz modification (see photos). It usually helped somewhat, and for people living in America on the wide empty prairy it's all fine, but in the hugely hectic traffic in my home area (Rotterdam) a standard Vincent brake is life-threatening! The VSM (Speet) brake was already a huge improvement and the German brake will certainly be too. Even better are disc brakes but that is a bridge too far for me.
That is really interesting. I agree entirely with the point made , but when turning oversize linings to drum size, it is recommended to pack the cam end with shims. That, if I'm right, is contrary to the result required !
Surely, to get an effect close to moving the pivots up 1mm, why not turn the linings with a slightly thinner cam in ? Ie, under drum size at the cam end. That would turn the shoes so the PIVOT end of the lining is taken down, leaving the resulting cam end more proud ,thus contacting the drum first when the correct thickness cam is back in.
It also means I've been turning shoes to size wrongly all the time ! Ye gods....
Maybe ?,
Surely, to get an effect close to moving the pivots up 1mm, why not turn the linings with a slightly thinner cam in ? Ie, under drum size at the cam end. That would turn the shoes so the PIVOT end of the lining is taken down, leaving the resulting cam end more proud ,thus contacting the drum first when the correct thickness cam is back in.
It also means I've been turning shoes to size wrongly all the time ! Ye gods....
Maybe ?,