superhondaman Posted August 24, 2006 Report Share Posted August 24, 2006 Ok have got original Honda shoes/cable tried the mod with the paint hardener but still the front brake is c**p. The main problem is that when the lever is pulled and the drum arm reaches its max, ie when the shoes are on the drum, you can still squease the lever in loads more and the brake arm moves but even then i can just about push the bike forward. On my 200 Fantic when the brake arm reaches its max then it wont go much further giving good solid brakeing. The Tlr's just feel like a soggy sponge compared to this. Are they all the same or can they be made to work better than mine. (I know you can get the drum turned to fit the shoes, but it is the spongey feeling in the lever i want to eliminate, as i am sure this will help) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honda pants Posted August 24, 2006 Report Share Posted August 24, 2006 Hi Just a quick tip! Do you have a spring fitted to the front of the cable between the adjuster and the nipple on the brake drum end,sounds silly but some people remove this spring This will give similar problems to what you are experiancing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feetupfun Posted August 24, 2006 Report Share Posted August 24, 2006 Are you centring the drum on the shoes as you tighten the axle? Are the wheel bearing outers loose in their seats? Are the wheel bearings worn? Is the axle nut tight enough to hold the backing plate in position? Is the drum friction surface grooved or worn unevenly? Any of these things could give the symptoms you have mentioned (spongy feeling). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazza Posted August 24, 2006 Report Share Posted August 24, 2006 Hi, something else to consider. I have a TL125 that suffered from the same problem, given that they are now more than 30 years old you have to consider that the dia of the drum is worn as well. I have fixed this by measuring the amount of travel by the brake cam as it moves the shoes apart, as the drum wears this cam rotates more to take up the slack of the worn drum (even if you reposition the lever on the spline you will still have the same problem) eventually this cam gets to the point where it stops moving the shoes apart and it tends to jam/wedge itself between the two shoes. I then carefully tack welded a piece of 1-1.5mm flat steel to the cam area of the break shoe (tack welds OK to the steel cast into each alum shoe) this effectively increases the dia of the shoes and allows the cam to work like it used too. It has worked sucessfully for me but I don't know if it is a common fix. thanks Gazza Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superhondaman Posted August 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2006 Hi Just a quick tip! Do you have a spring fitted to the front of the cable between the adjuster and the nipple on the brake drum end,sounds silly but some people remove this spring This will give similar problems to what you are experiancing. Do you suggest removing the spring? ( i do have one fitted) Are you centring the drum on the shoes as you tighten the axle? Yes.Are the wheel bearing outers loose in their seats? Will check! Are the wheel bearings worn? No Is the axle nut tight enough to hold the backing plate in position? Backing plate moves but axle nut is tight? Is the drum friction surface grooved or worn unevenly? no it looks fine Any of these things could give the symptoms you have mentioned (spongy feeling). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g4321 Posted August 25, 2006 Report Share Posted August 25, 2006 If the back plate moves buy a tin of iron bru and cut a strip of tin or alloy to slip over the locating boss on the forks, this will remove the movement. If the alloy in iron bru tins is no good try cutting open an old wd40 tin or similar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honda pants Posted August 30, 2006 Report Share Posted August 30, 2006 Hi Just a quick tip! Do you have a spring fitted to the front of the cable between the adjuster and the nipple on the brake drum end,sounds silly but some people remove this spring This will give similar problems to what you are experiancing. Do you suggest removing the spring? ( i do have one fitted) Are you centring the drum on the shoes as you tighten the axle? Yes.Are the wheel bearing outers loose in their seats? Will check! Are the wheel bearings worn? No Is the axle nut tight enough to hold the backing plate in position? Backing plate moves but axle nut is tight? Is the drum friction surface grooved or worn unevenly? no it looks fine Any of these things could give the symptoms you have mentioned (spongy feeling). Hi, I would reccomend leaving the spring on,and as also suggested make sure you centralise the brake hub when you tighten the front spindle.Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feetupfun Posted August 30, 2006 Report Share Posted August 30, 2006 Is the axle nut tight enough to hold the backing plate in position? Backing plate moves but axle nut is tight? If the backing plate can move after the axle is tightened, there is probably something amiss in the way the axle/forks/spacers/nut assembly is arranged. The backing plate should not be able to move around when you are riding or pulling on the brake. Check that the axle nut is not running out of thread (possibly caused by missing washer, wrong spacers or spacer in backwards or wrong axle or axle in the wrong way around) before it clamps the backing plate between the fork leg and the wheel bearing inner. If the backing plate can move, you will get very poor braking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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