Bultaco 199a Rear Brake

[rick1]

Since we are on the subject of 199s I have a question about the rear brake. I just converted my 199a from a left brake / right shift back to a left shift / right brake set up. I used an original bultaco cable that runs through the frame from the right brake lever to the left break drum. While the brake does not work nearly as good (as I expected) as it did with the rod action of left brake peddle set up it does not work nearly as good as I thought the cable might work. I find the right brake lever comes up to high for easy access with the foot and the braking action of the rear wheel is less than I thought it would be.

Do any of you have any tricks or advice on how to get the most out of the original cable brake type set up of the Sherpa 199a. It would be nice if I could get the rear to wheel to lock up or is that asking too much?

[big john]

Are you using an original right hand side alloy brake lever, if so there should be a small "bick" or stop, which is to prevent the brake pedal coming up too high. I managed to break two such levers on two different bikes when I clobbered rocks, pushing the brake lever upwards and shearing off the alloy "bick".

After saying that there is no doubt that the left side brake set up with a rod is far more positive as the rider has a better "feel" for the brake, better feedback if you like. I liked the left hand shift set up, but I confess that the original Bultaco set up of left side shift, right side brake is much more efficient.

The main reason for the Bultaco factory changing the set up was for the American (USA) market where the theory is that a driver of a car, be it automatic or manual transmission, applies the brake pedal with the right foot!

Big John