2LS brake on a G15- a follow up

I felt the brake on my G15 was wholly inadequate for street riding, and rather than attempt to improve it by replacing the shoes and cable and tuning it up I elected to install a 2LS unit from a Commando.

Unfortunately as soon as I had made this decision I discovered that all the used examples I could find were missing pieces or beyond my price range. I then found RGM sold a “kit” form of the brake- all the bits and a semi-finished casting but not assembled. The price seemed fair, and I like to put things together, so I went for it.




This kit includes RGM’s high friction shoes, and the backing plate has additional ribbing to support the pivot cams so it doesn’t require the additional stiffener that was later added to the Norton part. All the external arms and fasteners are stainless and the fit of all of it was very good. Roger’s instructions are also very complete and well written.

Once assembled it was an easy fit up into the original wheel- an item shared with the commando and thus no great surprise. A new cable was needed and I found that the cable for the Highrider Commando was the right length for the G15’s longer forks and wide handlebars. I selected a cable that included the inline brake switch and wired that in as well.



So- was it worth the effort?

Absolutely! Brake power is substantially improved and one can squeal the front tire at highway speed. My only note is that the linings seem to get grippier with a bit of heat and there is a substantial increase in brake power as they are being used- it’s a very noticeable effect and I find on long stops from speed I need to reduce lever pressure to maintain a linear stop rate. Multiple stops in a row will have the brake heated and you will notice an increased initial bite and there will be less pressure required for a given rate of deceleration. I suspect this is a peculiarity of RGM’s high friction shoes… it’s not a bad thing but it is a bit surprising the first time it’s encountered.

I have not ridden the machine with this brake set up in heavy rain yet, so can’t speak to wet performance.

Compared to the aged original single leader brake the difference is night and day- I felt the bike was barely safe to ride with the stock brake. While this could have been improved with new shoes and etc the 2LS is clearly superior.

The lining is likely to be MZ Gold as RGM use that on their rear brake shoes. Its the same lining I get from Villers Services when they reline my shoes. Developed for Fork lift trucks when asbestos linings were banned is the story, has to work or lots of pallets would be lost in crashes.


Now all you need is the reinforcing plate

I did exactly the same, what a difference. Just taken delivery of Rob Swift main stand which will make life much easier

Elfix said:

I felt the brake on my G15 was wholly inadequate for street riding, and rather than attempt to improve it by replacing the shoes and cable and tuning it up I elected to install a 2LS unit from a Commando.

Unfortunately as soon as I had made this decision I discovered that all the used examples I could find were missing pieces or beyond my price range. I then found RGM sold a “kit” form of the brake- all the bits and a semi-finished casting but not assembled. The price seemed fair, and I like to put things together, so I went for it.

View attachment 114059


This kit includes RGM’s high friction shoes, and the backing plate has additional ribbing to support the pivot cams so it doesn’t require the additional stiffener that was later added to the Norton part. All the external arms and fasteners are stainless and the fit of all of it was very good. Roger’s instructions are also very complete and well written.

Once assembled it was an easy fit up into the original wheel- an item shared with the commando and thus no great surprise. A new cable was needed and I found that the cable for the Highrider Commando was the right length for the G15’s longer forks and wide handlebars. I selected a cable that included the inline brake switch and wired that in as well.

View attachment 114061

So- was it worth the effort?

Absolutely! Brake power is substantially improved and one can squeal the front tire at highway speed. My only note is that the linings seem to get grippier with a bit of heat and there is a substantial increase in brake power as they are being used- it’s a very noticeable effect and I find on long stops from speed I need to reduce lever pressure to maintain a linear stop rate. Multiple stops in a row will have the brake heated and you will notice an increased initial bite and there will be less pressure required for a given rate of deceleration. I suspect this is a peculiarity of RGM’s high friction shoes… it’s not a bad thing but it is a bit surprising the first time it’s encountered.

I have not ridden the machine with this brake set up in heavy rain yet, so can’t speak to wet performance.

Compared to the aged original single leader brake the difference is night and day- I felt the bike was barely safe to ride with the stock brake. While this could have been improved with new shoes and etc the 2LS is clearly superior.

Click to expand...

RGM casting is such that you don't need the stiffening plate.

My original Atlas SLS was little better than dragging my feet.
A Dunstall 2LS now stops the Atlas. Regrettably, it is no longer available .

Slick

Elfix said:

I felt the brake on my G15 was wholly inadequate for street riding, and rather than attempt to improve it by replacing the shoes and cable and tuning it up I elected to install a 2LS unit from a Commando.

Unfortunately as soon as I had made this decision I discovered that all the used examples I could find were missing pieces or beyond my price range. I then found RGM sold a “kit” form of the brake- all the bits and a semi-finished casting but not assembled. The price seemed fair, and I like to put things together, so I went for it.

This kit includes RGM’s high friction shoes, and the backing plate has additional ribbing to support the pivot cams so it doesn’t require the additional stiffener that was later added to the Norton part. All the external arms and fasteners are stainless and the fit of all of it was very good. Roger’s instructions are also very complete and well written.

Click to expand...

Next time you take the brake plate off, please post an image how the internal stiffening looks like. Getting rid of the stiffening plate makes buying the brake plate worthwhile by itself.

- Knut

That is really nice, good on ya. I had my eyes on a 2LS for my N15 from a local guy, but he wanted more $ than I wanted to part with at the time. He gave me lower legs off a 73 with the Lockheed caliper and was going to give me the MC/perch/lever but he never could find it, so I put a Yamaha scooter one on, el cheapo but has the right bore size and doesn't look bad now that I've filled in the Yamaha script with JB weld and hidden it haha. So disc it is for me, works great. I'd have been quite happy with a setup like you have done though.

Elfix said:

I felt the brake on my G15 was wholly inadequate for street riding, and rather than attempt to improve it by replacing the shoes and cable and tuning it up I elected to install a 2LS unit from a Commando.

Unfortunately as soon as I had made this decision I discovered that all the used examples I could find were missing pieces or beyond my price range. I then found RGM sold a “kit” form of the brake- all the bits and a semi-finished casting but not assembled. The price seemed fair, and I like to put things together, so I went for it.

View attachment 114059


This kit includes RGM’s high friction shoes, and the backing plate has additional ribbing to support the pivot cams so it doesn’t require the additional stiffener that was later added to the Norton part. All the external arms and fasteners are stainless and the fit of all of it was very good. Roger’s instructions are also very complete and well written.

Once assembled it was an easy fit up into the original wheel- an item shared with the commando and thus no great surprise. A new cable was needed and I found that the cable for the Highrider Commando was the right length for the G15’s longer forks and wide handlebars. I selected a cable that included the inline brake switch and wired that in as well.

View attachment 114061

So- was it worth the effort?

Absolutely! Brake power is substantially improved and one can squeal the front tire at highway speed. My only note is that the linings seem to get grippier with a bit of heat and there is a substantial increase in brake power as they are being used- it’s a very noticeable effect and I find on long stops from speed I need to reduce lever pressure to maintain a linear stop rate. Multiple stops in a row will have the brake heated and you will notice an increased initial bite and there will be less pressure required for a given rate of deceleration. I suspect this is a peculiarity of RGM’s high friction shoes… it’s not a bad thing but it is a bit surprising the first time it’s encountered.

I have not ridden the machine with this brake set up in heavy rain yet, so can’t speak to wet performance.

Compared to the aged original single leader brake the difference is night and day- I felt the bike was barely safe to ride with the stock brake. While this could have been improved with new shoes and etc the 2LS is clearly superior.

Click to expand...

that behaviour has some similarities to racing linings of old, which needed warming up for best results.

A friend of mine bought one of these kits and we installed it on his bike. I was surprised at how well it worked..quite a bit better than the stock unit I had on the Atlas. What the difference is I don't know. Do not recall if there was any difference in the brake plate. Is it just because it was new? I think the brake shoes were the usual Frodo.
I've tried every thing I can think of to get good braking out of the DLS. All in all it wasn't much better than the SLS.

seattle##gs said:

A friend of mine bought one of these kits and we installed it on his bike. I was surprised at how well it worked..quite a bit better than the stock unit I had on the Atlas. What the difference is I don't know. Do not recall if there was any difference in the brake plate. Is it just because it was new? I think the brake shoes were the usual Frodo.
I've tried every thing I can think of to get good braking out of the DLS. All in all it wasn't much better than the SLS.

Click to expand...

Have you fitted the stiffening kit? Turned the brake drum?

- Knut

Yes...that's covered in " every thing I could think of."

seattle##gs said:

A friend of mine bought one of these kits and we installed it on his bike. I was surprised at how well it worked..quite a bit better than the stock unit I had on the Atlas. What the difference is I don't know. Do not recall if there was any difference in the brake plate. Is it just because it was new? I think the brake shoes were the usual Frodo.
I've tried every thing I can think of to get good braking out of the DLS. All in all it wasn't much better than the SLS.

Click to expand...

Hi Seattle,
I'm a bit confused with your report. First, which kit did you install? Second, you say "Was Surprised at how well it worked" and then you say "all in all it wasn't much better than the SLS"
Please clarify.

Ed

Two different DLS brakes. The first one was brand new from RGM, and a very good brake. The second was the original from an early Commando. I improved it a little bit but not a lot. It currently has a Norton disc brake with Brembo caliper and stops much better.