4LS Front Brake

Earlier drum brake Commando yokes have 7 inch hole centers and later yokes have 7 3/8 inch hole centers.

Click to expand...

All Commandos had 7 & 3/8" yokes, the change from 7" happened back in the Dominator years.

toppy said:

Could you not sell that brake an put the cash raised into another brake option??
After all that brake is from what is now a classic Japanese bike.

Click to expand...

Its starting to look like the inclusion of the 4LS might not proceed.. Im sure the brakepower would be sufficient for my needs, and "look the part" but commonsense tells me a pair of wheels "off the shelf" with modern brakes would be a logical... (must have spokes tho)
'

It was very easy to trim the brake backing plates to fit JUST hinting at the speedo drive area.

Note that the original 4LS Suzuki brake "intakes" also feature fluted FULL covers behind the therefor useless screens. If you don't mind heat fading and are wary of water incursion, simply leave the fluted covers in place behind the screens.

Chris,

Madass is the Philippines has a 320mm floating disc with six piston caliper, 12mm master cylinder and new fork slider for $650. That's more brake than you 're going to get at a lower cost than trying to fit and fettle the Suzuki brake. His ad is on ebay now. If I were concerned about more stopping power, it's what I would do. You didn't say if you're going racing where such a brake would not qualify for the period class.

illf8ed said:

Chris,

Madass is the Philippines has a 320mm floating disc with six piston caliper, 12mm master cylinder and new fork slider for $650. That's more brake than you 're going to get at a lower cost than trying to fit and fettle the Suzuki brake. His ad is on ebay now. If I were concerned about more stopping power, it's what I would do. You didn't say if you're going racing where such a brake would not qualify for the period class.

Click to expand...

Yes, i am aware of the Madass brake conversions and are impressive by all reports and if i had a front wheel , hub and spokes to bolt it to i would not hesitate.. All those bits new with tyre tube plus the Madass brake system landed about $800?????? would total around the $1500+ for the front wheel alone.. Then i need to do same for back.. This is why im am open minded about a pair (2) wheels, brakes complete, tyres tubes off a donor bike whatever the make.. In my "budget" with its flexable borders i think $2k for a pair of wheels complete with all the jewellery is not unreasonable.

Edit........ I have just place a WANTED add in the local "Gumtree" paper looking for standard wheels ......... You never know!!

I have fitted one to my café racer (pics http://www.pbase.com/jeandr/image/92935337 ), I used to have it on my Fastback clone and it wasn't too bad, but I did not have the proper lever and it was poorly setup. I had to machine the backing plates to fit even the 7 3/8" yokes. I modified the hub to take bearings (two on each side) that matched the hub and the stock Norton axle. My machining skills were not as good and the tools I had back then (early 1990) did make for some unevenness in the fit of the whole assembly, with exact machining, the brake could work as well as a Norton disk and look much cooler. If you are looking for lightness, go for something else.

On the next bike I build, I will fit the giant drums Madass builds especially for Nortons, expensive maybe, but cool like nothing else.

Jean

I have done the same modification to my Atlas racer as an inexpensive (?) 4 l/s conversion.
You are half way there, with having the brake plates skimmed to remove the speedo drive & the boss on the other brake plate.
You will also have to remove the Suzuki wheel bearings & fit new ones to suit the Norton axle & the Suzuki drum, easily obtainable from a bearing provider.
I had to also remove alloy from the fork leg slider bosses to make the width of the Suzuki hub fit between them & the Norton triple trees.
It will go in there. The distance between the fork legs on the Suzuki must be a lot wider than the Norton.
Hope this helps.

toppy said:

Could you not sell that brake an put the cash raised into another brake option??
After all that brake is from what is now a classic Japanese bike.

Click to expand...

As far as drum brakes go the Suzuki 750 brake is better than many. Personally I would never use one unless I really wanted to race in our Period 3 Historics. I still have one collar bone which is dislocated at the chromo-clavicular joint due to one of those useless pieces of shit. They might look the part, however if you get the slightest bit careless with them, they can neck you real fast. I used a 7R AJS front and rear brakes for years . The front had the lever on the backing plate extended, and both a hard and a soft lining, so that any time during a race you always had some brakes. The opposition had discs in those days, and crashed a lot less than I ever did. My feeling is that they should have been banned along with pudding basin helmets - both killed a lot of good guys back in the era.
The really charming aspect is if they drag, and take you off into the bush at high speed - I spent a hairy few seconds dodging tea trees at Phillip Island years ago just before I crashed onto the non-skid at 90 MPH during practice when the brake heated up and locked. Four times in one day is my record - I kept climbing back onto the bike - my brother was watching and was really disgusted. Drum brakes are not something for the kiddies to play with. With a disc brake, at least you can always grab a handful of it without it biting you.

What is a 'classic Japanese bike ' ?

A really great combination is a Japanese two stroke on methanol with a drum front brake. For the first 3 laps of a 4 lap race the motor flies until the crankcases heat up. For those 3 laps the brakes still work, and probably too well. On the 4th lap the bike is down on power and you have brake fade. They really are disgusting.

:roll: :roll: Japanese two stoke on meth.. :roll: :roll: Not for me

I have found a "pair" of stock wheels, complete and used the 4ls brake as part of deal.. All good tho we are 3300 miles apart and now we are working on transport... But im happy cos i got wheels and just need to wait,