Introduction and front brake question

There have been a few threads on improving the front drum brake. What I have gleaned is the stiffening plate does help, don't know how much. There is also a longer lower brake arm that is supposed to improve the pressure on the pads, but I think it was Frank Damp that said the brake shoes twists too much to take advantage of the lever. I think some of the best improvements are to make sure the drum is round, sand or machine on a lathe the pads to match the drum at least 90% and make sure both pads are contacting the drum at the same time. You must also chamfer the edges of the pads, apparently that makes it grab if it is not done. Let me see if I can find the shoe sanding threads, actually there were two as I remember. RGM also sells pads that they say improve the braking over even the Fedoro pads. I have heard good things about the RGM pads on this forum. I'll try to get that information too.

This is all theoretical to me, I have not done any of it yet, but my plan is to get the RGM pads and do the sanding on the pads to get more contact on the drum. Word is that it improves it to compete with the first disk brakes, except for multiple fast hard braking where it fades. I do remember that in actuality, downshifting was better than using either of the brakes, not a good feeling going around the DC 495 beltway at 65 or 70.

here's a couple of brake links
post1656.html?hilit=second%20shoe#p1656
post69681.html?hilit=rgm%20shoes#p69681

Dave
69S

Yea, in the Cities. The "club" is as inactive as any around. Google TCNOC. I saw your recycling tub with Mound on it. Guessed you might be local. Shoot me a private email.

I see you've got the two essential parts of comfortable Norton riding: buckhorn bars and a Corbin Gunfighter seat. Keep these intact and the rest is easy.

rick in seattle said:

I see you've got the two essential parts of comfortable Norton riding: buckhorn bars and a Corbin Gunfighter seat. Keep these intact and the rest is easy.

Click to expand...

Yes the riding position is quite nice! The bars do hit my knees though when turning tightly at slow speeds. My buddy told me I needed some low clipon style bars, I said I've already got those on my sportbike no need on this one!

This is great info
post1656.html?hilit=second%20shoe#p1656

Thanks for the link!

Alright, so I was able to dig into the bike today, took the front wheel and drum off. This is what I saw.

Nothing seems to be bound up, sticking, or non functional. So.......... anyone have any thoughts on my issue?! Only thing I noticed is that one of the shoes appears to not be contacting as the wear is slightly different. This is shown in the last photo, on the right side,

You've got the brake stiffener plate. That's a plus. It's hard to see, but I don't see any chamfers on the edges of the shoes. That's supposedly one of the things that causes brake grabbing. If the pads are not contacting the drum with equal pressure, that will too cause grabbing as you tighten up on the handle and the second pad makes more contact, uneven wear would indicate that. I think once you get these things sorted, it should work fine for you, the front drum brakes always leave something to be desired, but I think they can be made to work acceptably for a road rider, not a racer.

Dave
69S

Thanks for the tip on the champers, I had forgot about reading about that. I definitely don't have them. I'm not looking for superbike brakes I just want brakes that have similar characteristics when applying. Right now I've got a Jekyll and Hyde front brake, sometimes its normal other times it starts off normal and goes into "I'm going to lock you up" mode.

I haven't dealt with my brakes so I can't add any personal experiences. However, I did find a good web site called Vintage Brakes that may be helpful. Lots of information on braking compounds and how to service your brakes.
http://www.vintagebrake.com/index.html

There should be a nice coat of very high temp grease on all the cams and pivots. With out the lube the brakes will drag. Then you must get them adjusted, a bit of a learning curve for this but know that when they are done up right you will get three good stops from them as good as disk after three they will fade.
If used in average street riding out by yourself you will love the brake. It is only riding with others that have disk brakes that this set up suffers by comparison.