Hi everyone. We've been blessed with awesome weather this last week, and Ive been taking advantage of it and riding my newly restored 1963 Dream. However, Im realizing I have a brake issue. Or lack there of! I bought some aftermarket brake lever assemblies to replace my old broken ones, that used the old star cable adjusters. These are the ones I purchased.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-FRONT-DRUM- ... 1725wt_823
So, I have two issues. One is that I have small hands, and the lever sticks out way beyond my reach. When I DO manage to get my fingers around the lever, it is way to stiff for me to get any brake action from the front brakes. I have a CA95 and it is not like that at all. Any suggestions?
Front Brakes???
Hi Kellie
I suffer from short reach too and I usually look for 'dog-leg' levers for my modern bikes. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-MX-Di ... 1326wt_934 That should help you pull the lever. If that doesn't fix the brake then you need to have a look at th brake linings and drum. They maybe contaminated or glazed (highly polished), reducing the amount of friction you can get for a given pull. If all else fails, try some new brake linings and / or get the drum skimmed. When you've got it apart, send some pictures and we should be able to help. Brakes on these were never wonderful so even perfect is not going to be very good :-) G '60 C77 '60 C72 '62 C72 Dream '63 CL72
'61 CB72 '64 CB77 '65 CB160 '66 Matchless 350 '67 CL77 '67 S90 '77 CB400F I cannot help you with the distance thing, short of suggesting that you back off on the adjuster so that the lever is closer to the bar. But then you will more than likely lose braking force because the lever will hit the bar before max force is applied.
Regarding the stiffness, first, lube your cable. That will help. Second, compare your old lever to your new lever. What you want to check is the distance from the pivot hole center to the cable slug hole center. Your new levers should measure the same as your old. If the new lever has holes that are further apart, this will increase the effort required to operate the brakes significantly. Will do the same for the clutch side as well. In addition to cable lubing, make sure you did not tighten up the lever pivot bolt too tight. Did you put new springs on the brake shoes? If so, they may be stronger springs than stock or what you have on your CA95. What about the slot in the lever thru which the cable passes? Is it smooth and have enough clearance so the cable can move without interference? Braking effort is a combination of all the friction points and force points along the path from the shoes to the lever. If you route your cable and put sharp bends in it, this also will increase effort required at the lever. A word of caution on aftermarket levers. I had one snap on me. Fortunately I was in the shop and was just operating the front brake with the bike on the lift. It broke with a razor sharp edge and had my hand been positions slightly differenly, would have resulted in a severe laceration. You should never ride without gloves to begin with. But if you use aftermarket levers, NEVER ride without gloves. regards, Rob
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