BT Springer Brake

[Rex]

1. How tight should the grease seal spring be on my BT front brake?
Mine is smashed virtually solid. Should ther be space between the windings?

2. I'm using the curved "spoon handle" lever with this same brake setup, but it doesn't seem to create enough travel at the backing plate lever to get good brake effectiveness. I've drilled another hole in the lever at the backing plate that helped a bit, but there still isn't enough. The shoes, cable, and handle are all new and were adjusted to the specs in the Palmer book.

Does the straight brake lever produce more motion?

What is the distance between the brake handle pivot and the cable attachment point on the straight type handle?

[charlie frey]

This is off the top of my head...without a trip to the garage...but I'd guess the straight lever travles more before it hits the grip.
Ipdating to a modern inner cable can do wonders for your brake.
The stock cables stretch way too much.

[Rex]

Charlie-
Thanks for the info. I think the cable is an NOS unit that had a military lable and a lot of cosmoline on it. Is it that the stock version you're refering to?

When I had the bike up on jacks in the shop, it seemed like I was able to get a good travel adjustment, but it didn't last long in use. A stretching cable would make sense. The shoes are new also, so I'm wondering if all these new parts are just in the process of working into their positions. I'll try a few more readjustments before buying a new cable. Although this is probably not a place to try saving money.

I really don't want to lose that (new) brake handle. It's one of my favorite parts. Along with the curved shift gate. And the tanks. And the motor. And...well, you know how that goes.

[charlie frey]

That's the cable...they're terrible.
Even hardware store cable (wire rope) is much better.
There's an AMCA member who sails, and he uses a kind of cable from that world (probably stainless).
I have a catalog from a company called Aircraft Spruce that is for DIY plane builders, and they have some very cool cable.
Stuff with a longitudinal core to eliminate stretch.
I've been meaning to get some.
By all means, keep your original outer and your correct lever!
New inners are real easy to make with one of those universal cable ends with a set screw in the HELP! section of the auto parts store.
I fray the end of the cable, get flux paste all over it, slide the barrel on from the other end, tighten the set screw, cut the screw head off, and silver solder the whole deal.
Never had one come apart.
What bike do you have?

[flthead]

are the brake shoes aftermarket ? check the travel distance between shoes and drum ,between a worn drum and the ching-chang replacement shoes could be to much travel ,found this out before on a guys big twin flatty. if to much travel then the brake arm cable attaches to travels to much

[Rex]

flthd-

I don't know if they're ching-chang or calcutta shoes, but they are new aftermarket. I had to sand them to get the drum to go on. This was a second installation since I got a little overzealous with th first new set and sanded them beyond use.

Since you worked in a big flatty, can you give me some idea of what the grease seal spring looks like when installed? Are there spaces between the windings? Mine's smashed virtually solid.

[Rod K]

Rex
Your question prompted me to go out in the garage and look at
my two springer front ends....

1948 pan head...I can get a nickel between the coils.

1942 flat head...I can get a dime between the coils.

I have seen other bikes where the coils seem to touch. I don't
think it would be a problem, as long as there is the least bit of
clearance between . Just be sure the side cover is assembeled
correctly. Rod

[charlie frey]

Originally posted by Rex
flthd-

I don't know if they're ching-chang or calcutta shoes, but they are new aftermarket. I had to sand them to get the drum to go on. This was a second installation since I got a little overzealous with th first new set and sanded them beyond use.

If you're really dedicated to your front brake, find a brake shop that can arc the shoes to match their curve to that of the drum.

[Rex]

Originally posted by Rod K
Rex
Your question prompted me to go out in the garage and look at
my two springer front ends....

1948 pan head...I can get a nickel between the coils.

1942 flat head...I can get a dime between the coils.

I have seen other bikes where the coils seem to touch. I don't
think it would be a problem, as long as there is the least bit of
clearance between . Just be sure the side cover is assembeled
correctly. Rod

Took apart the front assembly today. Everything is set up ok, so I trimmed the ends of the spring to get a little winding space. This spring isn't a symetrically spaced winding. The end windings are much closer than the inner ones, so the end ones will touch.
Rex

[Rex]

Originally posted by charlie frey


If you're really dedicated to your front brake, find a brake shop that can arc the shoes to match their curve to that of the drum.

Charlie- I had my front end disassembled today and I'm getting good pretty good contact on the shoes (only 14 miles so far). Brake arcing isn't available in my location, but may try it myself this winter.