Hitchcocks Forum

With my bitsa I grafted a 1951 set of front forks onto an 1992 Indian frame and motor with Reddich wheels front and back. The issue with the front brake was that the early bullet had the cable outer stop as an extension of the pivot pin. The later brake arm was too long for this and quite frankly I wanted more mechanical advantage. I made a cable outer stop that bolted to the front mudguard stay lug at the front and made an additional collar to anchor it at the top. You can see it on the sixth pic of page three of customer's bikes picture section. I had the lever working forward pulling against the direction of rotation which seemed appropriate and was the same as the early 50's model. Interestingly though because the outer is anchored off the brake plate it made the brake plate rotate very slightly back and forward one way when the brake was initially applied and then the other as the brake takes up. This irritatingly loosened the taper seated nut that secures the plate to the wheel. Meaning that the plate would loosen itself off and then the brake would misbehave horribly grabbing and setting up a racket when applied. Turned the whole shebang around today and it works brilliantly. it is now clear that the rear facing front brake lever is no mistake. You live and learn eh!