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[jawa-enfield]

I do not expect this is the answer to the front brake riddle, but is does not help..
This is thje -since 2002- model brake plate;
I thought i should share..

[jawa-enfield]

My old (previous )brake plate has a LOT of play on the brake cams. Does also not help to get a stable adjustment.

Are there people here to notice that the 0since 2002-brake plate model is really better?

[jawa-enfield]

Here i have an old brake plate and the -since 2002-model side by side.
I cannot find any difference besides the mounting of the pivots?

Is there anyone who noticed a difference in braking behaviour bertween the two?

[vince]

Hi, the difference, on one the pivots are in blind holes the other one bolted!

[jawa-enfield]

Hi, the difference, on one the pivots are in blind holes the other one bolted!

Yes, and would maybe the blind-hole fixing be not sturdy enough?

I honestly must mention, i reworked the brake cams on an lathe to ca 50% original width for more stopping power. This also means evenso more strain on the pivots. Would it be too much?


An other thing, do the old style brake plates need a different spacer? I cannot remember anymore. But when i mount the older model brake plate, i can see between the brake plate and the hub! I cannot remember this was original the case..
The pics;
reworked brake cams, and space between old style plate and the hub.

[vince]

Hi, how much brake lining is making contact when you apply the brakes? Vince

[jawa-enfield]

Depends on how long they have been worn. with this damaged brake plate it was taking a lot of time for one side to cover 3/4 of the surface, despite made on radius.. Blamed it on the 'tolerances'of the cams in the plate (which is from new also a problem) but then recently i discovered this.

No matter if the cause is the 'grasping'of the brake, or due to the smaller cams, this is a serious quality problem.

[nab301]

I had a '98 Indian market model 350 back in 2002 purchased with very low mileage as a non runner. I found the brakes poor at the time , set up as per our hosts method and with their linings .
I sold that bike after about 8 years warning the new owner about poor brakes but he found them to be ok....
More recently I purchased an '03 Bullet65 500 as a rolling project . I set up the brakes very carefully, not as above but with both levers set as a parallelogram with the trunnions at the optimum length apart , and all play removed or optimised by fitting numerous trunnions until I found the best fit in the levers. Chalked up new linings , removed high spots but over a number of years the brakes were variable to say the least , I even tried some old shoes that came with the bike and strangely at times with these I could bottom out the forks and feel them ( the forks ) flexing , sadly though they just weren't consistent . Strangely I found some extremely cheap shoes I purchased on ebay worked best but these were still inconsistent .
In the end I just felt i couldn't ride the bike any more because of the poor brakes ( i do have other modern disc braked bikes also).
At the end of last year I ended up purchasing a reduced price ( cosmetic damage ) Disc conversion from our hosts . I can't have spent more than 2 hours fitting it including a little bit of shimming and a few licks of a file on the fork leg mount just to get the caliper fitting squarely. Straight away i had better brakes , there was a problem with the master cylinder but this was replaced foc , and then purely for personal preference I replaced the pads for a different make and for the first time in my Enfield owning life I don't have to wonder as I approach traffic lights " do I have enough stopping distance if these turn red ", many times i rolled across a stop line while travelling at moderate speeds . I spent dozens and dozens of hours trying to sort the drum brake . Now I have something with much more feel especially in wet conditions and is as good as anything else I have with just two fingers needed for emergency stops. . The downside ? I set out recently unknowingly with low pressure in the front tyre and when I returned the tyre had spun slightly on the rim straining the tube . Does this mean that the front brake has more torque than the engine.....
Nigel

[vince]

Hi, the 6in half width front brake on my early redditch bullet with the floating pivot works really well , the 6in full width hub without pivot on my later model is crap but strangely locks up in reverse. Swapping the shoes between has the same results. Vince

[jawa-enfield]

I keep wondering, the bend pivots are caused by;
1- factory mistake
2- due to a few times 'grasping' of the brake (it should be able to withstand this?)
3- because of 50% less cam width, which causes evenso more pressure on the pivot.

The pivots in the older type brake plate are scewed in and secured with a bolt on the other side, maybe this is sturdier?
Pic of the older and 'new and improved' type side by side..