Hitchcocks Forum

Electra rear brake.

Has anyone improved the rear brake performance on the Electra?

I have carried out all the advice given on this forum and still cannot improve the rear braking.
Wheel has been removed and linings de-glazed plus the floating pivot which was seized solid with paint and bolted up tight at the factory was freed off so now both shoes are now floating and working on the drum. Before this only one brake shoe was making contact. This gave a little better brake but only a little.
Brake rod was straighted and a plate fitted to extend the rod upwards so it does not foul the pillion footrest.
Working with a friend we found that the cross over rod from the brake pedal was twisting when the brake was applied so reducing the pressure to the brake shoes. Has anyone made up a larger diameter rod to prevent this. I know this is a major job which will need both ends to be splined down to the original size and larger diameter tubes to be welded to the frame but any advice would help.

Perhaps softer brake linings? If they are available.

I am also aware our host can supply a longer drum brake lever from the later bikes but will this work?
At the last MOT the tester has to apply great pressure on the rear brake pedal to get it to pass on the rollers.

I have been motorcycling for many years and know the value of being able in a emergency to lock the wheel and drop the bike on its side. At the moment this is impossible and I am relying on the front brake only and the rear acting as a slight retarding device of little or no use.

Our host was developing a better rear brake system for the Electra but was this completed?

Apart from this problem I must be one of the few who like the Electra which has been totally reliable and with a 19 tooth gearbox sprocket returns while touring 100 mpg.

Well Denis, I fitted the longer operating arm from our host but have to say it didn't make any difference that I detected other than even longer pedal travel. I also fitted the winged nut for rod adjustment which works well. I think the problem may be the friction material that is used as standard in India. My Electra EFI is still on the standard Indian shoes which were virtually non existent when the bike was new and are only marginally better now. For the cost of new UK bonded linings from our host I think I will be changing soon.

I do not think there is nothing terribly wrong with the brake itself but indeed the linkage delivers very little force... I have found that drilling a new hole for the operating rod in the lever at the pedal end nearer the pivot point has provided a bit more bite.

My Electra-X locks the back wheel (but didn't when new). Here's the list of things I did.
1. Straightened the rod (I didn't modify the pedal, but re-fixed the pillion foot rest in a different way to clear it instead). iIf you would like a picture of this, email [email protected] and I'll send it to you
2. Moved the actuating arm on the brake round a couple of positions on the spline so that the rod pulls at the optimum right-angle to the arm
3. Bought the Watsonian (dare I use that word on this site?) improved crossover and pedal kit
4. Adjusted everything really carefully
I didn't change linings, or even open up the brake to look...
I can't say which of these did the most for the brake, probably the combination of all 4 is the key.
Good luck, it IS achievable!
Stephen

Thanks for your replies. Hope to sort things out by getting relined shoes from our host with British linings. Watsonia know of the problem with the twisting crossover shaft and are checking to see if they have any modified shafts left in stock. Hopefully this will sort out the rear brake problem.

Hi guys-------- that cross-over brake shaft mod was done for the Bullet 65 as well.......The standard shaft is too thin and flexes quite a bit in use.....OR, you might try making your own modified shaft...

That cross over shaft idea was just another Indian bodge up instead of addressing the problem in the first place. They designed a complete new gearbox and came up with a bodge to get out of trouble, no different than the bodge they came up with to get the Albion box to a left shift. That also was a total abomination

Wow Norm you certainly have it in for the 5 speed and Electra. I am 71 years old and have rode British bikes since the age of 16 and most were abominations so nothing new to me. As the rear brake is the only problem I have with the bike I would like to find a fix for it. You are correct that these things should never happen but they do. Just look a the massive recall of a major Japanese bike company whose front brake master cylinder has to be replaced. One quote you will like is when I returned to the dealer to praise the bike their reply was. "They make thousands so they must get one right." Hoping to get out on the bike today when rain stops.

Hi Dennis, I fixed mine, I converted it to right shift. and can't remember how many 4 speeds I have converted back to right shift so it can work as it was originally designed. Another one to do next week

Whilst agreeing with Norm's solution, I thought you might like to know that a certain on-line auction site has rear disc brake conversions for the Bullet for sale from an Indian supplier, allegedly fits all models!

I have frankly no idea if they're any good or how easy they are to fit, but you might want to investigate! As this is not something our hosts have brought to the market, perhaps most owners either put up with the rear brake being poor or manage to fettle it as above.

Regards,

Adrian