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[Count Johnny]

Good Morning



For aesthetic reasons, I'm thinking of fitting a half width front hub to my '96 500 Enfield.



Any (sort of quantified) thoughts on loss of braking performance etc.



Iain

[Adrian]

Iain,

that might be taking things a bit far for The Look. There are things you can do to help the 6" SLS, Alan R posted about fully floating brake shoes on the 6" rear hub, which might be applicable to the 6" front brake, also I'd consider getting a brake specialist to fit some oversize linings and skim them down for the best possble contact with the drum face (which we hope is actually perfectly circular). Other than that, you can always follow a clever French owner's example and do a Twin Leading Shoe conversion, as I posted here:

http://www.hitchcocksmotorcycles.com/fo ... post_73890

Regards,

A

[Count Johnny]

Hi Adrian



As a part of the process, I was going to give the whole shooting match (half width front and full width rear) to Classic Brake Services and ask them to optimise the brakes, as you suggest.



Iain

[Count Johnny]

Looking at the 2LS conversion, it appears to defeat the object but, having failed to find Alan R's submission, it would be great of he came along with some advice.

As a matter of course, I tend to to the rear brake, but it would be good to have something on the front end should I need it.

[simon]

I have the half width hubs front and back and the front brake whilst a useful driving brake is not a tool with real stopping power. I'd love a TLS brake plate for the 6" brake but the clever French version seems to be the only option and that involves quite a lot of work. The look is great but the power of braking is definitely less.

[John M]

I have a 6" brake on the front of my trials Bullet, it is quite possibly the worst motorcycle brake I have ever encountered!

[Adrian]

John, you never tried my old BSA C15 (another 6" SLS) - now that WAS a rubbish brake, and I suspect the ceef weighed a bit less than a pre-unit RE...

Iain, you will find Alan R's post in this topic: http://www.hitchcocksmotorcycles.com/fo ... post_47786.

Regards,

A.

[Count Johnny]

Didn't Enfield and BSA share the same 6" SLS brake, Adrian?



Anyway, from reading Alan R's submission (and another, separate, post from Bob F) the trick is to get the brake cam to float which involves parts from the 53 Meteor - many of which are

'Temporarily Unavailable'.



I'll put me thinking cap on but, in the meantime, if anyone else has a wizard wheeze of further thoughts, I'm all eyes.



Iain

[simon]

The interesting thing was that RE were famous for their hubs and brakes and sold them to all sorts of other motorcycle brands which is why it is even more astonishing that they put such under sized brakes on their own machines

[Tomshayes]

It'll keep the front hub warm...

All I can suggest having ridden a bullet with a 6" front brake.. Is keep your back brake in good order and use both brakes together, keep your distance, and don't ride down any roads that have junctions where a car might pull out in front of you.. Alternatively cut the strings off of your parachute!!!

Get the hub skimmed and fit soft linings..