Forum

[pd110961]

just a thought..more of a question really.. although I intend to use the mod to improve my 2006 model TLS brakes, to ensure both pads contact at the same time, would it not be true that if you set them up wrong, so one shoe came into contact with, say, 1mm space before the other show touched.. would not both shoes eventually touch when the 1mm had worn off the first shoe? then would both shoes be in touch at the same time? obviously one would wear down to the metal sooner..

[papasmurf]

If you set them up wrong you will notice. In my opinion a TLS brake needs frequent checking especially if you actually use the brakes. (Personally I have rarely needed to buy brake shoes or pads for any of our motorcycles.)

[Nettshubby]

And it would take a LONG time for 1mm to wear off a shoe, and it would only be a single leading shoe, but only have half the friction as a proper single leading shoe brake. Even without the mod, with a bit of time and a little "feel" on the adjuster rod it should be a good brake.

[potboiler]

I found the Hitchcocks guide on front brake adjustment to be too vague and led to a very poor brake (I found that out of adjustment brake shoes are particularly noticeable when you are trying to stop the bike rolling backwards on a steep hill!). I eventually settled on this very simple method -
Start with loosening off the top lock-nut and adjuster on the connecting rod to the brake shoes. Spin the wheel by hand while tightening the main cable adjuster until you hear the "swish" of the lower brake shoe just beginning to make contact with the drum and feel just a hair of resistance to turning. The bottom shoe is now set.
Continue to spin the wheel while tightening up the top shoe adjuster nut (at the top of the connecting rod) until you hear the sound level rise a little more and feel a slight increase in resistance. Both shoes should now be just barely touching equally.
Now back off on the main cable adjuster until the wheel turns freely. Ride it and test very gently at slow speed first. You could if necessary make small adjustments either way to see if you can improve on this initial setting.

[mauri]

last TLS wheel i built had drum whit a high spot of about 0,3mm and the whole drum was tapered outwards to outside of the hub.



getting a normal working TLS start with a round drum.

whit out this any adjustment is unless.

[Tim NZ]

Once correctly set the MECHANICAL TLS front brake seldom if ever need readjusting.


The crux of the set up is to ensure that the two brake levers levers are set as a true parallelogram and that BOTH shoes are contacting the drum in unision!!! And NOT as how is instructed on our hosts Tech notes! Any set-up other than with the brake levers as a true parallelogram is NOT efficient!!


Follow the method of random adjustment of the link rod and your brake will be terrible and in need of constant resetting! It is about as bad an adjustment system as you could ever be undertaken!!


I have commented on this same subject previously, so if you look back through the old messages you will find more info, otherwise contact me off list and I can forward a word doc file that has the basic, but some what involved, set up and adjustment process for the shoes and levers.

[Riggers]

I agree with Tim NZ regarding the setting of the shoes, but a couple of other points may help. I found that the Indian-made shoe material on my 2000 model was of very poor quality and replaced them with British made shoes (Hitchcocks do an exchange service which reduced the cost a bit). And secondly I fitted the thicker heavy duty cable which allows more pulling power to get down where it's needed. Neither of these mods are cheap but once the brake was re-assembled, correctly adjusted, AND ALLOWED TO BED IN the brake is now a decent stopper.