Forum

[Dennis O]

Due to our host purchasing all of the spares and stock from the original importers I wish to pass on this modification made by them to improve the rear brake performance on the Electra. This mod removes the thin shaft that twisted and removed the power to act on the brake shoes. I have fitted this mod and now await a dry day to try the brake performance out. If owners are interested I will report back on this mod and hope our host makes this available to Electra owners. Bike remains totally reliable and to me one of the best bikes I have owned over the years and best of all returns 100mpg while touring.

[Pete]

Dennis many thanks for this information. Yes please do report back as this is something I have wrestled with on my Electra since I bought it. Only recently I have heard/read that there is a modification to the shaft. What does the mod entail? all the best for 2014 Pete.

[John N]

I tried all the mods including beefing up the cross shaft and new shoes better than the Watsonian kit and the result was very little difference however when I converted to right side gear lever the problem was solved. Now I have the best rear brake of any of my bikes. So don't hold your breath but I do hope you have more success than I did.

[Norm]

Have to agree with you John, right shift 5 speed and left foot brake is a good setup

[Alan R]

Wasn't there a similar thing for the Bullet 65 ??---------Basically it was just a thicker cross-shaft etc......With the Left Brake option you have an almost direct action linkage..Does the Electra rear shoes need the same "centralising" mod as the Classic Iron bikes ??

[PeteF]

One of the problems with the SLS back brake is the cam bush. This is supposed to float on the back plate so that the cam centralises.
The cam bush is often fastened on far too tight or painted over so that it can't move (they come out of the factory like this)
I found mine was like this and in fact, only the trailing shoe was making contact which explained it's abysmal performance.
Once I had freed it off the brake was infinitely better and now will lock the back wheel if I'm not careful.
You need to strip the cam bush off, and replace the nuts holding it with nylocs so that the cam bush can be left very slightly slack so that it can move against the backplate.
I realise that the cross shaft on the Electra will rob the system of power, but if you get that cam centralised it will make a lot of difference.

[Dennis O]

Rear brake on Electra update.
Tried out the rear brake yesterday and found that I now have a superb rear brake that can lock the rear wheel if required. The difference now is amazing and the rear brake has transformed the bike into a much safer vehicle. Before this the brake was useless and no amount of pressure on the pedal made the brake work other than a slight retarding device due to I am sure was the crossover brake spindle twisting. On one ride in November I was on country roads descending down 1 in 4 gradients covered with wet leaves and had to rely on the engine braking and careful use of the front brake to slow down the bike as no amount of pressure on the rear brake had any effect. It was then I decided to sort out the problem and a lead from this forum led to me to the solution.

Past history on my attempt to improve things are.
Attached a longer plate to the rear brake lever assembly so the brake rod could be straightened out so to clear the rear footrest.
Drum brake lever was re positioned so to give maximum pressure.
Rear wheel removed and brake drum was stripped down and the brake lever cam bush that was bolted up tight and the painted over removed and rebuilt so now it can slide on the back plate so that both shoes can centralize and now make contact with the drum. Before only one shoe could work. Brake shoes de-glazed.
Result was no change in performance. Pity as I thought this would fix the problem.

Fitting the modified brake system the chrome rear brake lever is used and the system consists of two steel tubes welded together. Some tweaking was required to fit the new system and I found the grease point on the lever side could not be fitted as it fouls the silencer so I pumped in some grease and plugged the shaft using a bolt. This means you must remove the silencer to grease the unit. There in no grease point on the gear shift side as it is not required due to half of this side is a plastic tube covering the new large shaft which fits into the frame lugs and bolted up to act as a strong pivot for the first tube. Second tube has the foot brake lever and rear brake lever attached.
I re -bent the brake rod so to clear the footrest and found the brake remained superb.

I plan to take off this new system to photograph it if enough people are interested. Contacted our host about this mod and they expressed interested in any mod to improve any Enfield.