Front drum adjustment?

[Willdat?]

I was wondering if there are any tricks to adjusting drum single leading shoe front brakes?

My technique at the moment, adjust until it drags, then back it off until it just spins freely, should I let it drag a little? The performance seems pretty pathetic at this stage, I'm hoping there's something stupid I'm forgetting.

Cheers

[hospitalfood]

http://www.dansmc.com/drumbrakes.htm

bit of info.

[Willdat?]

Cheers, tried all the tips that they have! I'm suspicioius that it could low quality OEM shoes in the Shanyang SY50, at the moment I cannot lock the front wheel...kinda like cheap chinese ABS

[MSTRS:Me]

Lock a front brake? With single-leading shoe drum? I doubt it's even possible...at least where there is any grip for the tyre.

[Willdat?]

Super...that's all I needed to know!

I miss stoppies on my DR-Z400 SM

[Ixion]

Lock a front brake? With single-leading shoe drum? I doubt it's even possible...at least where there is any grip for the tyre.

Possible. BSA 8" (as on Goldie) could do it for sure, maybe others. Not commn though. A frequently voiced objection to the new-fangled TLS brakes was that they *could* lock the wheel.

[F5 Dave]

Probably depended on what grade bakelight the tyre was made of back in the day.

[slofox]

Probably depended on what grade bakelight the tyre was made of back in the day.

They were never bakelite!!! Porcelain was the go....

[Ixion]

Actually, early tyres DID use China Clay (from which porcelain is made). The tyres were white.

[merv]

All my old Honda single leading shoe brakes and my A100 Suzuki for that matter could lock a front wheel no problem, that's when they were dry, now get a drum brake wet, that is another story. Adjustment was based on getting the cable adjusted right so you had the right feel at the brake lever and you were squeezing it hard at the right reach and not pulling the lever right into the handlebar.

[CookMySock]

Drum brakes are adjusted up tight to lock the wheel, and then loosened only just, until they let go.

Steve

[Willdat?]

All my old Honda single leading shoe brakes and my A100 Suzuki for that matter could lock a front wheel no problem, that's when they were dry, now get a drum brake wet, that is another story. Adjustment was based on getting the cable adjusted right so you had the right feel at the brake lever and you were squeezing it hard at the right reach and not pulling the lever right into the handlebar.

Bugger, it's basically a Honda copy, made in 2008 though...

Drum brakes are adjusted up tight to lock the wheel, and then loosened only just, until they let go.

Do you mean that some drag is ok? I was worried about over heating the drums with a constant rub.

[MSTRS:Me]

Do you mean that some drag is ok? I was worried about over heating the drums with a constant rub.

NOOOO. The shoe/s may be touching the drum, but not with any sort of pressure (which would create drag). You need to back off the adjustment to the point where the wheel spins freely, but any pull on the lever (after the cable-play is taken up) results in drag/contact.

[F5 Dave]

All my old Honda single leading shoe brakes and my A100 Suzuki for that matter could lock a front wheel no problem, that's when they were dry, now get a drum brake wet, that is another story. Adjustment was based on getting the cable adjusted right so you had the right feel at the brake lever and you were squeezing it hard at the right reach and not pulling the lever right into the handlebar.

A100 huh? They came with Inoue Tyre Company's (IRC) finest first attempts at round black things. Invariably if you find an old small capacity Suzuki it will still be fitted with these tyres as they never wore out, 30 years? pah no problem

. . . giving some indication of their traction capability.