Why is my front brake still useless?

[KiwiGF]

More pics of finished contact surface...note the lining material has flecks of metal in it, so maybe “sintered”?

[mikeb]

as you pushed the trailing shoe out with that spacer pre-sanding, did you then remove the spacer (to allow the leading shoe to make first contact)?

with the floating shoes (some pages back) i tried using norton stick-on sanding discs (150mm dia, from bunnings) cut to strips, figuring they'd be thin. it didn't work so well. but with the lathe (on the fixed shoes) I was more accurate to a smidgen under 8", which i think is correct. it worked better, but then the whole setup was different, and i note you report good contact. and this is counter to what Glen finds to work.

BTW Trevor - how do you shim the pivot end of a fixed shoe, as the shoe fits snug to the round pivot?

[KiwiGF]

as you pushed the trailing shoe out with that spacer pre-sanding, did you then remove the spacer (to allow the leading shoe to make first contact)?

with the floating shoes (some pages back) i tried using norton stick-on sanding discs (150mm dia, from bunnings) cut to strips, figuring they'd be thin. it didn't work so well. but with the lathe (on the fixed shoes) I was more accurate to a smidgen under 8", which i think is correct. it worked better, but then the whole setup was different, and i note you report good contact. and this is counter to what Glen finds to work.

BTW Trevor - how do you shim the pivot end of a fixed shoe, as the shoe fits snug to the round pivot?

Yep I took the trailing shoe spacer out before fitting the brake after sanding, I almost forgot  .....but not quite.

I’m hoping that maybe the shoes are very stiff and not able to take up the small difference in diameter of shoes and drum caused by the sand paper thickness, in which case I may see an improvement after a little use.

[mikeb]

well, we can commiserate next saturday in rangiriri. im just down for the day ride and dinner, hopefully on the a10
looking forward to it...

[BSA_54A10]

BTW Trevor - how do you shim the pivot end of a fixed shoe, as the shoe fits snug to the round pivot?

You remove enough shoe from the top & bottom but leave the middle alone so that the shim is snug.
A shoe only contacts the pivot about 120 deg it is not a full 1/2 circle.

[Peter in Aus]

Decided to have another go at my 58 A10 full width rear cross over (near useless) brake. Ground off about 35mm of the top of the leading shoe (cam end) lining and filed the cam on the trailing side of the cam so as the leading shoe came on a bit first.
The result was a 50% increase in braking efficiency, but still not as good as it should be, but much better than it was.
Peter

[PDMiller]

My Brother in Law decided to take up motorcycling in his 60s and to celebrate him passing his test I offered him a ride on a "Proper  Bike". At the end of his ride on my 1952 AJS 500 he said "You went to great lengths to explain the unbelievably complicated starting procedure, the advance retard lever,valve lifter, upside down gear change on the wrong side etc but you never once mentioned that it didn't have any brakes".     My beloved AJ has excellent brakes for an old bike but B in L rabbited on about how he could stop his oriental plastic rocket on a sixpence with 2 fingers.  I had thought of offering him a ride on the Sunbeam which has a stopping distance similar to that of a super tanker but I fear he has a lot to learn before that happens.
First thing he has to learn is 'never criticise a man's AJS. .
Great thread BTW, just shows you're never too old to learn.

[worntorn]

My problem isn't so much the gap in braking between old and new, it's what happens to the suspension with good old brakes on a BSA front fork vs new Thruxton RBrembo monoblocks with upside down Showa big piston forks. The Big piston fork has an anti dive mechanism so even with extremely rapid negative g forces happening the front end doesn't dive. This is a big improvement over my 05 Daytona, which has equally strong braking but will dive to about the halfway point, leaving a bit of suspension.
A good hard pull on the A10 with dialed in A65double leader gives decent braking but the forks immediately go " Clonk" to the bottom, so suspension on front is nonexistant when braking hard.
Just another reason to take it easy on the old thing.

Glen

[muskrat]

G'day Fellas.
Brakes only slow you down. Dodging things become the norm when riding our bikes. Shame I didn't dodge the rear bumper quick enough a few years back. Broke 5 ribs and punctured a lung! i had been riding the rHonda all week but was on the A7 plunger for a club ride. She don't stop like 3 discs. 
Cheers

[mikeb]

the reason this thread started was my heightened despair about my a10's brake after riding the modern more - the M50 brembos and Showa USD's are very addictive and encourage a riding style that is a bit lethal on a BSA.
still, the a10 brakes have been made better than they were with still other improvements possible

[berger]

yes musky I am used to dodging things, went out with my mate a few years ago and had girlfriend on the back of me. he took us down a very steep hill possibly 1n 3 or 1in4 and I ended up praying while putting full force on both brakes, ended up having to go down the inside of cars straight onto a main road hugging the curb, that was a close one. brake linings changed shortly after and now not as much praying

[orabanda]

And the same girlfriend?

[berger]

yes orabanda 14 years now I think thing is she has no fear on the  back of the bike, very good passenger and we've nearly been wiped out many times by those other road users sat in their tin cans, we had one that looked straight at me then pulled out forcing me to the other side of the road --- very lucky that day .

[Kickaha]

A good hard pull on the A10 with dialed in A65double leader gives decent braking but the forks immediately go " Clonk" to the bottom, so suspension on front is nonexistant when braking hard.
Just another reason to take it easy on the old thing.

Glen

All of which can be fixed, gold valves, new springs done to your weight even cartridge conversions, you only need to put up with how it is if you want to

[worntorn]

It's hard to decide how much BSA to leave in the bike.
For the time being I'm going to be happy with engine and clutch that are now working properly as well as brakes that offer some safety. The " clonk" came with the stronger braking of the 2ls.
I'll live with the stock suspension for awhile. It's not bad other than when the front brake gets fully applied.
There is a spare Showa big piston fork under my workbench tho....

Glen