Disc brake effectiveness?

[blusmbl]

New forum dude here. My neighbor SAFETYpin got me into these things, and it's been all downhill from there...

Anyway, I've got a Lil Indian Sabre with a 3.5 Tecumseh on it. I have the bike to the point where it's operating how I like it, but the original disc brake just sucks. I wasn't terribly happy with the rear band brake on my Manco either, but it was exceptional compared to the Indian. How are you supposed to adjust these things? I have it cranked down with no cotter pin... if I run it down/preload it to the point where it begins to stop okay, it has so much drag you can't even push the bike around by hand.

I did get a bit of WD40 on the sprocket from chain oiling, but I'd imagine it would've burned off by now?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!

-Nick

 

[1stlegendtx]

Clean with CRC brake cleaner (red can) then use a wire wheel on a drill and scuff the pads and the disc. The bike looks great.:thumbsup:

 

[JustEnough]

My Cat 400x is the same. Seems like a scrub brake would work better. I have brand new pucks in there too. My sprocket and pucks are dry and oil free. It seems like the mechanical disc brakes are weak by design.

 

[blusmbl]

I was more than a little discouraged with the braking performance. It's not fast at all (12/14 and 10/60 gearing, still has the governor!) but at full speed it takes a lot of distance to stop. The band clutch brake on my neighbor's bike will lock the rear up immediately on any surface whatsoever, mine couldn't even do it in the snow this weekend!

Good call on cleaning up the sprocket with a wire wheel, I'll give that a try tomorrow.

Thanks for the compliment on the bike, I'm probably repainting it a vintage metallic orange this winter. Might go with a larger seat, too.

-Nick

 

[Oldsalt]

I also put a new disk brake on my 300 CAT. Dismal results. Tryed everything including removal of the plateing on the sprocket. I've come to the conclusion that the pads are far too hard. Read cheaper and easier to manufacture without defects. Best discriptive word: Junk. Chinese crap. Lately I've done some research on friction material as it relates to brakes. The reason for the effort is it is necessary to do something with the front brake on my 41 Knucklehead Harley. I replaced the shoes with replacements made off shore; nothing else was available. Brakeing is so poor that it's somewhat dangerous to ride above 30 MPH. I am convinced, after my reaserch into materials, that the fault lies with the lineing. For the Harley I even made a special mandrel so that the shoes could be mounted on the backing plate and turned to exact and proper size in my lathe. Little or no improvement. Then the shoes were removed and the lineing cut down in length. [Lower the sq. in. of contact and you increase the 'unit pressure' which increases the co efficient of friction]. A little help, but still nowhere near what the engineer, in 1933, had in mind. Then moved the brake cable anchor point to the furthest out hole in the brake lever [the one marked for side car use] and it is still not possible to adaquately slow down using the front brake. By the way, the rear brake has the original old Harley shoes. It will easily lock up the tire. I know this is a bit long but I felt that if I was going to offer an opinion, that no one really wishes to believe, it should include my experience and efforts. Now that I am armed with specs on various materials I'm going to call Ott's Friction Material in Portland OR and hopefully get a reccomendation. As I have the proper rivets I'll install the linings myself rather than send then to be bonded.

 

[Strigoi]

i'm glad i didn't go to the trouble of mounting one of those calipers. i bought one but just decided to stick with the scrub brake. it works great with the rear slick.

 

[Oldsalt]

Like a dummy I burned off the scrub brake that was already on the 300 Cat and put on that stupid disk brake! I would tell the "well known mini bike parts supplier" that he shouldn't sell them but it would fall on deaf ears. Anyways, its the same thing that all the suppliers sell. It's 10 cents cheaper than if proper pads were installed.

 

[Strigoi]

i sent mine to a member on here that wanted one. i wish i could remember who it was, i'm curious now to see what they think about it.

 

[steven Durham]

You might want to call Growth Products Inc. they are in Crystal , Mi @ 989 235-4294
They sell snowmobile parts and have lot's of brake pucks and might be able to sell you puck material that ill work better. I have bought from them a lot in the past and they know their stuff.
Steve

 

[GTO]

I've had good luck with calipers on both sprockets and disc's. I have two drums that don't work that great but the others do. To me the ideal is to have a scrub and a caliper on the sprocket.:thumbsup:

 

[cashman]

Nice looking bike!!! I have an earlier model Lil Indian 5000 that is similar to yours. Your bike has the folding handlebars. Like you, I have no brakes also and it has an odd puck size compared to the ones mostly available now. I'm going to check with Growth Products to see if they have some like I need. So thanks for the tip!!!
My brakes worked OK until I accidentally sprayed silicone lubricant on the chain and that impregnated the pucks and was the end of the brakes. Thanks!!!

 

[blusmbl]

Thanks for the compliments! Couple more pics, after the frame repair:

Obviously needs paint. It's a bit bulky now, but it definitely won't break again. I'm probably respraying it in metallic orange to match my '74 CB550 streetbike.

I'll try calling Growth Products to see if they have anything better for material, and give it a good cleaning, too. If that still doesn't work, I'm just going to throw a clutch brake on it and call it a day...

Thanks!

-Nick

 

[tblumer]

McMaster Carr sells brake pad material, maybe check them out