SAFETY ALERT Drum rear brake bike owners please take a look

This is why I keep on about going through these old classics from top to bottom and front to back when you resurrect them.

This bike only has 7100 miles on it but look what happened from sitting all that time: (I'm referring to the fact that both shoes are delaminating big time.)



If you put one of these bikes back on the road and haven't looked in your rear brake, DO SO NOW.

Can you imagine the result if one of those came all the way apart at 75mph on the freeway? Or even at 45mph in rush-hour traffic? One of our members has a reference to a low-speed lockup in his sig, caused by this. He was lucky.

Are you prepared for your rear brake to lock unexpectedly AT ANY MOMENT?

PLEASE TAKE A LOOK IF YOU HAVEN'T YET.

 

Re: SAFETY ALERT Drum rear brake bike owners please take a l

That's the first time I've ever seen the coating come off the brake shoes. I'm wondering how the bike was stored and if that made the shoes deteriorate like that? Could excessive moisture be the problem that could cause that? I always take mine apart and look at them before riding it every spring, and never seen that in any vehicle I've owned.
I'm wondering is you shouldn't take it to a Yamaha dealer and see if it's a recall issue with those pads and maybe they'll replace them for you? If they are factory shoes, it would be a safety issue and they should be concerned (ya never know)
Thanks for the heads up!

 

Good heads up.

I have new drum shoes on the way from Chacal now. Mine were not delaminating but were well past the 2mm min thickness. And about twice the dirt/soot as your pic.

 

My rear brakes were comming apart on my bike when I bought it. It had been sitting for 7 years. I was going to replace them even if they looked good. My front pads looked almost new, but I figured it's best not to skimp on brakes, so they were replaced too.

 

Excellent advice!!! Both XJ's I purchased needed new shoes. The first bit me on the way out the driveway (where were you then?), the second I caught while going over the bike after purchasing it. Any "new" bike should have its brakes inspected, regardless of what the previous owner tells you.

 

D- I highly doubt Yamaha is going to stand behind 25 year old anything. The bike sat for two different periods of time, once for about seven years and then again for 4 more years after being back on the road for as best I can tell maybe a couple of years. I believe I am only the third owner.

It came with 10-year old replacement tires. Those are the original brake shoes, lots of evidence the rear had never been apart other than the tire change.

The bike was NOT horribly corroded, or stained or anything; it had been stored inside as far as I know.

My whole point is to never leave anything out when resurrecting a 25+ year old bike. Just because something isn't WORN out doesn't mean it is fine. Too many new riders assume since a bike looks spiffy and has very few miles that everything is "like new." It's NOT and you HAVE TO CHECK EVERYTHING or wind up skipping down the pavement on your butt.

 

Re: SAFETY ALERT Drum rear brake bike owners please take a l

Yup agreed! Point taken.
It's just nice to have that kinda info before it's too late. These forums are great for just that kinda stuff.

 

Working in the auto parts store, delaminated brake shoes is a more common problem than you would think. We get about one set a month of our overseas made shoes come back because of delamination. And even occasionally we've had whole runs of a particular model recalled because of that problem. Its sort of scary when you think about it :S

 

Convinced me to replace mine.

Thanks BF

 

Another item on the "to do" list......

 

Hey, Bigfitz, glad to see somebody checks the signatures.

They locked up on me when I was stopped/stopping (that probably what finally pulled them off) to turn left across a four lane divided highway. When I went to go, she was very sluggish. As soon as I got across the highway and into the parking lot and let off the gas, she quickly came to a halt. I was like what the...took her home on a trailer and found the delaminated brakes (not sort of like your pic, but as in the wear part was in my hand and the metal part was still on the bike). My 6 year old was on the back. That was when I decided to go through everything I could (notice the whole front end was done, brakes, bearings, lines cylinders, calipers. She stops good now.).

26 years is tough on a bike. My friend has a pic of mine at the original owners with grass growing up through the engine stuck in his phone (or I'd post it here). You never what was done/not done to these things over the nearly 3 decades. If your not chasing them through with a fine tooth comb then that ain't good.

Glad someone got a pic of it,

 

kt; EXACTLY my point. Don't put it on your "to do" list and keep riding the bike, at least have a look.

This isn't funny, someone could get seriously hurt or worse. If YOUR brake shoes look like that you shouldn't be riding the bike. I was f*ing lucky the 150 or so miles I put on it.

If you're riding a bike that YOU never looked at the back brake and it SAT for any period of time, STOP RIDING IT until you look. Riveted shoes don't do this but these AREN'T riveted, and probably were never INTENDED to last for 25+ years in any environment.

New shoes from chacal were around $30 IIRC, and they came with springs.

PLEASE AT LEAST LOOK DON'T WAIT!!!

 

Thanks for looking out. That's an eye opener, Fitz. Same can go for tires also. They can look new, but ya never know. I know this from experience. Luckily it wasn't on a bike.

 

Re: SAFETY ALERT Drum rear brake bike owners please take a l

Actually, with tires, you can know. You just need to know where to look:

 

Nice. As usual, you are The Man.

 

I just REALLY don't want anybody to get hurt or worse.

I had no idea about the brake delamination, I blissfully assumed that since the bike only had 7K on it all was well, not worn out. It was in the course of replacing the 10-year old tires (thanks to the above code) that I discovered I had been flirting with disaster. I've had the bike up to 90 a couple of times (although only for a sec) what would a rear brake lockup on 10-year old weather-checked tires have caused?

You guys gotta look. I will be looking at my '81 before I turn another mile even though the PO had the tires replaced by taking the bike to a shop. I honestly had a hard time sleeping between discovering and posting this.

 

Sleep well tonight my friend. You have gotten the word out to your flock and we will heed your warnings. Just wish the warning had come a few months ago when I had the back wheel off for new sneakers.

Thanks again Fitz,

Wamaxim

 

thanks for the heads up do I have to take the wheel off to check?
Shaun

 

Oh yes! Off it must come! Check the bearings while the wheel is off. If you're close to needing a rear tire, what the heck! Now's as good a time as any.

Wamaxim

 

Re: SAFETY ALERT Drum rear brake bike owners please take a l

on a lighter note

not something i want to be but probably think it would look pretty funny...

 

Yeah, it probably did. I was speaking from experience. Ya know what "hedgeapples" are? Those large sticky green things, I think they're a form of fruit from Mulberry or Osage Orange trees.

So here's 17-year old Fitz, blasting down a FRESHLY ASPHALTED stretch of twisties on his buddy's uncle's beautiful old fixed-peg Triumph TR6 (650cc single carb with a luggage rack on top of the gas tank) and I go honking into a tight (blind but I knew the road) right hander and get into a whole bunch of hedgeapples which completely upsets my line and I proceed to DIG A PEG into the fresh asphalt.

The Trump comes to an IMMEDIATE HALT, pivoting about the dug peg, ands SPITS me off on the low side. But the road is littered with hedgeapples which act like large sticky green marbles and I go skipping down the road on my butt grinding my wallet off the back of my jeans as I go. Flailing about wildly trying to stop. Had there been any spectators I'm sure someone would have died LAUGHING. I didn't. It took the rest of the summers' pay to fix the bike.

 

Add another XJ-er to the delaminated brakes ! (I'll rat out the event, but not his name) The guy was at the good part of a hard tail build where the engine gets running but there's no lights or front brake, so he blasts up a looong driveway to impress his friends, hits the brake which doesn't lock, it barely works. He Fred Flinstone's it to stop just before the swimming pool.

 

Re: SAFETY ALERT Drum rear brake bike owners please take a l

I know I'm going to get flamed for this. On the last basket case I brought back I noticed the rear brake was weak on the "Oh my God this thing will run" test ride around the block. This bike had been sitting in a field under a plastic tarp for at least 2 years and had not been ridden for many years before that. It had 28K showing on the clock whem we got it. I hadn't even pulled the rear wheel yet just because we had not gotten that far in the restoration process, still in the discovery phase. Anyway, when I did pull the brake apart to do the rear inspection and spline lube the arbitrative on both shoes was no longer attached to the shoe. Both pieces were intact. I was on a tight time table to get this one done so I removed brake shoes from the assembly. Wire brushed both of the aluminum shoes where the arbitrative material was supposes to be mounted. Cleaned the area with acetone and did the same thing to the delaminated arbitrative parts. I then buttered the shoes with JB wield about an 1/8 of an inch thick and positioned the parts together with spring clamps. Let them sit for 24 hours. Told the owner to owner to order new shoes but continued with the fix it test ride it process. I even took it out with the intent of seeing if I could lock up the rear brake. You could lock them up all day with no problem. Did not seem to matter how hot I got them. Anyway the parts never came in so it was delivered that way. Told him to change them asap. As far as I know they have not been changed and that was about 5K miles ago! I think I'll forward this post to him as a reminder. I do not condone this method but it did keep it going for the time being.

 

Wow,that post actually turned my stomach.I rode the last half of last season on a rear tire that was all but pooched and brakes that were never checked beyond making sure they stopped the bike.By coincidence,I booked an appointment yesterday to have those very issues fixed.

 

Re: SAFETY ALERT Drum rear brake bike owners please take a l

Another big thanks to Fitz.

The shoes on my XJ looked pretty good so I left them on even though I bought a new set. Now I'm going put the new shoes on before I take the next ride.

In MD they do a fairly thorough inspection before you can register a motorcycle - except for classic plates which is what I have on the XJ. For my Kawasaki I had to put new rotors and pads all the way around to pass inspection. I should have done the same on the Yamaha rather than just check them.

Sometimes I want to kick myself.

 

Re: SAFETY ALERT Drum rear brake bike owners please take a l

Thank again fitz for the alert. It's a good warning for all of us. I'm restoring a bike that sat for 10 years and only has 9400 miles so thanks to you this is definately on my to do list.(that list gets longer every day)

 

Re: SAFETY ALERT Drum rear brake bike owners please take a l

Upon this post i took off the rear tire to see the brakes and looky here.

And to think i just took this for a test run the other day. I didn't push any brakes real hard while on the test run. Did feel funny though.

 

Re: SAFETY ALERT Drum rear brake bike owners please take a l

Some one on this web site is clairvoyant. After getting the lean problem straight this morning It was time for an extended road test. About 120 miles today and the bike ran perfect. Made it home and parked in the drive. Came back a little while latter to push it into the garage. It pushed really hard. Put it up on the center stand and noticed the rear wheel was really stiff to turn. Pulled it off and here is what I found


NEW PARTS ON ORDER Bike only has 13k on the clock and looks great. It was always stored inside. No telling when this is gonig to happen. Regular inspection is the only way to be safe.

 

Absolutely amazing! Glad you found out about them while at you house.


Could we be looking at a mass failure of the bonding agent 25 years after installation?

Note to Chacal: Stock up on rear brake shoes because there may be a run on them

 

i think some of you guys are going to find that after putting on new brake shoes your brakes don't work as well as they did before
it takes a good while for the shoes to get seated to the drum, until then the brakes suck
you can help this along by using them for awhile and pulling the wheel again and sanding the high spots a little

 

Tito, are those cracks or corrosion discoloration? I've seen sitting water do this but I've never seen a crack.

 

It's a close to dark shot on my cell phone and i tried to doctor it up on my comp so we could see it better. But what you are looking at is what would normally be attatched to the metal brake compressor. There are lines on the inside of the pads and i'm guessing they came from trying to stop with them in this condition. The dark crack you see in the center is where the 2 brake pads meet.

 

Yeah; Robert- The pic is of his two LININGS just laying in the drum. Can you say OMG?!?

By the way, thanks to you-know-who (chacal, if you dont) I'm
ALL BETTER NOW.



I just want to say I'm REALLY GLAD that you guys are checking your brake shoes. This one rattled the crap outta me.

 

alll, I like my brake pads WITH asbestos.

no joke, In our school auditorium, we use asbestos wiring still, cuz we have a ton lying around from when the school was built, our teacher said its no big deal, lol, oh well, you gotta die sometime dont ya?

 

I believe your teacher to be correct. As I recall, the people at risk from asbestos were the people who worked with it or worked around: asbestos work in progress or old asbestos that was coming apart. The problem is breathing the dust. The normal person just isn't breathing it.

 

There are 4 kinds of asbestos, only 2 kinds cause cancer, but all 4 are now illegal to manufacture. Definitely avoid breathing the dust.

 

Whether asbestos or other nasty organic material, this is good advice.

When you take them apart, and they look like my first pic or the one posted by wingnut325, the best bet is to use a WET cleaner like SimpleGreen rather than hit it with a blast of air.

 

Took the wheels off yesterday to put new tires on. Now seeing this thread gave me an "OH ****" moment, as I rode all last season without looking into this as an issue at all.

My mindset was: "brakes work fine, great."

I'm glad I know now, I'll clean up the brake and make sure the shoes look good before I put those wheels back on.

 

Re: SAFETY ALERT Drum rear brake bike owners please take a l

Fitz, thanks again for the heads up. All well here but getting replaced anyway

 

Ok Guys! I'm convinced! Anyone who doesnt check the brakes shouldn't be riding.

Now, Does any one have a good HOW TO: on the subject? I can do most cars with my eyes closed (some might say that last set I did I had my eyes closed... but thats a longer story) But I havent yet pulled off my back tire and would really like the benefit of learning from past experiences.

 

Re: SAFETY ALERT Drum rear brake bike owners please take a l

Words to LIVE by:

Once you get the WHEEL off and out, replacing the shoes is child's play, hard to imagine any task on these bikes that is simpler.

 

Re: SAFETY ALERT Drum rear brake bike owners please take a l

Fitz, thanks for the reminder about the brakes. You probably saved my life.

Glad I looked mine over. The rear was fine, but I had stuck calipers on the front. Funny thing is that even though they were stuck, there was just enough movement to give the appearance that they were working.

So, I guess the moral of the story is that even if your brakes seem to be working, that doesn't mean that they are in tip top shape. If you pick up a bike that has been sitting, better completely go through the brakes even if you aren't from Missouri the 'Show Me' state.

 

Re: SAFETY ALERT Drum rear brake bike owners please take a l

OK so how about a HOW to on removing the rear wheel?

 

Hey! I found one... in the How to: section .. Imagine that

 

should have read it first ... It's how to change a tire . . Not about xj wheel removal

 

On the 550 you pretty much take off the nut, drop the adjusters out of the way and push the wheel forward to clear the chain off the sprocket, remove the push blocks, pull out the axle, and extract the wheel. (Disconnect rear brake first.)

Then simply lift the brake clear of the drum.

Is there more to it on the shafties?

 

This will probably get you there. Disconnect the stay and rear brake. Just keep unscrewing the brake adjustment screw until it comes off. Remove the nut, and take a rubber hammer and give the nut side a little pop. Slide the axel out and you will see you now have room to slide the wheel to the brake side. You may have to take your rubber hammer again to the shaft side of the wheel to get it to release from the shaft splines.

Easy breezy. When installing it back on, if you can't get the shaft side to seat, then run the axel back through and put the nut on and keep turning to walk the wheel back on the splines. Be careful that you have your splines lined up. If the nut is easy to spin, they are lined up. If it starts binding, then stop, loosen the nut just a little, and jiggle the wheel to see if it will line up.

 

Well while it is down for painting I guess I am goin to add disasemble the rear brake to the to do list... sigh.

 

ya its a piece of cake taking it off actually, the only problem i came across was the adjuster bolts were stripped and making sure the bike is aligned and the chain is corectly tenstioned was a pain going back and forth between each adjuster. But Honestly took me maybe 20 mins top to take it off (time includes getting the right size tooks and vice grips to get the strip bolt out :lol: ) Definatly worth taking it off just to check the brakes!

 

{BUMP} I've linked this thread in responses to two new members' "just got my new bike!" posts in the last couple hours. Since there are at least a half dozen more that need to see it as well, so I thought it might be time to "bump" it so the new XJ owners have some warning as well...

SO: New owners especially, if you don't know for 100% sure that your bike has had its rear brake shoes replaced at some point, PLEASE take a few minutes and check for delamination. This seems to be a very common failure.