SAFETY ALERT Drum rear brake bike owners please take a look

By the way, how many hours do you have to have in the saddle to not be called a wannabe biker here? Under my name when I post it says wannabe. most of you all 'wannabe' havin' the miles I got.

 

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

It's not the HOURS you've spent riding that elevates you out of "wannabe" status but the number of posts you have made to the forum that makes the difference.

Keep postin' and keep riding! You will quickly graduate to the next level.

 

And there are a few of us that do. There are a handful of us old fart "lifers" here, welcome aboard.

You don't still have the '53 Tweed Spin, do you? If so, we want pictures.

 

My bike still isn't running but it's getting close. I figured I should check the brakes while I'm waiting on some parts and they looked just like that first picture only with way more brake dust. I wouldn't have even checked if not for this thread. Thanks for looking out for us all bigfitz. You probably saved my a--.

 

When I saw this thread pop back up I thought it was the "new guy" (k.joel.porter) who had a delam and rear wheel lockup and I asked him to bump this thread.

This is a REAL COMMON failure; anyone else who is riding around on a drum brake equipped XJ needs to look RIGHT NOW if you haven't.

Thanks Tiny.

 

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

Thanks bigfitz, i had my maxim x this spring n rode it quite a few times, didnt check the brake shoes..will certainly do so coming spring. It did sit for 2 full years in all weathers before i assumed it.

 

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

yeah... I was going to make a post when I had pictures. I will probably be removing the wheel and replacing the shoes this weekend.

So here's my story: October 28 I bought my first bike, a 1981 XJ550 Maxim. The carbs were sitting in the box and the bike hadn't run in at least a year. I cleaned the carbs, and did some "tune-up" on the bike (new batt, plugs, caps, etc.) and she sprang to life on the fourth or fifth try. I went for a quick jolt around the neighborhood and the brakes worked fine with no squeal and the trans shifted perfectly. So I went to the DMV on the 8th only to fail the inspection due to reflectors and a faulty horn :x so I went straight home. When I was slowing for a stop sign in my neighborhood I felt the foot-brake shudder under pressure and the engine stalled. Long story short my rear shoes are (90% positive) delaminated. THANK GOD this happened at roughly 5mph slowing to a stop and not two minutes earlier when I was going 60 on the expressway!!! I was fortunately able to stop the bike upright; any faster and I would have bit it on a low-side. Check your brakes!

 

sorry to bring up an old thread but this needs a bump. i got some new tires this weekend and i figured while the rear wheel is off i may as well get some new brake shoes. the old shoes looked find when i took them off, but upon further inspection just the tiniest pressure made this big piece fall off.



this is something every drum brake owner needs to inspect brake shoes are very cheap you can get them shipped for around $40 which i think is well worth your safety. not only that but its easy to put the new shoes in and clean out the drum and the hub.

this thread should be sticky'd for new members or prospective buyers to check out a bike they're thinking about buying. thanks fitz for pointing this out or i wouldnt have thought to check this out!

 

lopez; You don't need to apologize for "bumping" it; until it gets "stickied" it's the only way to effectively spread the word.

Yet another "actually happened to me" delamination story; and you put it where it needed to be. Thank you.

For anyone riding a drum-brake bike who hasn't checked yet: Please don't put it off!

 

I did it fitz, on my SEca with 1900 miles, I pulled them out looked fine, lots of wear left, I set them on the picnic table, and my dad was checking them out, wondering why I changed them, told him about the delamintion, he said,"well throw them away then" and tossed them to me... while I was sitting down working o nthe bike, they landed next to me, on the carpet I had set down, and little chunks broke off.

so yep even though those pads are practically "new" they're junk

 

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

I got new shoes at a local bike shop for 25 dollars. I hope that you all value your lives at least that much if not more.

 

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

+1

Sometimes people think that some of us are being "overly cautious" or even downright anal preaching about the NEED to go through these old bikes carefully before you go flying down the highway at speed.

This is a very good example of exactly why you can't just buy an old bike and start riding it. I've resurrected old bikes for years; always inspected the brakes. This delamination thing was a new one on me; never saw anything quite like it before except on a Honda CAR and I didn't realize until now what I had experienced with that. But the widespread occurance of this with the old XJs makes it something we need to talk about, and frequently. It happens WAY too often.

 

This thead MUST be made in to a sticky!!!

 

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

I've had a chain bust on me on the bike I have now, the 550 maxim. Ripped into the chain guard before locking the rear wheel up. Can't prepare for that. I have seen delaminated brakes and just the thought of them is freaky... especially ones that were being used. GAWD. I even check them on cars now.

 

hey now. delaminated brakes aren't ALL bad. the plate that attaches to the bottom of the carb rack would rattle when it hit its resonance frequency from ~ 2000 - 3500rpm. so i took a piece of the pad that fell off the old shoes and stuck it between the plate and the starter and bam no more rattling.

so old broken brake shoes are still useful! just not as brakes, jesus no.

 

Fantastic thread.

 

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

Here's the continuation of my delam horror story:

So after four months I finally cracked my drum open and here are the pictures of the three pieces that slid out:





That's right, folks, double total delam! scarrry

CHECK YOUR BRAKES!

 

This doesn't just apply to old brake shoes. I just did the rear drum brakes on a car, the shoes were only a year and a half old, and one of the pads fell rite out. I hate to say it, but the de-lam check should be done yearly.

 

Bumping this thread. I found delamination about 2 weeks ago on my rear brakes, thanks to this thread and bigfitz' advice!

 

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

So there was some info previously about removing the rear wheel, but does anyone have a link of some more details about getting the rear off and getting at the drum?

I'm pretty keen to have a look at the mechanism.