brake shoes

[florence]

I fitted new brake shoes at the weekend, fitted being the operative word.  The pattern ones from Dave Silver Spares do not fit properly and I had to file a small amount of aluminium off each one in order to fit into the brake cam and also to have enough gap to get split pin to go through.  Not very good.

[matthewmosse]

I had a set that the friction material was stuck on lopsided, the pattern ones are sometimes not the best quality. Could be worse, I've had brake pads have the linings just drop off when I changed a wheel, then 2 months back I had the rear linings un glue themselfs and lock the rear wheel, on both my 125 when I was riding, luckily right by some traffic lights and at very low speed, on the 250, even luckyer, as it was when I was changing the tyre again. I'm building a proper shed to keep the weather off the bikes now, in the hope that I stop having all these mishaps.

[Bitsa (Ralph Wright - RIP)]

Said it b4 say it again all the pattern stuff I have bought is CRAP.I can not think of anything that fitted without grief,even pattern indicators are too big for genuine stubs.
Cheers
Bitsa

[Trigger]

Ha, but the OEM wiring loom was not up to standard. What i can't understand Bitsa, is why didn't you make your own loom.

[Bitsa (Ralph Wright - RIP)]

Too bone idle resting on oem laurels but to be fair not hard to fix.We all know about resting on laurels they went bust.
Cheers
Bitsa

[matthewmosse]

I should say, I'm not totally sure where my brake shoes came from, might have come with a bike or from a well known supplier, I don't keep records of this stuff, or have not in the past at any rate as genrally speaking I'm used to wearing stuff out rather than returning it, however I do think it would be handy to know if these shoes have a shelf life, and what that might be.

[florence]

Matthew, I have had friction material come off too.  Once, riding to Exeter the rear brake came on really hard at about 60MPH, slowed me down to a standstill.  After that the wheel wouldn't turn.  The only answer was to slacken off the brakes completely and take the shoes out. 

Makes me think I should have bought a few sets of genuine ones while they were still available, arrgghh

[matthewmosse]

I belive Venhills do re lining - read it on here a few days ago I think, might be better and cheaper. I think damp getting behind the lining may be where it starts, I'm quite used to finding it on old project bikes where one end of the shoe just starts to lift, trouble is I'm finding it more on my regular bikes, I think it may be partly as I've not been keeping them indoors the past few years.

[florence]

I keep mine outside and I'm sure that is the problem.  I replaced the current shoes as a precaution because the bike had been standing for a while and the shoes looked corroded.

[ka-ja]

Hi,
     i too had my  rear linings drop off the shoes when I stripped the bike after being stored in the damp. I don't think that is a matter of cheap after market products only, as mine were original shoes, it's more a case of glue fatigue and alloy oxidation, or alloy oxidation because of the glue. There is a lot to be said for good old fashioned copper rivets they used to use, I have even re-lined shoes myself, although rivits did squeal a bit if the linings got worn too far.

[matthewmosse]

I'm giving serious thought to if I could do that with mine. Mostly it is re assuring that there is something I can do about it by building a shed to keep them dry most of the time, though as they get used for going to work for sleep in shifts wet is something they'll have to live with, but I might make dropping the wheel a pre and mid winter service job, not too much of a hardship, tyre change should take care of one of those and chain service / replacement means I'm often in there in any case.

[andy_c101]

As I posted only last week:   http://www.sohc.co.uk/index.php?topic=6300.0
& its early days yet, but I had my shoes re-lined at Villiers Services.

At least there was no problem installing the shoes at the first attempt (unlike those DS pattern shoes florence mentioned).
- done 50+ miles and they feel fine.

[LesterPiglet]

I think it was EBC shoes I got last time. 4500 miles so far.