Honda-SOHC
SOHC.co.uk Forums => CB350/400 => Topic started by: DaveN on March 24, 2020, 04:29:35 PM
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Well, here's one I didn't expect.
Prior to a 250 mile nuts'n'bolts check, I had slackened off the rear brake operating lever as, when the good lady wife was aboard, the rear was binding (I presume from the extra weight compressing the shocks etc). All was fine, put a few more gentle miles on the rebuilt engine and back to my man it went for said torque-checking.
Collected it today (before we come under martial-law and start shooting curfew-breakers) and gave it a few harder miles (which required harder braking) and found that the rear brake pedal had a distinct detent in its travel with a correspondingly exciting extension of stopping distance. Safely home and a closer inspection reveals that the pedal toe guard is catching the collector box and then pushing past it to apply full braking (see photo)
Now, I did not assemble the machine, so my question to all you stars who have is:
If I slacken all the exhaust assembly bolts, will there be enough movement/adjustment available to move the collector box a few mill in-board or do I need to apply brute-force and crank the brake lever out some? I do recall hearing that these systems are a bit fiddly to get lined up.
And yes, I know I have been cheap and powder-coated the levers rather than re-chroming them, but I want use it, not peruse it and I feel it was a contemporary cosmetic solution.
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I suspect the pedal has been bent in the past
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It does look bent in slightly. I had the same problem and couldn't bend the pedal out enough despite lots of heat and brute force in the vice. Ended up buying a pattern pedal. There is very little clearance as standard, but check the pedal height adjustment is right, then adjust the brake rod at the brake drum. That might help.
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If it helps, this is my standard non bent brake pedal with original headers/collector box.
Pic 1 shows the pedal in its resting position with plenty of clearance.
Pic 2 . The clearance when pedal fully depressed.(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200325/ff9f5f86e06786c3c5e11607d7a1c30d.jpg)(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200325/8720f5ab61da3dc5ced6dc3a7d01ad07.jpg)
Sent from my I3312 using Tapatalk
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And a full side on photo with the lever in its resting position(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200325/76bd5d292ccd306d81a55eec028b1445.jpg)
Sent from my I3312 using Tapatalk
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Thanks All.
Compared to NJ's original, mine looks to be set too low. I'll re-set the pedal/linkage and see if that gives me the clearance.
Thanks Nurse Julie, if you are active in the current Corvid 19 scenario, thank you and keep safe :-)
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SORTED!
It seems we simply missed the pedal/shaft alignment dots :o
Re-assembled as per the set-up instructions and it all works as it should.
Once again, many thanks to all who helped with suggestions and piccys :)
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As an aside, does anybody know what the big loop on the foot-rest mount is there for?
It's clear on Nurse Julie's photo.
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Its the roadkill mounting point
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Its the roadkill mounting point
How heavy a person can you mount on it?
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As an aside, does anybody know what the big loop on the foot-rest mount is there for?
It's clear on Nurse Julie's photo.
Speculative, but I think they are to prevent the brake lever being pushed into the clutch cover if you drop the bike on that side.
In common with most Japanese brake levers of that era, they leave a very defined tang on the engine side of the foot plate that was often "punched" through the casing even if the bike simply fell over while stationary.