best drum brake

[Big D]

I have the choice of
Triumph twin leading shoe
Norton twin leading shoe
Suzuki T500 twin leading shoe
The bike is a Classic 60's 650 Triumph. Since we have limited experience using drum brakes I need help. Mike at Vintage brake says they all have there good points and flaws. Anybody got a better one for sale? The Triumph weighs the most. The Norton cost the most to make work well and I have been told the T500 will crack and possibly break during use. Thanks for the input.

[Triumph #207]

I have the choice of
Triumph twin leading shoe
Norton twin leading shoe
Suzuki T500 twin leading shoe
The bike is a Classic 60's 650 Triumph. Since we have limited experience using drum brakes I need help. Mike at Vintage brake says they all have there good points and flaws. Anybody got a better one for sale? The Triumph weighs the most. The Norton cost the most to make work well and I have been told the T500 will crack and possibly break during use. Thanks for the input.

My Triumph TLS front brake works great as a result of Mike's excellent work until its starts to fade on some tracks... Then again I'd never had a bike with disc brake until last year so my experience is relative.

As an aside, first time I used a disc brake(at Mid-Ohio), supplied by your good selves, it brought me off at the end of the back straight on the first lap of of my first practice session (I was used to grabbing a handful). Detuned me for the rest of the weekend but started to get used to it after that - really like it now!

BTW, I've heard that that the later much maligned cable-linked Triumph conical front brake can be made to work better than the earlier rod-linked one, but only if set-up right (mine is rod-linked).

p.s. I'm hoping to do Classic 650's later this year.

[ChuckS]

I ran a conical Triumph TLS last year on my Classic 60s 650 bike.
The rules state that later BSA / Triumph drum brakes are acceptable.
The conical weighs WAY less than the earlier brake. 5 lbs less if I remember correctly, I'd have to go back and check my notes.
I extended the brake arms about 1.5" each and that got the brake to "satisfactory"....barely (with sorta generic replacement shoes).
But then I was used to disc brakes.
I've sent some shoes off to merry ol'England to get relined in a performance compound; we'll see how it feels this year.

[Gordon Smith]

Personal experience only, but:

The late Triumph works extremely well after the actuating arms are lengthened about 7/8 inch and some performance shoes are installed. It is a heavy lump and if it is lightened by the usual holes in the hub, you get a lot of crud inside the hub. I never had any trouble setting them up. Just set each shoe individually, then do it again. Use a slightly stronger spring between the two actuating arms or you can get some drag.

The Norton TLS with a strengthening plate works a dream and is not as heavy as the Triumph.

The T500 brake works best of all but is prone to cracks and fractures. Have plenty of Zyglo on hand if you go that route. I went though three of them before I found one that was and stayed crack free. I wouldn't voluntarily use one of them again.

I always go for a balance of braking power and weight since I tried a light bike with a great heavy front brake (Triumph conical). The handling only became good when I changed to a lighter brake assembly.

[moore007]

I have a conical on my T-100 that Mr Morse worked on and it does pretty well, no complains. I took to "flight " at Barber when a Titan split and flipped me and the bike several times, not good. In my opinion, they are not worth the risk. It's really not a matter of " if ", just " when" they will go to hell . I have an xs650 drum that Mr Morse worked his majic on and it has been quite good also.

[Big D]

I did not think about the conical hub brake. I have used one of those in my first year of AHRMA racing. I built a bike for the Sportsman 650 class. Yes back when Moby Dick was just a minnow they had a Sportsman 650 class. Pre 1970 650 with drum brakes were the rules. Spent all winter and thousands of dollars on it only to find out 3 weeks before the season opener that they had dropped the 650 class. There was no internet and the rule book came out real late how was I to know. Any way I ran the first couple of races and did okay. I was at the shop one Sunday afternoon and had the gearbox out for some reason. Jack Wilson showed up to see what was going on. I test rode the bike but only had 4 gears ,the shifter was indexed wrong. Jack said everything else okay? I told him the brake sucked.( I really wanted a disc!) You fix the gearbox and I fix the brake he said. He takes the wheel off ,extends the levers. and puts everything back on about the time I finish the gearbox. I test ride it down the street and happily I have five gears Then I get to the stop sign and grab a handful and was down faster than I could blink. The bike and I slide halfway under a park truck in front of a house where there are a couple dozen people having a BBQ in the yard staring at this dumb white boy. I pick the bike up and start pushing it back only to see Jack standing in the street where he had seen the whole thing. I get close and he says smiling ear to ear. Brake works. how"s it shift?
I still have that brake and it has moved to the top of the list.

[grandpaul]

"I meant to do that"...

[WFO100]

I've run the T500 brake on a sportsman 350 bike. It works extremely well. Our is welded up on the backside along the reinforcing ribs, and we haven't cracked it yet although we cracked two that weren't welded up. It works well and is light. I have also seen a lot of sportsman guys running XS650 drums, but i don't have any personal experience with that set up.

On the premiere 500 bike, we run a lightened 4 leading shoe Suzuki GT750 brake. It is the best stopping drum i have ever used, but on the downside it does weigh a ton. Steve Brown runs a tz350 drum on his honda, which looks to be an excellant compromise. I have been looking for one myself but they are pretty rare...

[Steve 976]

+1 on the Suzuki GT750 brake. I have one on my Sportsman 500 bike. A Honda CB450. Works great. Very heavy.

[phantom309]

+1 on the Suzuki GT750 brake. I have one on my Sportsman 500 bike. A Honda CB450. Works great. Very heavy.

Guy ,You want a brake check out the one on the manx .Its the mack daddy I think its a fontana. Way out of my price range but its better then my single disc but not as good as the double. The spokes are like 2 inches long its so big.In the rain I don't dare use it.

[Slowguzzi]

http://www.vintagebrake.com/drumspec.htm

I put a CB450 front hub on a Bultaco project. After drilling it weighed about 9.5 lbs. Bought it for $40 at a wreckers. GT 750 weighs twice as much.

[ericpritchard]

I used a front brake from a T500 a little while ago and it worked fine until it broke in half going into Turn 1 at Willow Springs. It was an exciting moment, to say the least. When inspected, the brake hub showed hairline cracks around the webs.I have a very nice T500 backplate, complete with shoes etc, modified to fit Ducati forks - free to a good home!!
Eric Pritchard
#170

[Big D]

The rules say twin leading shoe. No four leading shoe brakes. I have a Oldani twin leading shoe on my Classic 60s Triton but did not want to shell out that much money. Trying the use what we got method. Going to use the Conical hub with a Norton road holder front end and 63 Triumph frame. I can use internal spring Norton front end right?

[phantom309]

The rules say twin leading shoe. No four leading shoe brakes. I have a Oldani twin leading shoe on my Classic 60s Triton but did not want to shell out that much money. Trying the use what we got method. Going to use the Conical hub with a Norton road holder front end and 63 Triumph frame. I can use internal spring Norton front end right?

Keith this is not your beautiful triton its, somethiing else.?We got talking good brakes and I got off on something else.You guys going to make Daytona?

[kawracer]

The early Kawasaki H1 drum brake also works very well. It is a double leading brake with shoes 8 inches in diameter and 2 inches wide.

[Steve 976]

I am using a CB450 front drum on my CB350, works great with the Vintage Brake linings and Chuck Skarsaune's mad work with a lathe....

[Hate McDead]

The T500 has been pretty much discarded by everyone going back at least 15 years if not more. They are notorious for failing. they should be avoided at all costs and replace by everyone using them today. It's good that this forum touched on this subject because important information such as this gets lost in the shuffle over time. A refresher course is a good byproduct of websites like this one. Even the thread on brake fluds is rewarding to all of us old salts.