[scouse]

Can anyone tell me the best brake shoes to get my brake performance is bad. The brakes I have now are not the original but were bought from a reputable dealer in the states.

[stinkwheel]

I just had a set relined by a motor factors. Not for an enfield but they were on another bike which had truly apalling brakes.

I was a bit put off by the price but having ridden the bike, I'm going to get my bullets ones done too with the same stuff.

For reference they used TRIMAC MR2215 on mine. I think that's a UK company but I'm sure there is a US equivalent. Ferrodo always used to be the goto relining material.

The motor factors I used usually deals with heavy goods vehicles but they said they can get pretty much anything relined. I did have to shape them a little with some course zinc oxide paper and put a chamfer on the leading edge but they were pretty close to concentric out of the box, just a little over-thick, I didn't need to mess about with chalk lines and suchlike.

EDIT:  I should add, there is a lot you can do with setup on bullet brakes, a small tweak can be the difference between adequate and apalling brakes. Particularly getting the shoes centred and paralell with the drum. I tend to do the final tightening of either the hub centre nut on the front or the wheel spindle and anti-torque bolt on the rear with the wheel in place and the brake held on so everything is centred before being locked-down.

[AzCal Retred]

There is a lot of info here on the Forum about setting up and adjusting the front brake. The Hitchcock's "sticky" shoes work very well, a real improvement over O&M "lifetime" shoes. Bullet Whisperer races with a ventilated drum "1950's Hot Rod style" and has had good results. Search on "brakes".

[Raymond]

EDIT:  I should add, there is a lot you can do with setup on bullet brakes, a small tweak can be the difference between adequate and apalling brakes. Particularly getting the shoes centred and paralell with the drum. I tend to do the final tightening of either the hub centre nut on the front or the wheel spindle and anti-torque bolt on the rear with the wheel in place and the brake held on so everything is centred before being locked-down.

I'll just echo that point. Front brake on my Bullet's was awful - somebody had modified the brake by drilling out the trunnion on the tls link rod. With that replaced, brake dismantled and cleaned, pivots lubed, re-assembled with the brake arms parallel, the brake has been transformed to perfectly acceptable.

[Adrian II]

The drilled trunnion was a Hitchcocks' mod - it has come in for a fair bit of criticism.

A.

[allanfox]

If you can speak to these guys, great old school service and quality product, transformed mine.

https://villiersservices.co.uk/product/brake-shoe-re-lining-service/

 

[Paul W]

I’m pleased to know that someone else has found the improvement the new linings provide. They’ve also done the rear shoes on my little car (the photo in the advert might even be the ones they did for me) and they’ve worked really well on that, too.

[whitehillbilly]

I have used Villiers Services in the past.
Great service to Australia.

whitehillbilly

[Raymond]

Glad we're back on line! My apologies for post not relevant to the thread, but I didn't think it worthwhile starting a new thread.

I couldn't make any connection with this forum late last night and again today - made a few attempts, same server unavailable error message. I assumed it would come back later. Does this happen from time to time? Has it ever happened before?

[AzCal Retred]

Same here. Usually there is "site maintenance" on the occasional Sunday, maybe this time things went sideways?

[Ölfield]

Villiers Services
Highly recommend.
Relining takes about four weeks.
Fits right out of the box and needs little bedding in by normal use.
https://villiersservices.co.uk/product/brake-shoe-re-lining-service/

[stinkwheel]

My local motor factors did them in 3 days and that was only because they has to be sent off to be bonded on. They do rivett-on same day.

https://www.kandsmckenzieltd.co.uk/services/brake-re-lining/

[Ölfield]

My experiences are just for the single lever front brake model. Villiers pads made the brake useful the first time.

[Adrian II]

I'm not sure the 6" single-sided front brake was that safe in 1949, let alone in Indian or modern European traffic! however the double-sided 6" front brake which came after it could be persuaded to work very nicely.

A.

[Ölfield]

Adrian, you are absolutely right.
I could not get any sufficient braking power out of my single sided single lever front brake and I really would call it dangerous. As I needed some spare parts for my Villiers type S25 cab (79 Indian Bullet) I gave Villiers Services a try and they did very well. I love the look of the single brake and now I can leave it as it is.
The brake has lot more power and can be used much more precisely. Brake pads are from a woven material and I will find out how long they last.