 |
|
6 Dec 2006
|
|
Registered Users
HUBB regular
|
|
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Brum
Posts: 44
|
|
|
like he says, drums are history.
On the road a big trail bike and drums don't mix, I could get one maybe one or two fast stops on a Suzuki SP400 or XT500 before the lever was back at the bars due to the drum expanding with heat. You really are onto a loser with a small drum, heavy bike and a big wheel e.g. old trail bikes that'll top 70mph
In the mud and deep water they are a liability as the mud gets into the works and takes an age before the crap clears from the shoes, if it ever does, otherwise it's a strip-down. That's when you discover the cam bearing has worn oval because it's got full of that mud which wouldn't come out..
So drums vs disks..let's see how many performance bikes (road or dirt) we can count that still use drums.. one..(no that's a Harley)..errr..
|
6 Dec 2006
|
|
Registered Users
HUBB regular
|
|
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 52
|
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by smokinrider
If your going to retro fit a drum brake i would suggest taking the starter motor off of your car and replacing it with the trusty starting handle.
|
Well, my housemate now has to park on hills with the car I sold him for $150. So who needs a starter motor, or handle for that matter?
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by smokinrider
same for the bike, junk the e start and fit a kick.
|
Never had an e-start, and got the XT because I didn't want one. Even though I have bad knees.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by smokinrider
why not move into a cave and do away with 1000's of years of evolution all together.
|
My cave is quite comfortable, thank you very much.
As for my brow ridge, DON'T EVEN GO THERE.
|
6 Dec 2006
|
|
Registered Users
HUBB regular
|
|
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: scotland
Posts: 74
|
|
|
Drum versus disc, no contest, disc wins.
I`d go with spike, use another setup on front to give you the lift that has a disc fitted
|
6 Dec 2006
|
|
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
|
|
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,598
|
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Mr. Ron
I have to question this line of thinking. Drum brakes are far more complicated than disk brakes. Here's my case:
-Drum brakes activate on a cam, which must ride on either a bushing or bearing. Both are prone to wear.
-Drum brakes use springs, which are prone to breaking and possibly dificult to find a suitable replacement.
I have Never had to replace either springs or bushings, but if i did need to, any village blacksmith in the third world would be able to fix it.
-When drums rust, your brakes will stick until everything is worn away.
-Drum brakes SUCK when they get wet!
same applies to disks...
-Drum brakes are dinosaur technology and were replaced with a simpler, more eficient disc system.
Dinasaurs were around longer than mammals, many beleive they evolved into birds.
-Drum brakes need some form of adjustment, probably a cable. That being said, cable operated brakes are grosely ineficient with more parts to maintain.
maybe so, but they easily non technically fixable...
-All cars all around the world operate with disk brakes. This means if you can find a mechanic that fixes brakes, they will most likely be able to help you.
-Almost all bikes in the world have disk brakes, so parts can be found or altered in a pinch.
ok, go into your ford garage and get your motorbike seals or pads replaced.
Disc brakes are incredibly simple, self adjusting and efficient.They have a minimum amount of moving parts, and are all hydraulicly operated. They are very easy to maintain. It's your brakes and how you use them that will save your life in certain circumstances. Given the choice, i would never swap diacs for drum brakes.  |
Actually, i did not say modern disk brakes were worse than drum, just that in third world countries drums are about sufficient, and more maintainable.
|
6 Dec 2006
|
|
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
|
|
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,598
|
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by smokinrider
If your going to retro fit a drum brake i would suggest taking the starter motor off of your car and replacing it with the trusty starting handle. same for the bike, junk the e start and fit a kick.
DRUM brakes, i ask you. what next.
|
Most modern ignition systems wont start on a flat battery because the electronics need near full voltage to operate the ignition syatem. So a kickstart wont work. Nor can you bumpstart. On all of my old Triumphs i just had to turn the ignition switch to emergency if i had left the lights on and had a flat battery. it would then start as normal.
Understand, the bike and features I would want for touring third world countries are no necessarily what I would choose for western Europe. You have to be in a rural area out of mobile phone contact before you can appreciate the different needs.
|
6 Dec 2006
|
 |
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
|
|
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Vancouver, BC, for now...
Posts: 792
|
|
I'm Changing Over!
Well, i'm convinced! I'm changing over tomorrow! Bloody disk brakes with Everything that can fail on them....no, the Ludites are correct! Why have a nearly maintinence free system when you can give some blacksmith in Somalia a job forging a spring or laminating a new pad onto a shoe. Or maybe give the Bolivian bikeshop some business replacing a frayed cable or turning a new bushing?
...yeh, right. Great idea!....Use drum brakes! They're easier to fix???... After all, the third world has never heard of such a revolutionary item as disk brakes. After all, in the third world, who needs brakes?
This is getting silly, time to move on.
I just hope Electric Sheep can tell the diference between good advise and bad advise.
Last edited by Mr. Ron; 6 Dec 2006 at 21:55.
|
6 Dec 2006
|
 |
Gold Member
Veteran HUBBer
|
|
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Reno,NV,USA
Posts: 560
|
|
Calm down Mr Ron, the last I knew you had both drums and disc brakes.
Or did you buy a "modern bike".
|
7 Dec 2006
|
|
Registered Users
HUBB regular
|
|
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 52
|
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Mr. Ron
Well, i'm convinced! I'm changing over tomorrow! Bloody disk brakes with Everything that can fail on them....no, the Ludites are correct! Why have a nearly maintinence free system when you can give some blacksmith in Somalia a job forging a spring or laminating a new pad onto a shoe. Or maybe give the Bolivian bikeshop some business replacing a frayed cable or turning a new bushing?
|
Well, let's compare disc brake to drum brake failures, and see how you'd deal with either in the bush. How am I going to get a tribesman to rebuild my master cylinder? With drum brakes, I could make a bushing from wood, pads from bark, a spring from the bones of a small fish, a cable from antelope sinew, etc.
|
7 Dec 2006
|
|
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
|
|
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Vancouver, BC, for now...
Posts: 792
|
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by John Ferris
Calm down Mr Ron, the last I knew you had both drums and disc brakes.
Or did you buy a "modern bike".
|
Yeh, your right! I can honestly say i speak from experience. Actually, it's kind of funny, i ordered a new set of shoes today. $112!! Can you beleive that!?!
BTW...They suck! I'm glad its on the back, if i put all my weight into the pedal i can start to feel something hapening back there
Over on Adventrider Ricardo Kuhn is doing some interesting work on trying to retrofit a 2nd gen. Paralever bevel onto a first gen. swingarm. They actually seem pretty close in dimensions. Unfortunately when my drum finally goes i'll have to replace the whole hub $$$. Do you know if they can be re-lined?
Mr. Sheep. Please do whatever makes you feel comfortable. If you really feel that drum brakes are easier to fix/maintain, then go ahead and do the swap. I hope you have a strong right forearm and good judgement of distance to the car in front of you 
Last edited by Mr. Ron; 7 Dec 2006 at 02:25.
|
7 Dec 2006
|
 |
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
|
|
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Norway
Posts: 1,379
|
|
I’m not a big fan of drum brakes, but I still have one left on the bike.
IMHO you can almost always fix a drum brake with your toolkit and an extra wire if it fails in the middle of nowhere. It might be hard to fix a hydraulic hose, brake-cylinder or caliper without parts (I never carry brake-fluid or spare gaskets).
At two different occasions I have seen bikes where stones have come between the swing arm and rear wheel and trashed the disk (once the caliper was also gone).
On my bike(s) I have spend far more time on money on servicing the disk brakes then the drum brakes.
(From a remote spot on Iceland. It’s not easy to see on the picture but the disk is bended so much that you could not fit the caliper)
Status after 180kkm:
Disk (front):
Changed brake pads three times
Changed brake line
Changed master cylinder
Overhauled caliper
Changed disk
Drum (rear):
Changed brake pads two times
Changed brake wire
But the disk is superior in braking force and I would never mount a drum in the front.
So one of the reasons I have kept my drum rear brake is because it always work and I can fix it everywhere.
|
7 Dec 2006
|
|
Registered Users
Veteran HUBBer
|
|
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,598
|
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by AliBaba
I’m not a big fan of drum brakes, but I still have one left on the bike.
IMHO you can almost always fix a drum brake with your toolkit and an extra wire if it fails in the middle of nowhere. It might be hard to fix a hydraulic hose, brake-cylinder or caliper without parts (I never carry brake-fluid or spare gaskets).
At two different occasions I have seen bikes where stones have come between the swing arm and rear wheel and trashed the disk (once the caliper was also gone).
On my bike(s) I have spend far more time on money on servicing the disk brakes then the drum brakes.
(From a remote spot on Iceland. It’s not easy to see on the picture but the disk is bended so much that you could not fit the caliper)
Status after 180kkm:
Disk (front):
Changed brake pads three times
Changed brake line
Changed master cylinder
Overhauled caliper
Changed disk
Drum (rear):
Changed brake pads two times
Changed brake wire
But the disk is superior in braking force and I would never mount a drum in the front.
So one of the reasons I have kept my drum rear brake is because it always work and I can fix it everywhere. |
Thanks Alibaba, I agree modern disk brakes have more stopping power, They stopped the 'long way round crew' until a tech rep was flown out from Germany to their bike in russia because their support team mechanics could not fix a brake problem. I dont mean to misguide anyone, if you in western Europe or N america, disk brakes would be my choice. But off the beaten track not. However I dont think i would take the trouble to swap either way... provided the front and rear were separate systems, so at least I could continue if one failed. Unfortunately the Bmw of 'long Way Round' had a linked system, so when the ABS failed it left the bike with NO brakes at all. (contrary to the sales hype). Frankly these days I do most of my riding in UK,France, Belgium, Germany and Spain and am of the credit card +mobile phone breakdown philosophy in that environment. Out side of that comfort zone it can get down to mole grips and wire
|
15 Dec 2006
|
|
Registered Users
HUBB regular
|
|
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Sydney - Australia
Posts: 44
|
|
|
Stray cow, deer, kid. car ect etc.
I want disks.
I have an SR500 that was converted from a disk to a drum front fo the cafe racer look, but it takes all the racer out of it as I don't go fast as the breaks wont stop me in time.
Disks for sure if you can.
|
15 Dec 2006
|
|
Registered Users
HUBB regular
|
|
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Sydney - Australia
Posts: 44
|
|
|
I meant brakes, not breaks.....
|
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 Registered Users and/or Members and 1 guests)
|
|
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
|
Check the RAW segments; Grant, your HU host is on every month!
Episodes below to listen to while you, err, pretend to do something or other...
2020 Edition of Chris Scott's Adventure Motorcycling Handbook.
"Ultimate global guide for red-blooded bikers planning overseas exploration. Covers choice & preparation of best bike, shipping overseas, baggage design, riding techniques, travel health, visas, documentation, safety and useful addresses." Recommended. (Grant)
Ripcord Rescue Travel Insurance™ combines into a single integrated program the best evacuation and rescue with the premier travel insurance coverages designed for adventurers.
Led by special operations veterans, Stanford Medicine affiliated physicians, paramedics and other travel experts, Ripcord is perfect for adventure seekers, climbers, skiers, sports enthusiasts, hunters, international travelers, humanitarian efforts, expeditions and more.
Ripcord travel protection is now available for ALL nationalities, and travel is covered on motorcycles of all sizes!
What others say about HU...
"This site is the BIBLE for international bike travelers." Greg, Australia
"Thank you! The web site, The travels, The insight, The inspiration, Everything, just thanks." Colin, UK
"My friend and I are planning a trip from Singapore to England... We found (the HU) site invaluable as an aid to planning and have based a lot of our purchases (bikes, riding gear, etc.) on what we have learned from this site." Phil, Australia
"I for one always had an adventurous spirit, but you and Susan lit the fire for my trip and I'll be forever grateful for what you two do to inspire others to just do it." Brent, USA
"Your website is a mecca of valuable information and the (video) series is informative, entertaining, and inspiring!" Jennifer, Canada
"Your worldwide organisation and events are the Go To places to for all serious touring and aspiring touring bikers." Trevor, South Africa
"This is the answer to all my questions." Haydn, Australia
"Keep going the excellent work you are doing for Horizons Unlimited - I love it!" Thomas, Germany
Lots more comments here!
Diaries of a compulsive traveller
by Graham Field
Book, eBook, Audiobook
"A compelling, honest, inspiring and entertaining writing style with a built-in feel-good factor" Get them NOW from the authors' website and Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.co.uk.
Back Road Map Books and Backroad GPS Maps for all of Canada - a must have!
New to Horizons Unlimited?
New to motorcycle travelling? New to the HU site? Confused? Too many options? It's really very simple - just 4 easy steps!
Horizons Unlimited was founded in 1997 by Grant and Susan Johnson following their journey around the world on a BMW R80G/S.
Read more about Grant & Susan's story
Membership - help keep us going!
Horizons Unlimited is not a big multi-national company, just two people who love motorcycle travel and have grown what started as a hobby in 1997 into a full time job (usually 8-10 hours per day and 7 days a week) and a labour of love. To keep it going and a roof over our heads, we run events all over the world with the help of volunteers; we sell inspirational and informative DVDs; we have a few selected advertisers; and we make a small amount from memberships.
You don't have to be a Member to come to an HU meeting, access the website, or ask questions on the HUBB. What you get for your membership contribution is our sincere gratitude, good karma and knowing that you're helping to keep the motorcycle travel dream alive. Contributing Members and Gold Members do get additional features on the HUBB. Here's a list of all the Member benefits on the HUBB.
|
|
|
helps answer the question - Why Go? Inspirational stories by veteran travellers Greg Frazier (5 times RTW), Peter and Kay Forwood (193 countries), Tiffany Coates (Mongolia Mayhem) and Rene Cormier (University of Gravel Roads).
Get Ready! covers planning, paperwork, medical and many other topics! "Inspirational and Awesome!" See the trailer here!
What stuff do I need - riding gear, clothing, camping gear, first aid kit, tires, maps and GPS? What don't I need? How do I pack it all in? Lots of opinions from over 150 travellers!
break down language barriers, overcome culture shock, ship the bike and deal with breakdowns and emergencies."Just makes me want to pack up and go!" See the trailer here!
Grant demystifies the black art of Tire Changing and Repair to help you STAY on the road! "Very informative and practical." See the trailer here!
Ladies on the Loose! For the first time ever, a motorcycle travel DVD made for women, by women! These intrepid women share their tips to help you plan your own motorcycle adventure. They also answer the women-only questions, and entertain you with amazing tales from the road! Presented by Lois Pryce, veteran solo traveller through South America and Africa and author of 'Lois on the Loose', and 'Red Tape and White Knuckles.'
Cotton or synth sweat-wicking t-shirts with the cool Horizons Unlimited graphic on the front and a snappy slogan (changing every year) on the back.
Show your route on your panniers. Great conversation starter when you meet people on the road!
Motorcycle and travel books to inspire and inform you!
The definitive guide to planning your motorcycle adventure! This insanely ambitious 2-year project has produced an informative and entertaining 5-part, 18 hour video series. "The ultimate round the world rider's how-to!" MCN UK.
I'm Changing Over!
Linear Mode
