Friday 21 January 2011

Brake!

Something I really wanted to get right was the position of the rear brake lever so that it was spot on. No tipping the foot forward or having to lift the foot to get to. With the new bracket welded in place the lever was modded to suit, the bush was reduced in length and the pivot point likewise so that they would not stick in the heel of my boot and the  lever itself was 'persuaded' to change profile with a little Yorkshire technology  ( 3lb lump hammer)
To get the pedal to rest at the right level Ady had welded a small piece of steel to leg of the rear sub frame and half an hour with the file had a small but perfectly formed and positioned stop
I also took the grinder to the edges of the lever to smooth them off so that the precious boots don't get caught.
In the coming months once the bikes running I'll develop this pedal further with a little reshaping and some 'drilling' as nothing weighs as little as a hole! 
The next step was sorting out a brake rod / cable. I originally favoured a cable as it has to run through the rear shocker spring, and I hoped there would be less chance of fouling if I used the cable. Unfortunately the amount of 'stretch'  in the cables I tried was unacceptable, so a more traditional rod was called for. A length of 6mm stainless rod was threaded at both ends and suitable fittings pilfered from the parts bin ( actually a 100 litre plastic cistern briming with ' previously loved' stuff looking for a new home)
Movement from 'off' to 'full on' is approx. 15mm so it works well and with a little work will look just as good, until then function is king.

No comments: