stopping power for a Lambretta isnt limited to hydraulics

[Mel K]

Avoiding the obstacle might have been the thing to do back in the day when you where competing against obstacles with drum brakes all round and no ABS but on today's roads looking for the gap on your zooped up scooter is just dangerous, fine on standard bhp but not on 20 plus. Surely you can see that, Al Cahol?

[alcoholic maniacs sc]

Come down and try mine Tony

youre going to bring a dose of reality to my fantasy 70's world so i'll avoid you and any reasonable argument you might have. we are djing at the Cremorne pub on London road this saturday night, all on old fashioned vinyl of course, if you want to have several beers to dull your engineers brain , youre welcome to argue the hydraulic cause between downing pints, i shall simply carry on drinking till neither of us makes sense!!!

[jason frost]

Come down and try mine Tony

youre going to bring a dose of reality to my fantasy 70's world so i'll avoid you and any reasonable argument you might have. we are djing at the Cremorne pub on London road this saturday night, all on old fashioned vinyl of course, if you want to have several beers to dull your engineers brain , youre welcome to argue the hydraulic cause between downing pints, i shall simply carry on drinking till neither of us makes sense!!!

Nice one should be off to Cadwell but if not I will be down :fb:

[alcoholic maniacs sc]

..and just to cap it all off a quick section on great reverse pull heroes of the past. from the days when scooter enthusiasts were "scooter boys", every 6 volt bump start chancer had no rear tail light and adiquate riding gear was the levis denim in winter and a sleeveless clash t shirt in summer. Hail Frank!

[DigDug]

one problem with zouping up your stopping power to motorbike levels is of course titchy little ten inch wheels with 1 square centimetre of rubber touching the ground at 30psi. if anyone can convince me that the full power and huge expense of hydraulics can be brought to bare on that tortured little tyre then please try. in an emergancy stop a good cable operated brake is adequate for the task. on a race track at 9/10's in a bend then hyraulics start to make sense. don't ever do an emergancy stop on 10 inch wheels, avoid the obstacle and trust your instincts. even at 25mph braking in a straight line in front of an imobile obstacle is dicey.

For every trackday that I've ever been on they always tell to do your braking before the corner not going around it.

I've found it to be very sound advice....

[hendy]

step one; as Joey Fontane suggested - use a good quality flat coil cable and not the cheap spring coil cables that compress.
step two; make sure the inner cable is the best you can get for clutch/front brake, they vary.
step three; reverse pull the bugger and shorten the cable as far as it will go and allow free movement when the wheel turns.
step four; another of mr Fontanes garage floor titbits; slide a braded fuel pipe over the last 12 inches of cable to protect it and stop flexing and expansion.
step five; chuck the brake pivot arm in the bin and fit a clutch arm from your garage shelf thats been hanging around for years in a homage to the riders of the 70's who appear to be still alive and not disabled in accidents involving lack of braking power.
step six; perform front end stoppies outside the local bus terminus to encourge kids under the age of 40 that scooters are cool.
step seven; this may involve falling off but i will be safe in the knowledge that i spent £3.50 and can now outbrake a Ducatti 748.

I'd like to resurrect this thread because I'm a fan of my reverse pull drum, but reckon it could be even better by following a couple of the steps above that I failed on.

Firstly, I've looked high and low for a flat-coil cable without any success; does anyone know where I could get one?

Secondly, I tried to use a clutch arm, but the trunnion that you'd normally use for the adjuster won't fit in the clutch arm as the space for it is too small. I did think I'd drill half way through a clutch arm trunnion and use that, or get a specific one machined (if I do this, I'll get 10 or more so they'll be for sale). Alternatively,does anyone know of a simple/cheap/sexy solution?

And yes, I know all the stuff about locking up etc, but I don't care.

[Chris in Margate]

Reverse pull is fine. People used to demonise it, claiming that the cam would move too far if the linings were worn and then subsequently lock. No different then than a standard set up !

I always felt it was purely snobbery and disc brake owners frowned upon drum brake owners for copying them !

[shocky]

step one; as Joey Fontane suggested - use a good quality flat coil cable and not the cheap spring coil cables that compress.
step two; make sure the inner cable is the best you can get for clutch/front brake, they vary.
step three; reverse pull the bugger and shorten the cable as far as it will go and allow free movement when the wheel turns.
step four; another of mr Fontanes garage floor titbits; slide a braded fuel pipe over the last 12 inches of cable to protect it and stop flexing and expansion.
step five; chuck the brake pivot arm in the bin and fit a clutch arm from your garage shelf thats been hanging around for years in a homage to the riders of the 70's who appear to be still alive and not disabled in accidents involving lack of braking power.
step six; perform front end stoppies outside the local bus terminus to encourge kids under the age of 40 that scooters are cool.
step seven; this may involve falling off but i will be safe in the knowledge that i spent £3.50 and can now outbrake a Ducatti 748.

I'd like to resurrect this thread because I'm a fan of my reverse pull drum, but reckon it could be even better by following a couple of the steps above that I failed on.

Firstly, I've looked high and low for a flat-coil cable without any success; does anyone know where I could get one?

Secondly, I tried to use a clutch arm, but the trunnion that you'd normally use for the adjuster won't fit in the clutch arm as the space for it is too small. I did think I'd drill half way through a clutch arm trunnion and use that, or get a specific one machined (if I do this, I'll get 10 or more so they'll be for sale). Alternatively,does anyone know of a simple/cheap/sexy solution?


And yes, I know all the stuff about locking up etc, but I don't care.

what does a clutch arm do ?

[scooterslag]

Clutch arm is longer than the brake arm so gives you more leverage, only problem is the aforementioned cable slot and it bends inwards when you try and fit it on the brake cam

[hendy]

Clutch arm is longer than the brake arm so gives you more leverage, only problem is the aforementioned cable slot and it bends inwards when you try and fit it on the brake cam

Aye, but it's easy to bend outward so that it clears the rim. Cable slot is the bit that's annoying me. I reckon I'll just drill a trunnion and it'll be reet.