Rear Brake Arm Position

bigwol · Post by **bigwol** » Tue Jun 21, 2011 2:11 am

Was a bit in the jampot tother month about turning the brake lever round, if it's cranked gives you more options. I tried it on my 16ms front brake and it made a fair bit of improvement. Will send my front shoes off to villiers services in the winter though, for the 16ms and my 31, anything that helps out with braking seems worthwhile to me. Thanks for that one Chris.

DWS · Post by **DWS** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 12:42 pm

I have now discovered that I have the wrong Rear Brake Actuation Lever fitted to my 1950 Rigid G3L. A previous owner has fitted an incorrect Lever, probably the one fitted to early Rigid and some Swinging Arm models - part number 017133, which is subtly different to the later Rigid versions. This later Lever part number 012577 was used on Rigid Frame models only from 1948 to 1955. When this later lever is held in the vertical position, the 'Points' in the hexagon hole are aligned 12 o'clock/6 o'clock. On the early Rigid and Swinging Arm version the 'Flats' are aligned at 12 o'clock/6 o'clock when the lever is held vertically. This will of course affect the static position of the lever when it is placed on the expander spindle. In my own case it will mean that the correct lever will be leaning back slightly when placed on the expander spindle, mid way between the two positions shown in the photos at the beginning of this post. This also means that with the correct lever fitted the brake rod I have is correct and adjustment can be set up correctly.

quote: You are making a meal of this Dave ,now come on, it's not 'Rocket Science'.
So, it was worth making a meal of it after all, I have found that a wrong part has been fitted and it can be corrected without shortening the brake rod - A subtle difference but an important one.

Can anyone help with one of these later Rigid Brake Levers please?

N.B. Thanks to Steven at AMC Classics for this information.Edited by - DWS on 29 Jun 2011 3:35:04 PM

SPRIDDLER · Post by **SPRIDDLER** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 5:22 pm

quote:
So, it was worth making a meal of it after all,

Yebbut, give us a chance; like, you ordered your meal in the Star of India using a menu from the Castle Tearooms? Huh!

DWS · Post by **DWS** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 11:34 pm

Huh?

Don Madden · Post by **Don Madden** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 3:06 am

And don't forget that most of the survivors are not as they left the factory, being a mix of whatever parts were available when needed. Many old bikes are a mix of parts from different years/models, some of which have subtle differences causing fit problems. Cheers, Don.

en7jos · Post by **en7jos** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 7:08 am

quote:
And don't forget that most of the survivors are not as they left the factory, being a mix of whatever parts were available when needed.

...and that's what makes them special

itma · Post by **itma** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 10:20 am

no its what makes them just another very old bike

DWS · Post by **DWS** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 12:56 pm

quote: Many old bikes are a mix of parts from different years/models, some of which have subtle differences causing fit problems.

That's my point, I had a problem and have identified a wrong part fitted by a previous owner. Maybe some people would put up with a wrong part being fitted and needlessly modify other related parts to make it all work, but why? Especially when with a bit of research and leg work the correct part can be obtained and fitted. If possible, I would certainly prefer to have things right and working properly. I'm not overly concerned with 100% originality but I do like things to be, well, Right.Edited by - DWS on 30 Jun 2011 12:19:25 PM

Don Madden · Post by **Don Madden** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 5:58 pm

The trick is knowing which parts are incorrect for the year/model & whether they will cause a problem. Most of us are into riding, not konkors but want reliability. This group discussion did lead to the solution for you. Cheers, Don.

DWS · Post by **DWS** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 6:40 pm

Hi Don, actually the solution came from another source but Lance was closest mentioning that there were two different levers, this was confirmed by Steven at AMC Classic Spares, he was also able to confirm that I had the wrong lever. Good job I didn't take a hacksaw to my shiny new brake rod

I might add that I too am into riding, been doing so for 42 years without a break, including riding in national Enduro events for five years and seven years riding police bikes. This is the first time I've been without a bike on the road in a long, long time. As for konkors, I gave that up years ago when certain judges at an event with another club obviously didn't know the true meaning of the word and gave the top award to a horribly obvious bitsa, ignoring other almost perfect bikes because the bitsa was shinier

Reliability and safety are paramount for me too but if you can have those two qualities in a really good looking bike as well, all the better. Rant over