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Replacing front shoes on a 1973 1/2 r75/5

9842

Member
Hi
Have new shoes and springs to replace on my /5. Very grabby and will lock the front wheel when starting out. After riding the brake and drying out the shoes they still grab and make the front end dive. So my question is which spring goes where. They have a different amount of coils, i think 17 & 19.
Thanks
Brian
9842
 
I don't know offhand, but check the link in my signature line. Find Duane Ausherman's website link...he had a section on /5 brakes.
 
1819-front-brake-shoes.jpg


The "front" is at the left side of this photo. The silver "disc" under the lower end of the black spring is the adjustment cam (ref.)

Read this too-> http://www.bmwscotter.org/procedures/procedures.htm

Here's how you get them on without tearing your hair out.

brakes_t.gif


The next question is, how "worn" were your old shoes? Did they wear evenly across the face? If they didn't they have "milled" the drum to a taper. New shoes will not match the taper and consequently will not press evenly across the drum. You can see the dark band at the bottom of these shoes and the matching polished surface on the drum. This I learned the hard way when I inadvertently installed my brake shoes on the wrong side.

Brake2.jpg
 

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It appears from Lew's photo (if I can count right) that the front spring has few coils than the rear spring.

I keep forgetting about BMW Scotter's website...always has good details on it. :thumb
 
It appears from Lew's photo (if I can count right) that the front spring has few coils than the rear spring.

And they are of a heavier gauge; it's what allows the rear shoe to engage before the front shoe.
 
Trying not to sidetrack this...but it appears that there is an actuation arm (or cam) on both sides of the backing plate. I guess this is the twin leading shoe design. But I thought there was just the one lever through the plate to actuate the arm, which in turns pushes the end of one of the shoes into the rotation drum. How does the second arm get actuated to engage the other shoe? I'm not seeing it...

Ooops...now I see it. There are two lever arms...doh!
 
Next time I need new shoes on the front of my bike, I use the same as in the rear ---adidas:brad
 

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Nah, just put metal taps on the heels and toes ... a burnout on concrete would be great show! :bolt
 
Light sanding did the trick

Hi
When I ordered the shoes and springs from Rusty at Max he suggested to KISS the shoes and drum with a little sandpaper to make a difference. Me being a know it all ordered the shoes and springs anyway. Well let me tell you that my front brakes really grabbed hard, and If I put the brake on softly they would howl and moan, really bad. So I sanded the shoes and drum and went for a test ride and I couldn't believe it, what a difference. Only a light sanding and no more grab, moan or howling. Im back to good old useless /5 brakes, smooth and a long stopping distance. I have to say that I love the simple maintenance of the airhead.
Later
brian
9842
 
If you haven't read that link on brake adjustment (especially the front brake) I'd suggest you do so. The /5's drum brakes really aren't that "useless" when they're adjusted correctly.

perfect_arms.jpg
 
I thought I needed shoes about 30 years ago, but, instead, I cleaned up the old shoes and linings - like you. The "new" shoes are still in my grab bag of extra parts.
 
Hi
When I ordered the shoes and springs from Rusty at Max he suggested to KISS the shoes and drum with a little sandpaper to make a difference. Me being a know it all ordered the shoes and springs anyway. Well let me tell you that my front brakes really grabbed hard, and If I put the brake on softly they would howl and moan, really bad. So I sanded the shoes and drum and went for a test ride and I couldn't believe it, what a difference. Only a light sanding and no more grab, moan or howling. Im back to good old useless /5 brakes, smooth and a long stopping distance. I have to say that I love the simple maintenance of the airhead.
Later
brian
9842


Here is what I was taught back in the-old-days-when-every-brake-was-a-drum-type-brake: I "cleaned" each of the shoes with either lacquer thinner (just using a clean rag several times) and also the drum brake surface to make sure there is no residue of anything on them or embedded in the shoes. Then, on these brakes, make sure that the adjusters are adjusted to operate each shoe as supposed to. On rear brakes, I don't think I have ever seen any that needed replacing. Just cleaning and adjusting.

Usually "grabbing" is due to foreign material on shoes (like oil, grease, some foreign substances that have dried up and cause them to grab).
 
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