Rear brake grabs

if you adjust the rear brake up ie so it binds, when you spin the wheel does it bind evenly or does it grab in one spot? You also say new shoes and drum ect have they had time to bed in. Usualy a drum brake grabbing is due to dust/dirt ect in the drum but with new shoes ect sounds like yours is clear.

Mark

I've experienced this on my TLS front brake due to the shoes absorbing moisture. As soon as they are warmed up they fade. Prove it to yourself by hosing down the rear brake, Initially when riding the brake will be poor due to being flooded, as it dries out it will grab and finally it returns to it's useless normal state. I solved the problem by replacing the whole rear brake with a home brewed TLS hydraulic brake from a mini. I sent an article in to RH but it hasn't been published yet.

It would be worth trying another pair of shoes. My money is on yours being bonded and maybe a green colour?

Agree with David. The curse of the hose down before putting a bike away can be to blame - or just the damp British climate. The brake squeal, grab and judder on first application when my old Land Rover has been standing for a week or two is quite remarkable - the same cause of dampness on the brake linings. Some brake linings are more susceptible than others. The bonded green ones are really pretty poor in my experience. Some NOS riveted linings transformed the braking on my Domi.

The green bonded linings were supposed to be a ferodo AM4 material and were the "the thing to have" on your bike 30 odd years ago. They were supposed to be a racing lining and probably worked well if they were up to race braking temperatures. Not much use on the road though. New old stock rivetted linings would be a good idea if you have the wherewithall to fit them properly.

Don't have the data to hand but AM4s only become properly effective at about 120 degrees. In the days of back street brake specialists, the guy with the brown coat and a perpetual fag snorted at AM4s on the bike and replaced them with MZ41 linings (used by the scrambles mob aparently). What a difference, brakes that worked. Don't suppose you get the choice these days.

I once had a similar grabbing problem in the rear brake in a Japper, and simply fixed it by cleaning up the cam spindle and re-greasing it.

As far as shoes go, you definately don't need 'racing quality' shoes if you arenot doing high speed trackriding. I recently fitted soft compound linedshoes, recommended by the local auto brake specialist,to the front wheel of my cable pull Norton(machined to the drum diameter less .010" (10 Thou. clearance.)) and find they are more than adequate with only moderate pressure required for a quick stop.