Front disc improvement?

Try EBC sintered pads. I have standard disc, sleeved master cylinder, Lockheed caliper and braided line and EBC sintered pads. I ride mostly two up and the brake is excellent. Easily as good as the twin discs on my '83 R100 Airhead. I used to use ordinary Ferodo pads and the EBC's definitely have more bite. 

Ian

Just to add but with a Question, I have just got my commando on the road, done about 1500 miles so far, I built the front brake with the same set up, rgm sleeved master cylinder Lockheed caliper braided line and standard disc, I find I can lock the front wheel from low speeds and it has a good stopping power from higher speed compared to the old "standard wooden" caliper. I got the Lockheed caliper from a friend new with new pads but he did not know the significance of the three red dots on one and two red dots and one green on the  pads [small paint dots on the side ] but I have a major rattle problem at low speed, the pads have no springs like on most bikes, so I tried a SMALL amount of caliper grease /paste at the back of the pads but that made no difference, I have looked at Lockheed drawing but see no  spring tensioners, it has the split pin pad retainers but the pads are knocking on the caliper I think, a small amount of pressure at slow speed stops the knock, the disc is not warped or out of true.

if there is no obvious solution I will try some different pads but they were new and are good at stopping the bike.

Needless to say it should not rattle and mine has never rattled with any type of pad. I do get a bit of brake squeal with the EBC's but only at slow speeds.

I'd try some new pads. No idea what the dots could mean.

Add biro springs on the split pins between the pads to stop the rattle, they are weak enough not to increase the pressure required to brake.

Thanks for your help, regards my brake knock. I will update on any improvement.

Dear David,

There are sets of pads for go-karts that can be fitted to this caliper.  They are green and can be obtained from a Staffordshire-based parts supplier.

Good luck!

The painted stripes on the back edge of Lockheed pads used to indicate the compound type. The standard items in the racing calipers were green / red / green...I'd be a bit concerned about non-matching pads.

The pair that I have here are also marked MNTX M64GG 0 6 A

Presumably a Mintex code ? I have a feeling that I used to know which compounds were indicated. It must be written down somewhere.

there is only one AP caliper size in that external design. Pads touching buttons: a slight chamfering of pads  by filing should solve that. Position of caliper left or right is mostly a matter of personal choice. Sizing of bracket will not be overly stressed. ( behind leg is slightly less rotational inertia when steering, due to fork yoke offset)

on the edge, not friction face, obviously!!

... having that "overhang" issue on my Commando with Lockheed caliper. I just cut the excess off with a hacksaw......

The pads I use are FA16HH. If the pads 'overhang' the disc then the bracket holding the caliper is wrong. The first bracket I bought to mount the Lockheed racing caliper was like that. Needed to take a bit off the top edge of the friction material, which I did for a while. I made my own bracket in the end which put the caliper further on to the disc and cured the problem. 

I really don't like those brackets, as in David's pictures, that have a slot so you can position the caliper for different size discs. A poor engineering solution in my opinion.

Ian

Interesting article. I am looking at what front end to put on my N15cs. I remember when I had one new in 1970, it locked the front wheel with the standard drum brake. Parts are now expensive and of dubious quality. I have a set of late T140 harris forks with twin Brembo calipers, has anyone tried them on a Commando? I see that the pictures show the calipers once fitted to T140 triumphs, try a triumph supplier. Another thought. Put a new flexi pipe on and use racing brake fluid. The core of the pipe sometimes swells with old fluid and reduces braking efficiency, common on old Jaguars.

Just a reply to Richard, the unmatched paint coded pads that do work well in stopping the bike are going to be changed to try stop the knock/rattle, I have their details written down as MNTX M108GG34A on both pads ? so not sure if the compound is different, regards the WW3815 number mentioned in this thread these are wassell supplied EMGO pads listed for the triumphs[though I think its the same caliper] with a OEM part number 99-2769 from my wassell book.

In April this year a coal delivery vehicle pulled straight across the road in front of me whilst riding the 73 Commando. I braked hard and locked the front wheel up.The bike high sided me and I was thrown off but not before I'd lost most of my speed. Had I have hit the lorry broadside I wouldn't imagine I would be typing this now. I have the standard brake set up but I have fitted the sleeved down piston kit to the master cylinder. I also change the brake fluid at regular intervals, some bikes I have encountered have a 'squashy feel' to the brakes, could it be that these bikes have air in the brake line or the fluid is old? I am completely satisfied with the performance of the brakes on my 850. Needless to say it doesn't come close to the stopping power of my modern Ducati,

"If the pads 'overhang' the disc then the bracket holding the caliper is wrong."

Maybe, but this was (and presumably still is) a built-in feature of the Norvil production racing brake with caliper mounting cast in with the fork slider (as fitted to my first Commando in 1972).

I have fitted some Ferodo platinum pads reference FDB342P and they look the same material as the ones I took out in being sintered , just bedded them in and done about 100 miles, its stopped my slow speed knocking from the caliper area so it must have been the old pads as you explained earlier in the thread, stopping is good just the same as the ones I removed so all happy thank you for your comments  regards my problem .