OK, so this may be heresy to some (and it is my first post, so that is doubly dangerous!).
I have a 1958 (or thereabouts) Dominator mongrel of a bike. What i would like to do is to install a much more effective front brake, but keep it to a period look.
The Fontana and Cerini breaks are waaaaay to expensive, so I am considering swapping in a Suzuki GT750 Water Bottle front end, with the 4LS break. It looks doable, the Headstock is a 25mm center, and I think it will take the standard taper roller bearing conversions. I cant just swap the Wheel and drum in, as it is about 1.3" wider than the standard Norton forks.
Has anybody tried this conversion, and are there any issues to lookout for (except the stones thrown from purists that hate combining British and Jap. components?)
BTW, I have a really good reason for wanting to upgrade, and I don't want to go to disk brakes.
Thanks all - please be gentle with me!
I can't offer any specific…
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John Tickle?
Not really answering your question and not sure if this is too pricey an option - an eBay seller in Denmark is currently offering a NOS John Tickle tls front brake for Dominators for £465 - it would certainly keep the period look more so than the Suzuki forks and they drop straight into the 8” hub whiteout many alterations… https://www.ebay.ie/itm/134018264092?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=5282-175127-2357-0&ssspo=1iEcBbwTQIe&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=HWSiWXQeSG2&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
Tickle raced sidecars and I think he later owned the Norton Manx name and produced a few racers in the 1970s (?)
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Drum brakes
I like the look of Niall,s mod with the Suzuki or Yamaha 4LS into the Norton forks although Atlas 7 3/8” yokes would make it easier. Don Pender (Madass) in the Philippines does a similar but pricey new kit. http://www.tritonmotorcycleparts.com/297620485/product/515614/norton-brakes?catid=146825
Norton forks perform way better than the GT750 and have the period look with some nice fork tuning mods available.
Don,t worry about the purists, I,ve done a lot more drastic with my Atlas. Your bike your choice, no need for apologies! Norton Commander had plenty of Yamaha bits if I,m not mistaken.
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For me the Norton TLS with…
For me the Norton TLS with Villiers woven Gold linings is a huge improvement to the original SLS. I fitted the stiffener kit (no idea of how much benefit it provides really) but the holes needed a bit of work. They needed a bit of Dremel grinding to free up the cams so that the springs would return the shoes to the "off" position.
And I really like the look of it too, after polishing.
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I can't offer any specific help except to say that I have seen these Suzuki 4ls brakes slimmed down and put into Norton forks, the wheel bearings need changing as the Norton spindle is bigger, I believe, I have put a TD350 Yamaha 4LS into 7" Roadholders and it was not difficult at all.
If you really want to use the whole Suzuki fork, I'm sure it's do-able but what the results would be I don't know, any change to the geometry would have an effect.
Good luck!