Adding a Front Brake...advice, suggestions, please

GGF, I can answer the drum ???'s
yes it works with a normal brake lever...I use a dual-pull lever and have v-brakes on the rear
(standard Jaguar brakes, with kool-stop pads)
my drum wheel is the oldest piece of equipment I have...still works like the day I got it !!! :)
the wheel from husky comes with cable, adjusters, and everything you need to just bolt it on (shipping is cheap too...17$ from houston to phoenix)
 
The major issue I see is that the caliper brake you are using attaches to the steering post which does NOT pivot with your springer fork suspension while your wheel DOES pivot. This means that though you may have the pads lined up correctly when you are off the bike, even the act of mounting the bike puts them at a slight angle from perfect alignment with the rim. Stopping only makes this worse as it moves the center of mass foward causing the bike to "dive" and changing this angle even more.

You can get around this either by using the drum brakes mentioned or replacing your springer fork with one that has v-brake bosses on it and then installing v-brakes.

I had a similar situation with my military bike but went the v-brake route and vastly improved the braking performance.

If you ever mount fenders on that bike, make sure the front fender mounts to a bracket spanning the front struts on the springer and NOT to the same hole your current brakes use. I did that and the flexing of the fender caused it to break in half and roll forward on the frame, locking the front tire from moving. Luckily for me, this happened when I was off the bike rolling it down the stairs. Had it happened on the 8 mile ride I'd just finished someone would have been scraping me off the street.
 
hello lefty woody, are your spring forks from piston bike, $39 have a set on the way, kinda look the same. im sure hoping ther of decent quality. thnx chopper
 
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great idea, i have a springer on the way from piston bikes, $39 i sure hope its decent, been cruising the site here looking for ideas, will be running into same problem im sure.
 
It is nice to fit a drum brake in that bike. It will look really coolll. Perhaps a worksman drum brake or simply a sturmey archer one's will make a big difference. I'll bet both brakes will fit.
 
Go to huskybicycles.com and look up their front wheel with
drum brake assembly for just $79.00. Part #500-219.
I mounted one to my springer front end in 15 minutes. I
love it, it works great and very easy to install.
 
Outrunner said:
Go to huskybicycles.com and look up their front wheel with
drum brake assembly for just $79.00. Part #500-219.
I mounted one to my springer front end in 15 minutes. I
love it, it works great and very easy to install.
Click to expand...

checked out that wheel at husky, very nice indeed, will have to start the MB fund jar again. thnx for info chopper looks like tire and tube are included, if im reading it right
 
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