Kawi2strokes.com Forum

I love the fact you've put in the old pics and stories from the early years mate, makes for a great read, wish I'd had a camera back then.

Great work so far mate, that's an amazing job on the seat I'm looking at that damper bracket and was wondering if you've braced it??

JP I've ridin around Europe and I can safely say, you hae much better roads and road users have a better atitude towards motocyclist in general.

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Cheers Baz.
“I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer”

1973 H2-A
2000 F650GS BMW

Cheers, Baz, good to have you on board. I don't have many more old photos, but you never know what will turn up! The damper bracket is just a bit of bent stock, but the mounting nut on the damper butts onto the frame, so it can't flex. Bit of a bugger to get on and off, but should work.

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"One day, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching." : anon.

Well, it can't flex in the turning-right direction, but it seems like it can flex in the turning-left direction, unless I'm misunderstanding it.

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If it surges, that's normal, upshift.

You are correct Jim, it is "over-engineered" with 2 welds and heavy stock, and it is butting the frame regardless of where the bars are. I think the stock brackets fatigued at the corners of the stamped bracket, so we have worked around that case.

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"One day, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching." : anon.

Yes, mine broke at the 90° bend. I have the matching broken (but repaired) head fin as well. I don't remember the circumstances around it breaking, but I do remember that I was going to move the handlebar and stay upright no matter what I had to break in the process.

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If it surges, that's normal, upshift.

Strangely enough, I did a million miles on H2's over the years and never had a bracket fail. I wasn't aware of the issue until I got on to the Forums. Then, when I looked at the H2-A frame I am using, it needed attention. Also, 1 head I am using (modified squish band) has a "tapered" fin outboard, Not sure if I'll fix it, or stick it on the left side, it doesn't look too bad! So I am a victim of a fractured bracket, but not an instigator...!

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"One day, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching." : anon.

I thought I would have a look at the back wheel, I bought and ran a 3.5" D.I.D. alloy rim with a 130/80-18 tyre many years ago, and it worked well. It cleared the chain and guard...(O.K. small bite out of the guard), and the Brake torque arm was shifted outboard about 10mm. Here is one for you, everyone and his dog has drilled discs, but how many of you have (TaDa) a drilled DRUM....?


Now, I am not sure if this modification helps unsprung weight, aids cooling, or let's the "gasses" out....but I reckon the "cool" factor is right up there....I'm running with it! So, polish the rim, new bearings, a new Dunlop (Sumitomo) 130/80-18 TT100/K81, (soft compound "GT" spec). Stainless spokes and a new 45 tooth sprocket which I had Lying around, which will bring the overall gearing just under stock with the 14 tooth C/S sprocket I have. (and just over with a 15T.)

Then we will give it a few spins and if it doesn't stop in the same place after 10 spins, I reckon it is balanced...... (I have ridden a H2 with a bald back tyre, so I know they can get a bit "nervous")

New brake shoes in the back (DO NOT use "old" brake shoes, they can separate and lock up your wheel...). A lot of guys don't use their rear brake, that is fine, but given the rearward weight bias of the old Triples, and for me , the ability to set up a corner with a bit of rear wheel steering, I am a fan of rear brakes......! (Plus I had a '70 H1, which didn't HAVE a front brake....!)

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"One day, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching." : anon.

The only problem I can think of with the holes in the drum is rain. One of the neat things about a drum is that in wet weather riding, the brake works just like it does in dry weather, whereas disks take some small amount of turning before they dry off and stop. Also, if it's raining as you return to the garage and you park with a wet drum and shoes, I expect the drum will rust a bit.

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If it surges, that's normal, upshift.

I guess the centrifugal forces will get rid of any rain water - or the heat will make it vapour ?

Love the looks of the drum, Rod
Nice rim btw. which brand is this ?

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Peter says:
Keep the revs up !

Bikes:
H1 Candy Red, 1970
Moto Guzzi Daytona 1000, 1992

[quote="Jim"]The only problem I can think of with the holes in the drum is rain. One of the neat things about a drum is that in wet weather riding, the brake works just like it does in dry weather, whereas disks take some small amount of turning before they dry off and stop. Also, if it's raining as you return to the garage and you park with a wet drum and shoes, I expect the drum will rust a bit.[/quote

The memory isn't as good as it used to be and I only had the one bike with drums front and rear, my old Triumphs drum brakes were worse in the rain, I remember initially they were OK, but after a few Ks/miles they got worse, I couldn't believe how good disc brakes were in the rain, I grabbed a big fist full of brake like I used to with the drums and nearly lost the front.

I do think though you may be right about the rust in the drum and with the heat vapour after a run, if left sitting for a while, you may have an issue, remember Rod our bikes were your daily transport, so sitting idle for days not using it, may be an issue, looks good though especially with the wider rim, I'm assuming you're using your old DID rim from your old race bike, are you using a wider front also?

Oh and my damper bracket was braced for that reason, to stop it from breaking, because it ain't pretty when it does, you reminded about the old brake shoes too, so new shoes it is.

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Cheers Baz.
“I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I don't know the answer”

1973 H2-A
2000 F650GS BMW