Hi,
. Can anyone recognize the front brake hub shown in the pictures-please note there is no torque arm fitted, thanks Rich
A BSA 7 inch brake.
BEWARE - something seriously wrong with the setup.
The cable should not be at such an awkward angle, should be much straighter.
With no torque arm the circular lug seen between the acorn nut on the brake plate and cable anchor on the fork bottom should engage in the fork bottom. See the photo you can see where it should engage top left.
How is the brake plate anchored on this bike?
If it is not anchored it is dangerous. The brake plate will rotated when brake applied.
What ever is under the acorn nut should be located in the hole behind the cable adjuster. Then the cable will line up OK.
The acorn nut is on the brake shoe pivot it is this circular bit which engages with the fork bottom.
Of course it does I looked at the brake plate I have in the garage. I'm old my excuse.
Thanks for your replies, these pictures are a few months old, as I have now located the lug into the correct position and now the brake is quite safe, I did wonder what BSA the brake unit was originally from if anyone could help, thanks,
Used on some M, B and C series singles and the early A7 twin.
Was this also used on the Army B40s?
Dave.
Yep - backplate 29-5968 except painted Deep Bronze Green and not chromed!
After checking Julian's suggestions I now believe it's an A7 hub, many thanks for every answer, regards Rich
Quote from: AWJDThumper on 05 Jul, 2020, 20:54
Yep - backplate 29-5968 except painted Deep Bronze Green and not chromed!
I could be wrong but if I remember rightly the WDB40 had the 8" SLS not the 7"
I was simply going by part numbers with part 29-5968 listed as the front brake plate on a B40WD and also as a 7" SLR 1/2 width brake plate. I will measure up my B40WD to confirm later?
Just checked, the B40WD definitely has a 7" front brake!
Quote from: AWJDThumper on 06 Jul, 2020, 11:52
Just checked, the B40WD definitely has a 7" front brake!
Just double checked and you are right, the WD I had stopped really well, either it had been upgraded or it just worked really well.
Sure miss that bike, I aught you get another.
Hi,
Some East Mids. members may remember Keith Nichols. He converted his WDB40 front brake to hydraulic. I am not sure exactly how but it worked really well.
Dave.
anything is possible, the easy waym my A10 has Aprilia 125 cast wheels and forks with discs front and rear, my ex neighbour at my old unit raced Frazer Nash cars, he developed a conversion to fit inside original drums and allowed him to leave braking 100 yards closer to the bends than the rest. I enjoyed the trial and error of helping him, the fact he was a great design engineer helped a mere machinist..
By army standards, the 7" B40WD front brake was very good - a few years later they replaced the B40WD with a bike with a 5.5" front brake and a much bigger engine!
The military used a few bikes after the WDB40, mine was de-mod in 1980, incidentally I also had an ex military 250 canam. Another good bike but ugly as sin in military spec, the full off road spec was very nice. They also used DT175's which were more nimble.
I totally agree that the Can-Am Bombadier in the early 1980's was the ugliest bike every produced but the CCM-Armstrong MT500 that followed it in 1987 was the handsomest bike even with 5.5" front brake!! However, I'm slightly biased in that opinion!
well ,, the can am 250 did have good race pedigree. it was cloned from the AJS Stormer, when the factory shut, Fluff Brown took the business over but the frame design was "borrowed" and sold to Armstrong . due to legalities, it was then sold off and Rotax motors fitted to Can Am, As the Army/UK Gov rules changed there was no demand so Armstrong sold to Harley. This caused a major problem when all the Japanese 125s fell apart on the army (the replacements for the 250), that they had to go to Harley for desert storm replacements.
couldnt fault my Bombardier, siezed it, dropped it and it still ran. Fluff ended up with the contract to service the Army bikes around Salisbury Plain so what goes around comes around.
The Armstrong/Harley 500 on the other hand... Rotax powered was ok , but the CCM 500 could be taken out to 720cc.!! for a single dirt bike.
Fluff did have a can am 250 at one time with silver frame and polished ally tank that looked good. without the odds and ends fitted. I regularly visited and spent a while there meeting up at pre 74mx events on my AJs 250, 370 and 410s.
I threw that one of mine half way down a embankment on one of the mountain bridalways in the Isle of Man, apart from a few scratches the bike was perfectly fine, I was a little worse off and bust my shoulder but those bikes were bomb proof. Had I the spare cash and a non military one came my way I'd have another.
just to add to the Rotax content of the bombardier, when I needed some parts for the engine, my "local" supplier was The Rotax Man, at Radstock. The very same man that set Jenson Button on his way to F1 via the karting circuit.
Despite having 3 x Rotax engined bikes, I have not heard of The Rotax Man before. Force M/Cs are the main Rotax supplier in the UK and Military Can-Am M/Cs the main supplier for the Bombadier. I tried to find out a bit more about The Rotax Man but have not got very far so far - was he mainly involved in parts for go-karts?