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Back in 2013 I was in the process of restoring a '47 UL. It was my first big twin. Mostly I had worked on 45's up to then. I came across a problem with the alignment of the rear brake lever and rod. I posted a question on this site on the 23rd January 2013 but I didn't really explain the issue I was having very well. A number of folk added some useful comments but the essential problem remained.
I have now resolved the problem (the answer was staring me in the face) and thought I would share the cure for those who might have suffered in the same way.
I posted a couple of pictures of the completed bike with a post on the 4th October 2013. If you look at the left side of the bike you will see that the rear brake operating lever is sitting at about 110 degrees relative to the actuating rod. Factory pictures of the model always show the angle at about 60 to70 degrees.
When the brake was disassembled the cam was OEM and in very good shape. I put in new pads but however I tried to position the lever on the stud end it was still sat at the wrong angle. The brake worked fine on the road but I was never happy that it was set up right.
I have the picture of the complete bike on my desk at work - the look of rear brake always bugged me. I was gazing at it one day when it occurred to me that the angle of the rear brake lever was pretty close to that of the front brake lever. The penny dropped! My problem was that rear brake had been fitted with a front brake cam. A quick look at Palmer confirmed that they were almost identical - the difference being how they set the lever on the end of the stud.
It took me while to secure a proper rear brake cam but I fitted it over the weekend and hey presto - the brake lever sits right where it should - see the thumb nail attached.
I then wondered why anybody would fit the wrong cam - I got my answer when I tried to hook up the rod. It was about 2 inches too short. At some stage in the bikes life the rod had been broken and replaced with a shorter version and to get the rod and lever to hook up a front cam had been stuck in. Quite a neat fix at the time but it gave me a headache for a while.
I hope this post is useful to somebody.
Martin
Back in 2013 I was in the process of restoring a '47 UL. It was my first big twin. Mostly I had worked on 45's up to then. I came across a problem with the alignment of the rear brake lever and rod. I posted a question on this site on the 23rd January 2013 but I didn't really explain the issue I was having very well. A number of folk added some useful comments but the essential problem remained.
I have now resolved the problem (the answer was staring me in the face) and thought I would share the cure for those who might have suffered in the same way.
I posted a couple of pictures of the completed bike with a post on the 4th October 2013. If you look at the left side of the bike you will see that the rear brake operating lever is sitting at about 110 degrees relative to the actuating rod. Factory pictures of the model always show the angle at about 60 to70 degrees.
When the brake was disassembled the cam was OEM and in very good shape. I put in new pads but however I tried to position the lever on the stud end it was still sat at the wrong angle. The brake worked fine on the road but I was never happy that it was set up right.
I have the picture of the complete bike on my desk at work - the look of rear brake always bugged me. I was gazing at it one day when it occurred to me that the angle of the rear brake lever was pretty close to that of the front brake lever. The penny dropped! My problem was that rear brake had been fitted with a front brake cam. A quick look at Palmer confirmed that they were almost identical - the difference being how they set the lever on the end of the stud.
It took me while to secure a proper rear brake cam but I fitted it over the weekend and hey presto - the brake lever sits right where it should - see the thumb nail attached.
I then wondered why anybody would fit the wrong cam - I got my answer when I tried to hook up the rod. It was about 2 inches too short. At some stage in the bikes life the rod had been broken and replaced with a shorter version and to get the rod and lever to hook up a front cam had been stuck in. Quite a neat fix at the time but it gave me a headache for a while.
I hope this post is useful to somebody.
Martin