help me find the right brake caliper

[scottrogers]

have a HPE Muskin Cat 400x and missing the brake caliper, there are lots of them on ebay will any of them work? Thank you Scott

 

[Havasu Dave]

Yes, it can be done. Here is a link to a thread that shows how some of the members here did it.

http://www.oldminibikes.com/forum/g...361-brake-question-cat-duster.html#post365913

 

[Fat Boy]

The disc brakes on my Cats suck as far as stopping power . I would put drum brakes on or add a clutch brake if you want to stop :thumbsup:

 

[Havasu Dave]

The disc brakes on my Cats suck as far as stopping power . I would put drum brakes on or add a clutch brake if you want to stop :thumbsup:

:thumbsup: And the drum brakes are only slightly better. Someone mentioned cutting some grooves in the brake material. (sorry I forgot who posted that)

 

[Fat Boy]

:thumbsup: And the drum brakes are only slightly better. Someone mentioned cutting some grooves in the brake material. (sorry I forgot who posted that)

Would you groove the pads or the rotor ?? I was going to add a clutch brake maybe ??

 

[Havasu Dave]

Would you groove the pads or the rotor ?? I was going to add a clutch brake maybe ??

He said he grooved the pads. Makes sense, since I see mine getting buffed up to a high shine.

Since the rotor is actually the sprocket, and an RCH from the teeth, machining it might not be good for it, though it would help stop.

 

[Mean Dean]

Like fatBoy says the disc brakes suck for stopping. Ray @ Lil Indian even verified that years ago. It was more like a gimmick. Think about you have like 1 inch round pucks instead of a 4 inch brake band to stop you. On my Terra Tandem with the fast motor I am adding another brake to the jackshaft also as well as the brake in the rear sprocket. Just scares me because it pulls so hard and fast and brakes are not Hurst Airhearts.

 

[Fat Boy]

He said he grooved the pads. Makes sense, since I see mine getting buffed up to a high shine.

Since the rotor is actually the sprocket, and an RCH from the teeth, machining it might not be good for it, though it would help stop.

Ya it is close to the teeth . maybe the answer to a safe rider would be to get a larger caliper to cover more rotor surface ??

 

[Havasu Dave]

Ya it is close to the teeth . maybe the answer to a safe rider would be to get a larger caliper to cover more rotor surface ??

Like fatBoy says the disc brakes suck for stopping. Ray @ Lil Indian even verified that years ago. It was more like a gimmick. Think about you have like 1 inch round pucks instead of a 4 inch brake band to stop you. On my Terra Tandem with the fast motor I am adding another brake to the jackshaft also as well as the brake in the rear sprocket. Just scares me because it pulls so hard and fast and brakes are not Hurst Airhearts.

I'd agree that it was a gimmick. Oil that chain once, and it's on the brakes. And yeah, about 2 square inches of stopping power.

The only reason to keep them and (try) to use them is to maintain originality. I honestly don't have enough engine on those bikes to worry about stopping power. Kids don't ride them, or I would be concerned.

One more vintage aspect is that the original drums and sprockets get warped, so even though they're true enough to hold the chain, tight, adjusted brakes rub. The sweet spot ends up being insufficient to do a decent job of stopping.

Like fatboy said earlier, use a clutch brake if you actually need to have good brakes. (On a Cat, that's your only option, if you retain stock wheels and don't want to install a jackshaft)

The best brakes I personally have experienced on a Cat are the scrub brakes.