Hi guys I want to start off by thanking you all for the great information that I have found very useful on this site. Before I joined I found great tips and ideas from this site that assisted me in putting together an old mini. I took an old Murray track 2 that was fairly cheap and abused and neglected on CL and with the help of my lil nephew decided to make a dirt bike looking mini bike for us to cruise around on. I am havin the hardest time getting these band brakes to bite at all and allow me to stop. It has no stopping power except a slow gradual decline in speed when brakes applied. The brakes are new off of eBay and unsure of brand name. I will attempt to post pictures if I can figure it out. Maybe a few before and after pics as well. Thanks... well I attempted to add photos and couldn't seem to figure it out. Will need some practice. I clicked choose file and nothing happened after numerous attempts.
first thing is to make sure its on the right way. in the direction of travel it should be bolted end then pull end. that way it kinda tightens itself. they just seem to work better that way. If that doesnt help you can sand the glaze off. also can put a leaver system on the band to give your handle more leaverage.
looks to be the rite direction.. The cable is on the top, and you are pulling it the same direction the hub is rolling??? A lot of the problem is they don't offer a lot of stopping power.. If the tire was the same size as the brake hub it would have lots more pulling power.. If you mount the band around the clutch drum it stops GREAT, almost too good.. Because the stopping power is amplified like 13 times by the gear reduction.. But that is real rough on chains and stuff..
For best results on the wheel.. Make sure the drum is nice and clean of debris and slime.. Scruffing it up with low low grit rough rough sand paper, or a file, or something that can scruff scratches into the drum, helps.. And just make sure the strap is pulling as far and tight as you can get it.. You want it tight enough that it barely opens up when not being pulled, and you can barely get the brake handle bottomed out.. If the brake lever bottoms out and the band is barely coming tight it'll never stop ya.. You really wanna be able to crush the pressure to them..
For best results on the wheel.. Make sure the drum is nice and clean of debris and slime.. Scruffing it up with low low grit rough rough sand paper, or a file, or something that can scruff scratches into the drum, helps.. And just make sure the strap is pulling as far and tight as you can get it.. You want it tight enough that it barely opens up when not being pulled, and you can barely get the brake handle bottomed out.. If the brake lever bottoms out and the band is barely coming tight it'll never stop ya.. You really wanna be able to crush the pressure to them..
thanks for the info. I have scuffed it up pretty aggressively with a file and yes its tight as can be I can barely bottom out the brake lever if at all. I am just stumped as to why I cannot stop with this brake. Its bad enough I refuse to let anyone else ride it at the moment due to safety. My chain was in bad shape so its apart right now waiting on a chain. I will scuff some more in the mean time while waiting.
Are you comparing the stopping power to another mini you have? Or have ridden? Just curious cause I've noticed a lot of people expect the brakes on these things to just stop on a dime. Which in most cases is far from reality(unless you have a nice disc brake). Just curious. Definitely strange though I've always thought band brakes stopped better than most.
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Well I think i have figured some of the problem may have been my own ignorance.:laugh: I had to severely shorten my cable and in the process I must of crimped the cable. Today I noticed this problem and fixed it. Without a load they seem to be responding better than before. I am waiting on a new chain via the mail so hopefully tomorrow I can try it with better results. Our other mini a db stops great compared to this bike but then again my brakes were stock and not tampered with. Id say my accidental crimp at the end of my cable will Prolly be the culprit...:cursing:
They actually do not pull very well.. The tire being so tall, compared to the diameter of that drum.. The tire has a lot of leverage against the much smaller hub... Then the hub and band don't really have a lot of friction together..
You pretty well will never ever make it drag the wheel on asphalt.. If you can get it so it slows ya down really good, thats probably about as great as you'll get it..
You pretty well will never ever make it drag the wheel on asphalt.. If you can get it so it slows ya down really good, thats probably about as great as you'll get it..
Hey restore kid I just noticed when I logged in that on my very first post on this subject that there is a pic of a dirt bike that I do not recognize and was not there earlier.. any ideas of where it came from or how it appeared suddenly. Its black in color and to the right of my post. Also thanks for the advice.
It looks like you bought a smaller drum and band than stock. Are you still using the stock cable stop? It doesn't appear so, because of the bolt you have going through the hole. Do you still have the stock bracket? Do you still have the stock drum?
I have all new components on my Murray, I am 250lbs (OK...maybe 260!) and my Murray will lock the rear tire. I had to look hard to get the right parts, The rear drum is bigger and was used on "Carter Brothers" go karts. I just measured the extra one I have...it is 4 3/4" across,
Murrays are heavy, my Brutha, and needs a bigger brake!
I have all new components on my Murray, I am 250lbs (OK...maybe 260!) and my Murray will lock the rear tire. I had to look hard to get the right parts, The rear drum is bigger and was used on "Carter Brothers" go karts. I just measured the extra one I have...it is 4 3/4" across,
Murrays are heavy, my Brutha, and needs a bigger brake!
This thing had zero brake components when I brought it home. I did notice other track 2 bikes did seem to have a larger brake. Id say that's my problem cause this brake is only 4". It did have the drum attached to the wheel but was bent to all hell so I bought what seemed right and affordable on eBay. Looks like I shoulda went lil larger. Live and learn..lol. I'm 240 my self so it makes since id need more brake . Thanks for the heads up.