Adjusting Front Drum Brakes on Honda-XR 200

[Bob Marley]

Hi, I have a honda-xr200 with front drum brakes.  The brakes work but just barely (have to squeeze the brake handle almost completely closed.  I am wondering if someone could look at the photos of the brake adjustments to see if they spot anything wrong.  From what I can tell, I might need new cables?  Or should I be opening up and looking at the drum brakes?

[S.O.A.N.Z]

open up the drum - see how much meat is left on the pads / lining

you can also loosen & move the brake arm back a couple of teeth on the cam

9 & 2

 

[Bob Marley]

Hi.  So I am attempting to get to the front brake drum to see what the issue is.  I managed to get the main axle partially unscrewed but at about halfway out the bolt just spins freely.  I think the threading might be damaged on the bolt that connects into the axle.  What can I do at this point?

[dirtbkr188]

Loosen up the 4 pinch bolts on the right side and then tap the axle through with a long punch

[Bob Marley]

23 minutes ago, dirtbkr188 said:

Loosen up the 4 pinch bolts on the right side and then tap the axle through with a long punch

Don't I need to unscrew it until I get past the couple inches that are threaded on the other side?

[S.O.A.N.Z]

1 hour ago, Bob Marley said:

Don't I need to unscrew it until I get past the couple inches that are threaded on the other side?

its already unscrewed - you just need to pull it out of the wheel

[Chuck.]

21 hours ago, dirtbkr188 said:

Loosen up the 4 pinch bolts on the right side and then tap the axle through with a long punch

That is what I have done, but another option I have used:
You can put a Phillips screwdriver in the hole on the right side to create a handle, then wiggle and pull the axle out.

Edited March 17, 2024 by Chuck.

[Bob Marley]

I did manage to get it out in the end.  The problem though was it was the first 2 inches of the bolt is threaded.  I could not get it to go, it kept skipping threads and wouldn't work it's way out.  In the end I found that by lowering the bike so there was a bit of weight on it changed things and I was able to pull the fork out of the bolt.  I basically didn't pull the bolt all the way out but I got it out of the way and can access the drums.

It looks like the drum is toast (it's silvery/shiny) so I will replace that and I ordered new cables too while I was at it.

[Bob Marley]

So I had a really good look at the fork threads, the ones that the axle bolt goes into.  I see what you guys were trying to tell me.   The threaded part is only the first half of the bolt and the rest is wider and not threaded.  So I actually did have it all the way out of the threaded part, which explains why turning it was having no effect and it was just stuck in the axle beyond that.

[Chuck.]

2 hours ago, Bob Marley said:

It looks like the drum is toast (it's silvery/shiny) so I will replace that and I ordered new cables too while I was at it.

The drum or the lining on the shoes?

[Chuck.]

On 3/15/2024 at 4:56 PM, S.O.A.N.Z said:

open up the drum - see how much meat is left on the pads / lining

you can also loosen & move the brake arm back a couple of teeth on the cam

9 & 2

 

Most drum brakes are just like the above diagram. #2 has splines connecting it to #9. #2 has a cam that pushes both shoes against the drum.

Near #3 is the anchors for the shoes.

So correct cable length is required to operate the cam. Correct cam/lever indexing is also important.

However badly worn shoe lining will result is what you are experiencing.

Inspect the shoes for a pattern of wear. Also wrap some pop can aluminum around the anchor pin and see if that helps. For years I had a RM and the front shoes wore so fast that I had to shim the anchor after every event and install new shoes every other event.  Honda drum brakes are very much better.

[S.O.A.N.Z]

44 minutes ago, Chuck. said:

Most drum brakes are just like the above diagram. #2 has splines connecting it to #9. #2 has a cam that pushes both shoes against the drum.

yeah i know how it all works

sometimes you can re-position the arm on the cam to take up the cable slack if the shoes arent worn

[Bob Marley]

1 hour ago, Chuck. said:

The drum or the lining on the shoes?

I think the correct answer is the lining on the shoes.  I am attaching a picture here as I don't know all the terms.

 

Edited March 17, 2024 by Bob Marley

[S.O.A.N.Z]

they have heaps of meat left on them

[Bob Marley]

This next picture shows what happened with the axle.  You can see that i just pulled and twisted the whole front fork off to get to the drum.  I know this is not standard but it's how it came apart.  Do I still need to try to get the axle off?

5 minutes ago, S.O.A.N.Z said:

they have heaps of meat left on them

Thank you!  So just get new cables then?  Do I need to polish these?

[Chuck.]

You should clean the linings, I like sand paper 180-250 grit. If there is oil on them then use brake clean first.

The brake surface inside the drum also needs to be cleaned; a cleaner like brake clean works good, 2nd choice is lacquer thinner, acetone, or xylene. 

Loosen the 4 nut on the right fork that clamps the axle and then use a Philips screwdriver in the the axle hole to pull the axle further out, that will make it easier putting things back together. 

Put the shoes on the baking plate and install the backing plate in the drum. Check lever pull. Lightly apply the brake and rotat the wheel. Remove the backing plate and examine the linings for good contact with the drum.

[dirtbkr188]

Cut a strip of sandpaper the same width as the brake shoes, lightly clamp one shoe in a vise so you can use a back and forth motion to sand the face of the shoe to clean material.

[Bob Marley]

Still having issues with this xr200 brake.  I have ordered new cables and shoes but in the meanwhile I looked at this piece (please see picture), I don't know what it's called but it's part of the front drum brake system.  I noticed there are spiral grooves cut into the part (you can see 3 loops of the spiral), is this normal or is this a damaged part?

[chadzu]

That is normal. The grooves are there to hold grease so the shaft doesn't bind up in the plate.  There is a wear indicator built into the brake using that sheet metal tang and a mark on the plate.  Did you look at this yet?

[Bob Marley]

23 minutes ago, chadzu said:

That is normal. The grooves are there to hold grease so the shaft doesn't bind up in the plate.  There is a wear indicator built into the brake using that sheet metal tang and a mark on the plate.  Did you look at this yet?

I tried to, I cannot make any sense out of it.  I will post a picture of it.

Edited March 20, 2024 by Bob Marley