DRUM CONUNDRUM

I have two Norton singles. The slow one has excellent brakes. The quick one has a useless front brake. The linings are modern, and were lathe-turned on the backplate to match the drum. But I think I’ll send them off to Villiers Services to see if can they turn them to size and, if so, how? The supporting pin holes must be at the correct radius if they are to fit the drum.

I just washed them with solvent brake cleaner, re-assembled, and they were worse. I slackened the thin backplate nut to help centre up the plate, and tightened the spindle with my hand grabbing the lever. Maybe I could add a bracing plate over the pins – but the support pins don’t look long enough. Are there any hints and tips out there? It isn’t safe as it is. David Cooper, member

Any ideas, people? We have a similarly frustrating situation with two conical hub brakes. The one on the T25SS – which doesn’t really need to be that powerful to cope with the output and mass of a single-cylinder 250 – is tyresquealingly effective. Grab a bit handful of that and it’ll stand the machine on its snout. But the similar brake on the chunky, powerful, three-cylinder Hurricane is… dismally unenthusiastic. It will stop. Eventually. Every time I suggest swapping them around, Frank gives me a seriously hard stare… Rowena