Quick release
A new look at the Lambretta rear brake cable.
This article is actually about not one but two labour-saving innovations that make maintenance of your Lambretta a little easier.
Firstly, let us introduce the QR2 rear brake cable; and secondly, the complementary SLUK bridgepiece fitting clips. Both are simple in their concept and a boon to the home mechanic.
DESCRIPTION
In the design concept of the Lambretta Li range the front of the rear brake cable is held secure in a clamp that swivels on the foot pedal and moves freely as the brake pedal is depressed. The clamp is secured by a large 17mm across the flats nut and bolt assembly that’s tightened to compress the cable end inside the clamp – all situated just below the footboards in a very awkward position (even more awkward if the home mechanic is working laid on their back, juggling two 17mm spanners or the equivalent tools). Many a grazed knuckle has resulted in this seemingly simple operation and much DNA has been smeared over the years on the undersides of many a Lambretta in the process – a task that, frustratingly and almost inevitably, has to be undertaken more than once to take up any cable slack.
THE QR2 SOLUTION
The QR2 is a simple solution to this timehonoured conundrum and, if you think about it, is a variation on the Vespa PX rear brake cable design. The QR2 substitutes a weldedon cable eye at the foot brake end of the cable with the back section having a similarly welded-on threaded endpiece to accept the cable adjuster. Obviously, because of its construction, the outer cable and its matching two ‘top hat’ end ferrules are held captive by these endpieces, so cannot be removed (see
pics 1 to 4).
Fitting the QR2 is quite simple – just disconnect the old outer and inner cable (pic 5) and pull out complete. Replace with the QR2 ensemble cable. Here it’s best (perhaps entirely necessary?) to remove the bridgepiece between the footboards and the frame loop (pics 7 and 8) – and this is where the SLUK clips can come in handy.
SLUK CLIPS
It would appear that at the Innocenti factory the engine was originally installed into a fully assembled frame and body panel unit, resulting in access to the nearside nut and screw that partly secures the bridgepiece proving difficult, as these fixings are partially masked by the engine/silencer downpipe as an ensemble when fully assembled. Fitting the nuts and locking washers to the bridgepiece on this side deserves a short book in its own right as everyone seems to have a cunning ploy on how to achieve this simple, but annoyingly awkward task. The SLUK clips, once and for all, solve this problem in a very simple manner.
In essence the clips are larger versions of the spring clips used, as just one example, to secure car interior trim in place. The clips have a threaded drilling to accept the securing screws from the bridgepiece, allowing the hex nuts previously used to be dispensed with
(pic 6). The clips are simply pressed on to the top edge of the stand bracket to cover the holes for the bridgepiece screws in this bracket (a bit of grease stops any scratching of your precious paintwork here) and on reassembly the bridgepiece screws pick up the clips’ thread and centre the clips into an ideal position to hold down the bridgepiece
(pic 9). Well, that’s the theory. This would work perfectly if the threaded sections of the clips are properly realised – it’s recommended that an M6 engineers’ tap is run through to clear the somewhat imprecise machining of these parts; this will save a lot of time on reassembly.
BACK TO THE CABLE…
With the cable in position and the captive ‘top hat’ ferrules in place of the originals from the old cable, the cable clamp at the foot pedal end of the cable must be released – and this is the clever part: dispense with the clamp bolt and reverse the clamp plates so they now form a gap to accept the cable eye on the QR2 inner cable. Insert the clevis pin supplied through both plates of the clamp and cable eye, then lock into place with one of the ‘R’ clips provided. The cable is now secure with no blood on the floor and/or very little swearing (pic 10).
The rear of the cable follows the original practice of being secured by either a knurled wheel adjuster or a hex ended equivalent (pic 11). Take up the slack to adjust the brakes and that’s it – job done!
As the cable is a fixed length (and should there be too much cable slack, or even too little) the operating arm on the rear brake camshaft might have to be removed and moved around one or two splines to compensate for this.
THERE YOU HAVE IT…
Two modern solutions to two old problems on the Lambretta maintenance front…
The full QR2 cable kit retails at £50, but the cable-less ancillaries can be purchased for £35. Available in black or grey sheath covering to the outer cable. The SLUK kit retails at £12.