pregrid
XS650 Guru
OK lets trash this thread altogether. Bill I'm really curious why truck drivers back then didn't want front brakes. Explain please if you would. And by the way..........
How old are you??
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OK lets trash this thread altogether. Bill I'm really curious why truck drivers back then didn't want front brakes. Explain please if you would. And by the way..........
How old are you??
turn left
Go Fast & Turn Left
1974jh5
Curmudgeon.
Yeah, what was the deal with trucks not having front brakes, ya old coot? 
Reid
XS650 Addict
Whats safer than a motorcycle with 24 inch brembo brakes....one without a rear wheel
Who knows what it came off of I going on the ebay listing, and its visual similarity to an XS wheel. Were it not for the normal sized rear sprocket I would have sworn it came off an XS
Who knows what it came off of I going on the ebay listing, and its visual similarity to an XS wheel. Were it not for the normal sized rear sprocket I would have sworn it came off an XS
1974jh5
Curmudgeon.
Got all the goodie out of that sprocket, didn't he?
OK lets trash this thread altogether. Bill I'm really curious why truck drivers back then didn't want front brakes. Explain please if you would. And by the way..........
How old are you??
There was a mistaken belief that the locking of the front brakes would cause jacknifes when in-fact, the opposite would prove to be true.
I'm 55 but some of the trucks I drove back then were older than I was at the time. Before the Federal DOT started their crackdowns in the '80s there were lots of really old trucks on the road. For example, one man I drove for had me driving an ancient chain drive REO that probably wasn't safe to drive when it was new.
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Yeah, what was the deal with trucks not having front brakes, ya old coot?
Is that a B Model Mack or a Brockway?
Reid
XS650 Addict
Im hoping that once I wash all of the orange off it will reveal a nice new 32t one
I don't think I've ever seen a sprocket that worn.
Reid
XS650 Addict
Shes a real beaut clark
1974jh5
Curmudgeon.
I have no idea, it's just a pic I grabbed. But the fact that you asked (and are probably very familiar with both) makes me wonder about your claim to age 55...
Seriously, it's good that the feds stepped in and required front brakes. I'm normally a proponent of minimalist government interference in anything, but sometimes...
zorpman
XS650 Member
Since the thread has been hijacked anyway (I am guilty as charged) thought I would add another 2 cents.
If you have the option, take off the rear brake entirely. Learn to stop using your front brake only. If you are in an emergency situation and you are used to using your back brake THAT is the brake you are going to hit....unload the rear end...swap ends/lay it down and crash.
If you get used to only using your front brake you will still have 90% of your stopping power even if you forget to apply the rear brake at all. If you insist, keep your rear brake operational but get used to using your front brake FIRST then applying your rear brake after it is unloaded (and when you lock the rear brake [like you will]-you will know that it is the REAR that is locked, not the front (which is a hell of a lot more difficult).
The one-in-a-million shot when a rear brake only is required (flat tire, very low speed high angle turn) usually gives you enough time to CHOOSE the rear brake.
BTW, (I am ready for the flames) laying it down is an admission of defeat and acceptance that you are going to be at least painfully injured. All most nobody, even in a car with anti-lock brakes uses available stopping power. Man up and learn to use your front brake. Burning your skin off while sliding down the highway rather then having a brake drum or rotor turn kinetic energy to heat seems a very very bad trade.
And to those with a one-in-a-million stories about laying-it-down-saved my life...I don't want to here it. Its like those "I got thrown clear in a traffic accident" stories used to justify not wearing seat belts. Cycling is dangerous...you do what you can to keep the odds within reason...not being able to stop is NOT going to improve the odds in you remaining alive and un-maimed.
If you have the option, take off the rear brake entirely. Learn to stop using your front brake only. If you are in an emergency situation and you are used to using your back brake THAT is the brake you are going to hit....unload the rear end...swap ends/lay it down and crash.
If you get used to only using your front brake you will still have 90% of your stopping power even if you forget to apply the rear brake at all. If you insist, keep your rear brake operational but get used to using your front brake FIRST then applying your rear brake after it is unloaded (and when you lock the rear brake [like you will]-you will know that it is the REAR that is locked, not the front (which is a hell of a lot more difficult).
The one-in-a-million shot when a rear brake only is required (flat tire, very low speed high angle turn) usually gives you enough time to CHOOSE the rear brake.
BTW, (I am ready for the flames) laying it down is an admission of defeat and acceptance that you are going to be at least painfully injured. All most nobody, even in a car with anti-lock brakes uses available stopping power. Man up and learn to use your front brake. Burning your skin off while sliding down the highway rather then having a brake drum or rotor turn kinetic energy to heat seems a very very bad trade.
And to those with a one-in-a-million stories about laying-it-down-saved my life...I don't want to here it. Its like those "I got thrown clear in a traffic accident" stories used to justify not wearing seat belts. Cycling is dangerous...you do what you can to keep the odds within reason...not being able to stop is NOT going to improve the odds in you remaining alive and un-maimed.
I never understood the visual appeal of no brakes, it looks clean yes, but when I see safety stuff removed for looks I usually think it'll be a trailer queen. No signals and stuff is fine, but when I see a chop with a nice modern brake system I assume it's a bike that's going to be ridden hard, not ridden slowly because having a drum only teaches you to ride that way.
I can't help but agree.
When I was teaching my son how to drive a car I took him to a junkyard and put him in a beat up old jeep with zero brakes and said, "Drive, boy!" He learned a lot that day. And the new dents in the jeep hardly showed at all.
I have no idea, it's just a pic I grabbed. But the fact that you asked (and are probably very familiar with both) makes me wonder about your claim to age 55...
Seriously, it's good that the feds stepped in and required front brakes. I'm normally a proponent of minimalist government interference in anything, but sometimes...
Familiar? I drove both. The Brockway was the Canadian brand Mack used like Ford used Mercury brand pick-ups up until the '70s.
And yes, generally I want the government to stay out of things but some things are just necessary.
1974jh5
Curmudgeon.
I believe it was Kenny Roberts who ran a race school where the first day was riding XR100's with bald tires and absolutely no brakes around a packed dirt track. Only after they hit the lap time target were the students allowed to go further.
The next day you were allowed a front brake, but no rear. Same deal. Only after that could you progress to the bigger/faster stuff. He said it was done that way so the students could get used to a squirrely bike, the same way you would ride on the ragged edge on asphalt. It's called 'sensation conditioning'.
There's several MX schools where you have to ride without a rear brake and hit a lap speed target, that way you HAVE to learn to use it. After years of MX, enduro and hare scrambles I can't imagine riding without one.
jd750ace
Front Toward Enemy
They must have imported a shit-ton of them Canadian Macks to Kentucky. When I was a young kid in the mid 70's, about 20 percent of the 10 and 14 wheeled coal trucks were Brockways. Also had a bunch of Diamond Rio trucks. Mostly R-model macks though. The occaisional Ford or IH (remember those)
Now it's pretty much all mined out in my hometown area. And by the way, yes, you will learn to apply both brakes mid-turn, or eat a rock wall or a guard rail because of deer or rocks in the road!
Now it's pretty much all mined out in my hometown area. And by the way, yes, you will learn to apply both brakes mid-turn, or eat a rock wall or a guard rail because of deer or rocks in the road!
Ashaman
XS650 Enthusiast
To further derail the topic, how is it that one can learn to use the brakes in a turn? Is it just a finesse thing, where you're just lightly using them while leaned over, or what?
scabber
XS650 Guru
Recycle bill a chain drive Brockway Hand crank wood spoke wheels solid rubber tires where in the hell did drive that thing.
jd750ace
Front Toward Enemy
Ashman, You can brake HARD with both brakes, all the way to the apex of a turn. You can also smoothly throw on the binders mid-corner, full lean, to modify your line. Yes. It is very important to work your way into it, but once you do, your riding confidence will rise exponentially.
