XS1/B Drum Brake Vent- what's the program?

[U-turn]

Front Drummers:

I'm in the process of getting my new-to-me XS1B road worthy and the next step is tires/brakes. I think I remember reading somewhere that the front drum vent was some sort of selling point; however, mine has a metal cover screwed over the openings. This cover shows up in the service manual as well.

I was wondering what the proper program is with this vent. Do you open it up for anticipated hard riding/ dry weather? If/when you do take the metal vent cover off do you also remove the 6 plugs on the right side of the wheel? Being a Pacific Northwest bike, I'm not surprised that the drum is "sealed" up, but I am curious how others run it and if there is a noticable difference.

 

[MiniDanzig]

yeah i was wondering the same thing, i have this wheel up front on mine and i was really surprised to find it was a solid metal plate covering it instead of a vented one. that and the plastic caps covering the holes; if they were intended to always be closed why have the caps at all?

 

[mick71b]

Front Drummers:

I'm in the process of getting my new-to-me XS1B road worthy and the next step is tires/brakes.

Don't know about the vents and plugs, but when adjusting the new front shoes, take the time and read the procedure in the manual and follow it. The adjustment makes a big difference in performance and lever feel. Do yourself a favor and put a new cable on too. If that one breaks.......
Mick

 

[gggGary]

Don't worry, that drum front brake is just there for looks.
Probably more important to keep water out than cool it on the street? Don't know just a guess. But I am 99% certain you are going to want to completely disassemble the linkages clean and lightly grease all shafts and pivots and as suggested a new cable. You might want to look at the vintage brake web site for some old time brake tech info. Turning the shoes and modern linings are probably the biggest performance boosts.
I cut my teeth on drum brake street bikes and still remember how much hand pressure resulted in how little braking. It is very frustrating headed for a minor disaster and knowing that the tire had a lot more ability to stop than the brake could apply. Back in the day once I rode a disk brake bike I would not consider a drum brake again.

 

[U-turn]

Good stuff. I had cut the extended brake cable down to normal size when I got the new bars in order to have front braking when testing around the neighborhood, but I will be ordering a new cable along with new shoes. I checked out the vintage brake website and gleaned some info from it. They had this to say about the XS650 front drums:

3 things not to like: wimpy 6mm link rod in compression, master and slave arms work through different leverage ratios, actuating cams do not locate shoes.

All good points to ponder. They also mention cooling scoops, how some (different) applications use expanded metal to cover the scoop inlet, and how changing to a different sized expanded metal can add to cooling. Makes me further wonder why Yamaha chose to run with a cover plate over the scoop- perhaps I'll have to experiment with it once the brakes are sorted.