cyclehealth

I googled the above title and got nothing helpful. So I am presenting the question to you fine folks. I purchased a 2002 Burley Rock and Roll and am going over it and setting it up for our particulars. The bike is stock, even the seats, and cleaned up very well and shows very few miles. Beautiful orange paint! The Arai rear drag brake sticks on after releasing the stoker bar mounted shift lever that is set up to activate the Arai brake. I did check that the cable is not sticking. Cable goes slack after releasing the bar mounted lever but the brake arm lever stays put. The brake arm lever (on the actual brake hub) must be pushed to release it from its stuck position. It will pop back once enough pressure is applied with finger. I removed the wheel and removed the brake plate containing the brake shoes and lightly greased the lever that pushes the brakes apart. I will say it already had grease on it. I cleaned it off and applied fresh grease. Brake shoes show little to no wear. Nothing on the bike does. I realized that on very worn shoes the cam that pushes the shoes outward can rotate past its point of no return but that is not the case with this one as the shoes are not worn. Any ideas? And Thanks!

reburns

Does it stick when off the bike or disconnected from the cable?

cyclehealth

It does stick with cable disconnected. Problem is not the cable. I have not tried it off the bike. I am off to work and will have to try that later.

cyclehealth

Well, I tried the lever with the wheel dismounted from the bike and it still sticks.

Alcanbrad

Are both return springs between the brake shoes installed? If so, it sounds like the actuator lever is binding where it passes through the hub body. You might have to disassemble and focus there.

cyclehealth

Thank you! You nailed it. A few drops of oil where the actuator lever arm passes through the hub body did the trick. Why I did not think of this myself, I do not know. Everybody knows that if metal to metal sticks, oil it.

IPassGas

Hopefully oil is the fix. When the pads on an Arai brake wear down significantly (>50,000 miles), the cam will rotate a bit too far and tend to stick in the on position. If you find that you still have problem when riding, there are fixes, the Arai is indestructible.

Alcanbrad

Also, be careful to not use too much grease. You want to avoid getting grease and oil on the pads and with the heat, the lubricants can migrate. Also, the heat can burn off any lubricant you may find that you will have to apply more from time to time.

Paul J

I've been working on our Bushnell preparing it for touring next year which has the Arai drag brake. I've gotten the gearing set-up in more of the trekking set-up and will be working on the fenders one of these cold winter weekends coming much too soon. Back to the topic at hand, does anyone know if replacement brake pads are still available somewhere for these? I haven't spoken with Mel yet on this but the Tandems East website doesn't show availability anymore so thought I'd ask here.

IPassGas

A motorcycle shop may be able to help you, or possibly a relining site on line.

Paul J

Living here in Lancaster County, and all the Amish and Mennonite, I wonder one of the "buggy" shops would reline them as the technology is pretty similar. :-)

cyclehealth

https://custombrakes.co.uk/
Custom brakes was referenced from here: https://www.bikeradar.com/features/b...-tandem-cecil/