I thought I'd check the rear shoes for wear. I have had a few strange noises, not quite a classic brake squeal, a little deeper. The shoes look like they have 80% on them, compared to the new EBC shoes I bought in haste. I have read a few reports on the OEM pads being really, really hard. I don't see any damage to the hub ( bike has only 23,000 miles) Should I change the shoes for the new EBC's or take a wire brush to the hubs and rough them up a bit.
My rear brake makes some noise, but only some times. Doesn't seem as grabby as it could. I've thought about trying to rough up the shoe, but 40 grit does not make sense to my brain. Seems like you'd just be making big gouges every 1/8 inch. I'm to try 80 grit.
The OEM rear brake material IS too hard, or so I've read somewhere on the Net, so poor is my rear brake that it wouldn't lock the rear wheel if I tried. I've heard of the brake material being changed for those from a milk float (UK readers will know what I mean) and when properly set up, this actually gives an airhead a proper working brake. I must do some searching to see if I can discover more (Ferodo number, etc).
I also am kind of surprised at how much pad remains on my rear brake shoes. I actualyl havent checked the hub, now that you mention it, but I also havent had any trouble locking the rear wheel.
yeah, but your riding in dirt!!!! I've had my G/S shoes relined with a softer material, but haven't put them on yet. That being said with the current EBC shoes I can lock it up in dirt and on pavement with lots of pressure on the lever. Wish it was less though. I do have a slight grove in the drum from the stock shoes (100,000 miles). I wanted to get rid of the BMW shoes because of the reports and didn't want to wear out the unobtainable hub.
Well, if you have the wheel off, it's only another 10 minutes to put the new shoes on. Try it, see what happens. My OEM rear brake shoes went from being good to not working at all in season. Had them relined (they turned to stone). Now even with the weak front brake the the bike stops a lot better with the combination of the two. Plus, with the cost and lack of availability of rear drums, I'd do it just as a precaution.
