RW wrote:

This topic was in vogue back in 2002. There was mention of a
cycle
brake shop in California called VINTAGE BRAKE. I contacted
Mike Morse
the owner, and eventually sent him my 5" Tost wheel. What he
did was
to install a set of 'advanced composition' brake shoes
designed to
minimize fading and to improve the overall performance of
vintage
motorcycle drum brakes. He needed my actual wheel so he could
first
true it and then 'arc in' the brake shoes to an exacting
tolerance.
My DG200's braking went from virtually non-existent to
nose-scrapingly
effective Make sure you keep full aft elevator if you lean
on
these... I found the braking very very effective, yet
progressive. I
also changed out the stock 'bicycle brake" quality handbrake
lever
and cable, and installed a Harley clutch cable and a higher
quality
bicycle handbrake lever on the control stick. It's a must to
minimize
stretch in these cables if you want to deliver full force to
your
brake shoes. The brake is now overdue for a new set of shoes.
It has
been over 6 years since this overhaul was done, and I can tell
that
the effectiveness is slipping a bit. Even though I'm overdue,
the
braking is still much superior to the original 5" Tost. It
was also
very inexpensive as I recall.
www.vintagebrake.com Mike Morse was very pleasant to work
with.
I've tried some of the other exotic drum brake fixes out there
without
success. One of these 'fixes" is downright dangerous, as it
can
induce a lockup of the brake....hopefully one would not
accidentally
touch the lever during a takeoff roll... Hope this will
help
someone. It has served me well.

Makes one wonder how/why Tost built such poor brakes for so many
years.

--
Regards
-Doug

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