Front brake backplate

[philwhitelaw]

Hello again all, here is todays conundrum. Took apart my backplate yesterday to paint it and noticed that the fulcrum pin was nearly 2mm smaller in diameter than the hole in the backplate (17.6mm) or 5/8 and 11/16 ish in old money. There are two reasons I can think of for this, one is so that when you assemble the hub you pull on the brake, this sets the shoes against the drum and then you tighten the fulcrum pin to give best fit, that or the machinist back at the factory had a really bad day. I dont have anything to compare with so some info from you gurus out there would be welcome.

[bsa-bill]

I noticed this many years ago and shimmed the pin, not good, so I reckon your first theory is tha one to go with

[JulianS]

The purpose of the space between pivot and plate is, as you suspect, to allow the shoes to be centralised, it is not a fault. You will find centralising the shoes mentioned in the owners handbook.

[philwhitelaw]

Thanks for your replies, I suppose I should get an owners handbook downloaded. That might explain why my brake is so rubbish, its not set up properly.