BSA / Ariel Hub Front brake conversion???

[Hughsie]

Hi
I appreciate there is work that can be done to improve my ariel front brake, but.....
Is there actually a fairly easy or direct swap for this front wheel that will give me a more useful brake?
I dont mind if it's changes the look, it's not that much of an original bike anyway.
Thanks in advance

[Greybeard]

I have to tell you that the early half sided brake is great when set up properly.  A BSOAC friend had a ride on my bike. He has the full width brakes. He was surprised at how much better the anchors on my bike were than his own

[RDfella]

Agree with Neil - the 8" single-sided is by far the best but, as SHM says, it won't fit your sliders. There is a twin leading backplate (Triumph I believe) that drops in and improves matters. What I did.

[bikerbob]

Your main problem with going to a half width hub is the spindle size on the Ariel hubs is 1" dia so the fork bottoms have a 1" dia to accomoate that spindle, so some how you will either have to alter the half width hub or change the bottom of the forks to suit the half width hub. Also the mud guard brackets are different. So while I am not saying it can't be done it will entail quite a bit of work, maybe try and improve your existing brake first. My A7 has the Ariel hubs and I find the brakes OK obviously not upto modern standards but alright, just ride the bike accordingly.

[Rex]

I'd love that brake too, but then my '51 A7 came with the pressed tin 7" brake plate as fitted to the C range bikes.
To be fair, a skimmed drum (it was oval) and new linings have helped a lot, though stoppies aren't on the cards anytime soon.

[muskrat]

G'day Hughsie.
I raced my 1957 A7SS with those brakes for 9 years. Get the shoes re-lined with the softest material available.
When I put her on the road as the A10 Cafe I extended the lever by an inch.
Cheers

[muskrat]

G'day Fellas.
When I was preping the A7SS for racing I took the shoes to a brake shop. I told the young fella what I wanted. Then an old fella came out and asked what for. I told him and he disappeared out back. I heard him rummaging, then he came out with a roll and said "this is what you want sonny".
A very coarse woven material with what looked like copper wire in the weave. Sort of like the pic but with the copper. One hour later the job was done. 
It works very well but on a tight track they begin to fade after 8 to 10 laps
Cheers

[chaterlea25]

Hi All,
I have seen twin leading shoe brake plates for the Ariel type hubs, I seem to remember they made by the Ariel o/c ?
I have also seen the Ariel brake plates breaking as opposed to braking

John

[Peter in Aus]

I took my A7 full with hub front brake to Matfleet Maddington WA. (recommended by Richard Orabanda) They want the whole wheel complete with the Tyre still on, they skim the drum and fit a lining (glued and riveted both ends) similar to what Muskrat said, (at a very reasonable cost) a vast improvement, you acutely slow down now when applying the brake instead of going faster
Not much good to members except for members in  West Australia but might be able to find someone near you that dose something similar.
Peter

[orabanda]

Marfleet have recently done same with Ariel hubs for my '56 Road Rocket.
Front brake remains a token gesture only; a hub for the spokes to fasten to.
The Ariel FWH  are the only brake I haven't been able to improve to a satisfactory standard. Have tried three different modern linings, including the copper impregnated woven material Peter has had success with, and had them all arced to suit re-machined drums.

Maybe part of the issue is the materiel used for the brake surface (low co-efficient of friction)?

As Chaterlea (John) mentioned, it is well documented that there are weaknesses in the backing plate and they can crack and / or the stud securing the torque arm can break away; excitement plus!!

The single sided 8" A10 brake is a good brake; the 1968 A65 version is much better - I have fitted these to several A10's.

My next step is (will be) to have the brake backing plate recast (stronger), and convert to 2LS on the front, and retrofit the recast backing plate to the rear..
Richard

[Hughsie]

Wow, lots of fantastic info to read through here everyone, I really appreciate the comments.
I think my first port of call should be a re line anyway and take it from there. I have been consciously riding more appropriately to the bike, giving much more braking distance and using both front and back brakes together. But the shoes are deffo old, so a softer re line should be a quick improvement,  I will report back on any improvement.    Extending the pivot arm sounds very interesting also, I'm sure that something I remember from school about Newton and leverage, so that makes sense and sounds interesting.
I actually love the look of these wheels so would like to keep them ideally.  I will read each post again to ensure I've not missed anything, but as agreed I'd prefer not to go down the route of changing forks etc right now, it's already been a costly project and I need to keep the budget in mind.
Thanks again

[orabanda]

It helps to have a (handle bar) brake lever with 7/8" between the  bolt pivot centre - cable lug centre; this will generate the most force at the lever.
Richard

[groily]

A big +1 for that.
And for clutches. Makes them a lot lighter - transformative in many cases, and a MUST on some machines. But robust quality is also a bit critical, some of the stuff out there is so flimsy that you can watch things bend when you apply even modest force.

[Greybeard]

... using both front and back brakes together....

👍

I often find myself putting my left foot down and using only the front brake when coming to a stop. I wonder if that's a muscle memory from riding Japanese bikes long ago.

[rocker21]

there was many years ago a hydraulic conversion using mini bits, there are some pics on the Ariel  club website, also there was a TLS conversion made back in the day .