Deathtrap Jap brakes
Harley Brake IssuesDiscuss Deathtrap Jap brakes in the Harley Tech & Harley How-to forums; Some old timers bemoan the AMF era bikes but they never fitted the piece of junk brakes my old Yammie had. I had an 81 Seca 550. When it reached ...
Some old timers bemoan the AMF era bikes but they never fitted the piece of junk brakes my old Yammie had. I had an 81 Seca 550. When it reached about 3 years old and about 15000 miles the front brake went spongy. Didn't notice it 'till I rounded a curve in rush hour traffic and everyone was stopped. I hit both brakes hard, lever squeezed to the grip rear drum locked up and threw me sliding sideways into the rear bumper of a car, which knocked my foot off the brake and I headed into the left lane which thankfully was clear. I made it safely to the shoulder and let my heartbeat get back to normal. I rode that thing home and checked it out. The caliper was so cheaply made that I could watch it spread apart when I squeezed the lever hard. Made my move to Harley in 85 and got rid of that rotten little ricer. AMF may have made some bed choices in valves, guides etc some years but they never scrimped on the brakes IMHO (regardless of how the journalists whined in those days-I remember, Can't help it they lacked hand strength).
More than adequate for me. Of course mine is stock 74 and I know what road rash is all about, so I don't push it real hard. Jap freaks think H-D is such a dinosuar- They had disc front and rear when the Japs made you get by with cable operated drums.
It's interesting how in the last few years the Japanese bikes want to look and sound more like a Harley. Years ago they couldn't have distanced themselves any further and now days it's cookie-cutter wanna-be Harley knock-offs rolling off their lines.
That's right. Some look similar from a distance, they get a little closer and you see that it's a wanna be. Some are fitting drag pipes but don't even come close to Harley's music. They have a heartbeat like no other.
I had a banana caliper let go on my 1978 Shovelhead years ago. What a pain in the butt to rebuild and get to work right. Of course I was a hundred miles from home on my way to a rally 300 miles away.
I had a banana caliper let go on my 1978 Shovelhead years ago. What a pain in the butt to rebuild and get to work right. Of course I was a hundred miles from home on my way to a rally 300 miles away.
Isn'tthe way it always happens? Does to me anyway...
Deathtrap Jap brakes 
Linear Mode
