Brake Snapped
 

While I was riding to work the other day, I braked to slow down before turning onto a side road. All of a sudden, my rear brake pedal kicked up into my foot. It felt like somebody took a hammer and hit the bottom of my foot. It didn't take long to see what had happened. I'm not clear on all the terminology, but it appeared as though a support arm that was connected to the brake had its bolt snap, dislodging it. The arm on the drum that connects the line to the brake pedal is also bent.

I guess I have two questions on this. First, what is the extent of the damage? I assume I'll need a new drum, since the arm is bent on it. I also assume I'll need a new line from the rear brake pedal to the drum. But my second, more important question, is why did this happen? I don't want to fix this only to have it happen again. I did just replace my rear wheel myself, but after hooking everything back up, it ran perfectly for several hundred miles. I am by no means saying I couldn't have made a mistake, I just thought that would have shown itself earlier. Anyway, I'm looking forward to your advice and insight.

Re: Brake Snapped
 

Zowie, that could have been far worse. Thank your Guardian Angel for riding with you.

You may get away fairly cheap on repairs. The rear brake cable is a must, the short lever that was bent is a must and I would also replace the brake cam just to be safe. The cam is the piece that the lever mounts to and goes into the drum itself to move the brake shoes. Any damage to the drum and shoes is unlikely in my opinion but then I'm trying to be optimistic here. Only a hands on inspection will tell for sure. Pull the wheel and inspect everything for damage.
Here is a thought. Check out the brake pedal and it's moving parts for damage and ease of movement. You said the pedal smacked your foot pretty hard. It wasn't designed to go in that direction
The Ronayers.Com fiche files will help with pics and part numbers.

Re: Brake Snapped
 

Also check for broken rear spokes, you never know.

Re: Brake Snapped
 

WOW has anyone else experienced this?? Kinda scary. You Master Mechanics out there chime in with theories as to what caused this so we lesser mortals can inspect our bikes PLEASE :cry: :shocked:

Re: Brake Snapped
 

check the bolt that holds the black bar on the hub,It keeps the hub from turning causing the damage pictured.That bolt has a hole in the end of it for a cotter key so there is no way for the nut to back off & cause this damage or worse.
:) :cool:

Re: Brake Snapped
 

That whole system is pretty straight-forward and seemingly bulletproof.
I always hate to do this, but from where I sit
it seems like it is more than likely user-error.
He did mention working on it a short while back;
it could have been something reversed, hooked up wrong,
or even something silly like forgetting to reinsert the cotter pin
if it was removed. Something apparently came loose:
he states that the bike was moving when this happened,
which eliminates any parts failure from working the brakes,
everything except something working loose.
Thank God nobody/nothing else but the bike was damaged.
The hardest part of repairing it will probably be jacking the back of the bike up! :)
Let us know if you find any more info as to the cause.

Re: Brake Snapped
 

While checking the brake pedal, look underneath, & check that the plate holding the adjusting bolt is still square (at right angle?) to the pedal arm. The adjusting bolt should be in line with the arm. When my bike went down & the pedal shot up, I had to beat the adjusting plate back with a lump hammer as it had distorted. :)

Re: Brake Snapped
 

Yea, i'm guessing from the pics the brake hub retaining strut bolt fell out, which as soon as you hit the rear brake will abruptly allow the rear hub to violently spin at wheel speed....(BAD situation ! ) Hard to understand HOW that bolt came loose and fell out, as the nut is lock secured with a cotter pin from the factory.

Re: Brake Snapped
 

Pretty much what I said. :tongue: I would think that it was removed Sometime when rear wheel was removed & never reinstalled.Just goes to show that if you do your own maintenance that you need to be extra careful when reassembling.
:) :cool:

Re: Brake Snapped
 

I learned many years ago if a job looks quite in-depth with many components I take severall digital pics throughout dissasembly to aid in reassembly. I must have took 75 high res pics when I completely dissasembled my GSXR to a bare frame for my restoration, thank god, NEVER would have 100% remembered how everything went back together a year and a half later..