Resurface brake drums?

edcphoto · Post by **edcphoto** » Tue Oct 23, 2012 6:43 pm

Is it possible to have the drums resurfaced on a CA95? Mine seem pretty pitted and certainly seem like resurfacing would help the braking and would be a good idea but don't know if this is possible. Anyone done this before? If so is it something that a good motorcycle shop should be able to do?

Spokes · Post by **Spokes** » Wed Oct 24, 2012 3:48 am

That's a good question. I am not quite sure there is enough metal to turn. I have never had a CA95 or 160 drum turned, that does not mean it can't be done.

Larzfromarz · Post by **Larzfromarz** » Wed Oct 24, 2012 5:07 am

A question I think we all have... and does it require a breakdown of the wheel?
You can measure the ID of the drum and probably find out if still in spec.
New shoes do wonders even on old drums. Helps to have them cam ground too. You can easily remove surface rust but I wouldn't worry too much about the pitting.

kartgreen · Post by **kartgreen** » Wed Oct 24, 2012 5:28 am

I would do a good wire brushing and then use a 40-60 grit or so emery paper on the drum surface . A brake shop would be able to turn the drum but may require that the hub be disassembled from the rim and the bearings removed from the hub . Even then I'd only remove ten thousandths of an inch from the diameter which would be a five thousandths cut from the surface of the drum . Not worth the effort in my estimation .
As long as you can get to a reasonably smooth surface pitting should not be a problem .

edcphoto · Post by **edcphoto** » Sat Oct 27, 2012 10:33 pm

I did find a machinist that could resurface a brake drum but it would require unlacing the drum/hub from the rim. I think I'll try the emery cloth first and see how that cleans the surface up. What about new shoes? If the old ones have enough lining should they be OK or will age affect their ability to stop? Are the ones that can be found on ebay decent quality? Can you have the shoes relined?

ByTheLake · Post by **ByTheLake** » Sun Oct 28, 2012 5:22 am

I'm sure that the shoes can be relined, but I'd bet that the cost would be higher than the replacement shoes that are available on-line. At a quick glance I see a set of 4 shoes on eBay for roughly $20, with $25 shipping, while one shop charges $35 per shoe to reline. Relining probably makes sense when a replacement shoe is unobtainable.

I've put 170 miles on my eBay-sourced shoes and they seem to work quite well.

comp_wiz101 · Post by **comp_wiz101** » Sun Oct 28, 2012 5:03 pm

I had to resurface some nasty brake drums on a moped recently - I fitted the wheel to a bicycle trainer (a truing stand would work as well), held some emery cloth onto the inner surface, and spun the wheel. This helped keep me from focusing to much on any one spot and making the drum any more out of round.