Stella Rear Brake Question

Sgtstadanko · Post by **Sgtstadanko** » Sun Oct 18, 2015 1:44 am

I have noticed that my rear brake seems to have a lot of play in the pedal and the braking power is substantially less. Basically to stop I have to apply front brake as well. The scoot only has 6500 miles on so dont think its pad wear. I dont see any leaky oil around rear tire so dont think thats it. I checked the cable by hand and it felt tight but im not really sure how tight it needs to be.

Does anyone have the process for checking/tightening the rear drum brake cable?

Thanks.

az_slynch · Post by **az_slynch** » Sun Oct 18, 2015 4:30 am

I generally set my brake so I have a quarter-inch of pedal movement before the brake really starts to grab. The adjustment for the rear brake is located under the engine case and can be adjusted with pair of open ended wrenches. Don't tignten it too much, or your brake may be susceptable to lockups. Turn it out a half-turn at a time and check the pedal operation. Remember to set the locking nut when you're done.

Assuming adjustment doesn't work, you might have a buildup of brake dust in the drum. You can try to blow ot out by introducing compresed air between the drum and backing plate; wear a mask if you do. If the brake is still really soft, you might need to remove the brake drum and scuff the drum surface with medium sandpaper and dress the shoes as well.

jimmbomb · Post by **jimmbomb** » Sun Oct 18, 2015 7:22 pm

You should always use your front brake mostly anyways. Apply the front AFTER you've started braking with the rear. Just not in gravel or slippery turns.
good luck with your rear brake adjustment.

Post by **ericalm** » Mon Oct 19, 2015 1:31 am

With a drum-rear/disc-front setup like the Stella's, (around) 70% of your stopping power is in the front. The key is to learn to use them to work together. It's pretty easy, in an emergency, to come down too hard on either and lock one up, particularly the rear.

Stomping on that pedal is instinct to anyone who's driven a car and a hard habit to break. It's also very easy to do unintentionally. Eventually, I had to learn to not cover the brake with my foot unless I was damn sure I wanted to use it.

You should be using both to stop in most instances and for hard stops, but the front is more important. The rear is important for properly decelerating and controlling the stop.

You can pretty easily adjust the tension in the brake cable, but unless it's so loose it isn't fully engaging the brake when the pedal's all the way down, you're not getting any more stopping power.

You could also try upgrading the rear brakes, but I'm not sure how much it'll help. If you want more stopping power overall, better front brake pads are cheap and easy. I like the Malossis. Don't last as long but stop better than OEM.