Wednesday 1 September 2021

1924 TT bikes and brakes ...

 



-SG- In one of his anecdotes, related to 'Titch' Allen in the '70s, Walter Moore said he bought forty Model T Ford brake sets so that the 1924 works bikes could be fitted with a better rear brake than the dummy belt rim type previously used.  Certainly the  few photos of Bennett on his TT winning machine show a rear drum brake of generous proportions and indeed this may well have been partly Ford in origin.

But ... it looks rather as if it was only the 8 inch Ford drum that was used as the car version was just a parking brake and the original shoes did not have any linings! So perhaps Moore organised for appropriate shoes and back plates to be made. At this stage it is difficult to be sure. Certainly by 1925 the Enfield rear hubs had 8 inch brake drums but these were integral with the hub and carried the spokes on the outer edge. Detachable 8 inch drums came into use in 1928.

Thanks are due to Chris who owns a couple of Model T Fords, for photos of an original brake drum and a scan, from a company making replica T parts, of the shoe set-up.  I notice these do now have linings!