FRONT BRAKELIGHT SWITCH FOR DRUM BARKE
Posted: 28 Dec 2024 20:25
I've never been that happy about not having a front brakelight switch on my early drum brake Strada. I know the obvious answer is to always use the back brake as well but it doesn't always work like that!
I find the back brake on my every-day Hondas (1994 & 2003 CB500s covering 10,000 a year between them) a bit uncomfortable to use as the riding position forces my feet outwards so I have to twist my foot inwards to operate the pedal. Over time I've found I only tend to use it when I need to, ie on dodgy road surfaces, on snow or ice, where there's lots of surface water or when very heavy braking is required (which is virtuallly never). Even in heavy rain I'm extremely unlikely to lock up the front wheel if using just the front brake. Whilst the Strada foot brake is really easy to use, if I do tend to brake the same as on the Hondas then people behind won't know I'm braking.
A search of ebay found a small brakelight switch that I thought would be suitable so I ordered one. Once it arrived I was able to plan how to mount it. Here are the 2 brackets I made. The left-hand one is the stop to go on the lever to release/compress the switch plunger and the other is to go onto the lever mount to hold the switch.
There isn't much force needed to operate the switch so I kept the mounting screws as small as possible. I used 6BA screws (2.8mm diameter) as I had some handy and the thread is very fine which is ideal for using on the thin metal of the lever mount. As you can see in the following picture the switch mount is also held by the locknut for the lever pivot. That complicated matters slightly as to get the angle of the switch right in relation to the stop I couldn't make the bracket out of a stright bit of angle iron, I had to make it in 2 bits and weld them together.
It all worked out brilliantly. The 6BA held the stop firmly enough although to make absolutely sure it won't move I added some sealant to help glue it to the lever. At some point I will make a slightly longer pivot bolt as the thread now only goes halfway into the locknut. I ran out of time to do that now so simply used some loctite on the nut to help hold it. As you can see from the final picture the switch doesn't show at all, the only give-away being the cable secured to handlebar. An afternoon well spent I felt.
I find the back brake on my every-day Hondas (1994 & 2003 CB500s covering 10,000 a year between them) a bit uncomfortable to use as the riding position forces my feet outwards so I have to twist my foot inwards to operate the pedal. Over time I've found I only tend to use it when I need to, ie on dodgy road surfaces, on snow or ice, where there's lots of surface water or when very heavy braking is required (which is virtuallly never). Even in heavy rain I'm extremely unlikely to lock up the front wheel if using just the front brake. Whilst the Strada foot brake is really easy to use, if I do tend to brake the same as on the Hondas then people behind won't know I'm braking.
A search of ebay found a small brakelight switch that I thought would be suitable so I ordered one. Once it arrived I was able to plan how to mount it. Here are the 2 brackets I made. The left-hand one is the stop to go on the lever to release/compress the switch plunger and the other is to go onto the lever mount to hold the switch.
- Brackets
- MBL1.jpg (35.69 KiB) Viewed 3880 times
There isn't much force needed to operate the switch so I kept the mounting screws as small as possible. I used 6BA screws (2.8mm diameter) as I had some handy and the thread is very fine which is ideal for using on the thin metal of the lever mount. As you can see in the following picture the switch mount is also held by the locknut for the lever pivot. That complicated matters slightly as to get the angle of the switch right in relation to the stop I couldn't make the bracket out of a stright bit of angle iron, I had to make it in 2 bits and weld them together.
- Brackets and switch mounted
- 042 compressed.jpg (462.41 KiB) Viewed 3880 times
It all worked out brilliantly. The 6BA held the stop firmly enough although to make absolutely sure it won't move I added some sealant to help glue it to the lever. At some point I will make a slightly longer pivot bolt as the thread now only goes halfway into the locknut. I ran out of time to do that now so simply used some loctite on the nut to help hold it. As you can see from the final picture the switch doesn't show at all, the only give-away being the cable secured to handlebar. An afternoon well spent I felt.
- Switch not visible
- 045 compressed.jpg (475.58 KiB) Viewed 3880 times