Suzuki/Lehman Brake ? Normal or Tampered With ?

[Ol' Grey]

Started doing maintainence on my OL's 2002 Suzuki VS800 Lehman trike. She mentioned that the foot brake wasn't engaging until the foot pedal was pushed forward near the end of it's travel by the pedal stop.

Did the oil and filter change, topped off the fluids in the clutch reservoir and both front and rear brake reservoirs. Noticed that her rear brake light switch spring was broken and chalked it up to normal wear. Have since ordered and installed the new brake light switch spring.

When I crawled under the trike to locate the rear brake adjuster, found something that has been bugging me and wanted to ask those who know more about these trikes to see what Y'all think. The rear brake cable rod has the brake rod barrel (some call it "pin") and then the adjuster nut behind that. When I first located it, the threaded brake rod end was flush with the outside edge of the adjuster nut, meaning absolutely no threads showing beyond the adjuster nut. Maybe I'm wrong, but it sure seems like there should have been some threads extending beyond the adjuster nut, yes ? Using the 20-30mm free play measurement for the foot pedal adjustment, ended up turning the adjuster nut in and now there's 5/16" of thread showing beyond the adjuster nut and she's got better rear brake action.

The broken brake light switch spring didn't bother me until I saw the rear brake adjuster nut at the very end of the threaded brake rod. Broken spring = no brake lights from the foot brake. Brake rod adjuster nut at minimum setting = very little braking action from foot brake.

Am I being paranoid or would others suspect foul play ? Your input would be much appreciated.........Thanx.......

[Gorilla]

might be that someone was adjusting and did not know what they were doing?

[Ol' Grey]

Hard call.......her trike only has 11K miles on it. I did the first oil change for her after she got it. The only real shop service it had was 4 yrs. ago and the shop is reputable.

Since she isn't into wrenching for herself, I decided to take it on to bring it back up to snuff and not let it go without the maintainence it needs and deserves. The Lehman rear end is new to me, but the brake cable/rod/adjuster nut is pretty much a stock set-up that I'm familiar with and was a bit surprised to see that adjuster nut backed off so far the way it was. Seems like the design of the adjuster nut with the curved portion that "cups" against the brake rod barrel/pin shouldn't be able to move by itself and can't imagine that the trike would have gone this long with the rear brake adjusted so minimally without her having any problems until just recently........Remains a mystery unless there's something different about Lehman brake adjustments that I'm not aware of ?

[Ol' Grey]

Anyone ?

Please understand that I'm not familiar with the Lehman set-up and am trying to gauge whether or not this is something we should be concerned about. My OL is the first owner of this trike. As it stands now, having found the "broken" brake light switch spring and the threads of the brake rod flush with the outside edge of the adjuster nut, am thinking that it might have been tampered with. If I'm wrong, that's O.K., but we're trying to find out one way or another.

Re-phrasing the question here.........Does anyone own a Suzuki/Lehman trike (or another conversion trike with a similar rear brake set-up) and have you found the threads of the brake rod flush with the outside edge of the adjuster nut and been told by a reputable service tech that this adjustment should be considered "normal" ?

"Yes" = Yep, it's normal, no worries......
"No" = Nope, haven't seen anything like that. Doesn't seem right.

[ultraboy]

I would not suspect tampering as a first thought. You see how the cupped nut fits into the adjustment, and have apparently adjusted it correctly. The broken spring is just that, a broken spring. Now that you have it all working correctly, I would eyeball it every now and then to make sure the nut does not back off.

[Ol' Grey]

Thanx for the response, ultraboy, I do appreciate it. When I only saw the broken spring, it didn't bother me at all, just thought as you said "broken spring, need to replace it". But when I saw the adjuster nut backed off that far, then the paranoia set in (tried to use the "monster" icon, but it doesn't seem to be working, LOL!) Wondered "Did someone snip the spring and back off the adjuster nut ?" Her foot brake didn't start to engage until her toe was pointing towards the ground. Stock spec for pedal movement is between 20mm-30mm movement. Her's was considerably more than that. Have adjusted it to 30mm and now there's obviously thread showing beyond the adjuster nut and her foot brake engages normally.

Am familiar with the "cupped" adjuster nut and brake rod barrel/pin from other bikes and know that the adjuster nut is designed that way to prevent it from moving by itself. Push on brake and it pulls the brake rod forward, keeping the adjuster nut up against the barrel/pin. Release brake and the tension from the brake arm keeps those parts in place as the assembly goes back to it's resting state.

Will keep an eye on it as you've suggested. I can get by a broken spring as being normal wear 'n tear, but I have to admit that I'm having a hard time getting around that adjuster nut moving by itself due to it's inherent design, LOL!

Thanx again very much and Ride Safe.........

[Lee H. Mann]

Started doing maintainence on my OL's 2002 Suzuki VS800 Lehman trike. She mentioned that the foot brake wasn't engaging until the foot pedal was pushed forward near the end of it's travel by the pedal stop.

Did the oil and filter change, topped off the fluids in the clutch reservoir and both front and rear brake reservoirs. Noticed that her rear brake light switch spring was broken and chalked it up to normal wear. Have since ordered and installed the new brake light switch spring.

When I crawled under the trike to locate the rear brake adjuster, found something that has been bugging me and wanted to ask those who know more about these trikes to see what Y'all think. The rear brake cable rod has the brake rod barrel (some call it "pin") and then the adjuster nut behind that. When I first located it, the threaded brake rod end was flush with the outside edge of the adjuster nut, meaning absolutely no threads showing beyond the adjuster nut. Maybe I'm wrong, but it sure seems like there should have been some threads extending beyond the adjuster nut, yes ? Using the 20-30mm free play measurement for the foot pedal adjustment, ended up turning the adjuster nut in and now there's 5/16" of thread showing beyond the adjuster nut and she's got better rear brake action.

The broken brake light switch spring didn't bother me until I saw the rear brake adjuster nut at the very end of the threaded brake rod. Broken spring = no brake lights from the foot brake. Brake rod adjuster nut at minimum setting = very little braking action from foot brake.

Am I being paranoid or would others suspect foul play ? Your input would be much appreciated.........Thanx.......

This might help. In 2004, Lehman had a service recall to owners of 2002-03 Gypsy and Romani models for a rear brake pedal travel issue. The problem was that the pedal pressure was twisting the rear linkage and causing extreme pedal play. They have a bracket that can be installed and yours should have had that bracket.

If you were not the original owner, and the previous owner did not have this service performed, you might be missing this bracket.

PM me for particulars. I can FAX a drawing to you.

Jim

[Ol' Grey]

PM sent and thanx very much! :wtg:

[RonG]

I'm going to jump in here because it seems to be the most recent discussion of Lehmann rear drum brakes.

I have a 2001 Suzuki Vagabond Lehmann trike with rear drum brakes. I removed the right rear drum to examine the condition shoes, ( I believe this is a 79/80 mustang brake system). there is a piece dangling from the brakes that is the parking brake actuator cable and a metal hook. Does anyone know where this "Hook Piece" attaches in the drum assembly. I've tried several different sources for a picture or a maintenace manual to no avail.Any suggestions would be appreciated and photos would be a remarkable addition.

Also if anyone knows where a Lehmann Vagabond service manual could be obtained, could you let me know.