On Thursday I took my original RL250 front brake cable to a brake cable manufacturer. Having heard stories of reputation I assumed that this place would be reliable, especially when they made high risk components such as brake cables.
I asked for a copy of the cable with a modification for the assembly to be one inch longer overall. They wanted to butcher my original for the threaded components. I refused and requested a new original. They had the parts and it was no dramas.
The next morning I picked the cable up. I unravelled them and checked them for length. The new one was spot on an inch longer. The threaded adjustment at the hub end was 15mm shorter. This made it almost impossible for me to get the cable on when I installed it. So, I relocated my hub lever one tooth up on the spline. This reduced my braking power but I wouldn’t know how much until I tried it. At least I could get the cable on.
I got the cable on and it would work. I had to place the adjustments at both ends of the cable at their max length to get any tension. The front brake lever felt spongy as I mentioned in a previous post. I got on the bike and rolled it down out of the garage. With the brake lever pulled all the way into the grip I could still push the bike.
I hopped on it and rolled slowly down the courtyard. I pulled the front brakes on quick and I slowed to a halt very slowly. I repeated the test and SNAP! The cable broke right at the top brass barrel. I was annoyed.
Then, I checked the one thing I didn’t check at the shop. BUSTED! The shop had used 1.5mm stainless wire when the original has 2mm galvanised steel. The original is a gentle left hand lay and the copy is a steeper right hand lay.
I could not believe it. If I was someone who doesn’t test something before putting it to use I could have gone on a trial or been riding on the road and the first time I used the brake at say over 30km/h to stop within 3 metres I would be rooted. SNAP! Fallen down a ravine or t-boned a passing truck. Honestly, how can someone skimp on quality of a FRONT BRAKE CABLE? It’s shocking.
$88 for JUNK!
Following that shocking story I have some great news.
I started my bike and the high and low beam works. The tail lamp works and the stop lamp is bright as. I am glad something is going right. You see. If you want something done right you need to do it yourself.
I ran the head lamp and tail lamp on one coil and the stop lamp on the second coil. I wonder if I combine the coils then I can get more brightness in the head and tail lamp because the stop lamp is amply bright. It’s all running on AC.
Because the coils are in different angular locations on the stator, then that would mean that the two independent phases are out of phase. Then, by combining them, they would reduce the amount of flicker in the lights. I wonder if it would work.