Dnepr disc brake

[johnfireball]

Hi all,
I finally got around to modifying the dnepr wheel to take a disc brake. Still testing but iit's working fine. I can now stop the beast. Maybe I'll fit one to the rear wheel. If anyone's interested I can give details on how to do it.
John.

[Sphere]

Hi John, is this a standard kit, or did you modify something to fit the Dnepr hub?

[johnfireball]

Hi Sphere,
No it,s not a kit, I used a brake disc and master cylinder from a yamaha sr 500 (same as xs range) and I had an old kawasaki caliper lying around. I machined the hub while the wheel was on the bike by holding a cutting tool in a vicegrip wedged against the fork leg and spun the wheel by hand until I made a flat to mount the disc on and a ridge to locate the center of the disc (ensure wheel bearings have minimum play). I made an 8mm steel plate to mount the caliper. I located the caliper on the disc and locked it in position by pulling the brake lever and holding it with elastic. The caliper is then alligned side to side on its slider and the steel bracket tack welded to the fork leg,remove wheel and caliper and in stages(to avoid melting seals) weld the caliper mount to the fork leg. Care must be taken drilling the hub as the webs in the rear will cause problems. I drilled with a 6mm bit and forced an 8mm tap through the holes to ensure tight fitting bolts (its not difficult as the dnepr alloy is so soft).
You end up with approx 10mm depth of thread on each bolt which I think will be strong enough, time will tell.
John.

[Sphere]

Hi John, thanks. I would prefer such an approach, otherwise I have to have the front wheel respoked (Enfield disc brake kit comes with a new hub). My single leading brake shoes of terminal velocity will not do I'm affraid, but time will tell. Actually I hope to find out Saturday, when I will fit my new clutch

[Sphere]

Do you have some more pics? I'm wondering what the hub looks like now, and possibly what it looked like before.

[johnfireball]

Hi sphere,
no more pics I'm afraid, but its fairly obvious what needs doing when you have the disc in hand. Just remove the min amount of ally to do the job.
John.

[mark_in_manchester]

Hey, that's nice. My drum has gone oval under the pressure from Morris Minor 2LS hydraulic drum conversion - maybe I could go this way instead!
M.

[johnfireball]

Hi all,
Update on disc brake: No problems its great, best thing I ever did. Worthwhile easy mod.
John.