Dsgb031 Posted February 18, 2022 Report Share Posted February 18, 2022 (edited) Okay, I know that this is sacrilegious to even suggest this ….but I want brakes on my TLR200 Reflex. Before everyone looses their minds and start yelling for me to learn how to ride and to use engine braking and what not let me explain. I am not fortunate enough to have a practice area in my yard nor do I have a way to conveniently transport my bike most days. I have a bike carrier that hooks up to the receiving hitch on our SUV but my wife is generally driving that, which means that I have to ride my bike TO the places where I can ride my bike. As you all know the brakes on the TLR are garbage. Being that an older lady pulled out in front of me the other day when I was on my Kawasaki Super Sherpa, which resulted in me laying the bike down, my mind is on safety. what I would like to do is swap out the TLR hub with that of something like an XL185 or something similar that has a regular sized 111mm drum on it. I know in the case of the XL185 I will either have to enlarge the axle holes on the swing arm or install different wheel bearings, but does anyone know if the width is similar? The hubs appear to be of the same design so I’m really hopping that they are close enough that custom spacers will do the trick. If anyone knows of some other wheel that will work please let me know although I am somewhat limited in my options as there are many bikes that were never sold here. ( such as the TLM220 which I have read is possible). I know how well a 111mm drum works because both my childhood XR200 and the several NX250’s I’ve had over the years all ran them (except for my current NX250 project which has a disc conversion!!) and they could lock up the rear wheel effortlessly at any speed. Had I been riding my Reflex the other day I surely would have taken a short flight after I T-boned that ladies front end because it simply can not stop worth a crap and engine braking is not an effective emergency maneuver. Thank you in advance for any information or help that you can give me. Edited February 18, 2022 by Dsgb031 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feetupfun Posted February 18, 2022 Report Share Posted February 18, 2022 I'm not going to yell at you about learning to ride with rubbish brakes. I hate rubbish brakes. Great brakes make riding trials or avoiding your older ladies on the road so much easier. I am going to yell at you because you can make your brakes amazing without fitting bigger (heavier) hubs. Get the brake drum surface re-machined. Get modern high friction linings fitted to your brake shoes. Get those high friction linings ground or machined to match the drum ID. Enjoy your amazing drum brakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trialman Posted February 18, 2022 Report Share Posted February 18, 2022 First thing I would tell you is that the front brake provides 75o/o off the braking as the back end is unweighted when braking correctly!! o/k. I have just built a twin trials and have used the front hub off a cg125 honda and as the hub is about 30mm bigger than a tl/tlr the brake is far better, I have a ty175 as well and it doesn't match the Honda brake. You would just need a respoke, and as you use it on the road it would be far better. Also you would drop on cg parts cheaply as there were lots sold. feetupfun man is right, and it would improve things if you have crappy linings [chinese] fitted,but as you are using it on the road you would have a massive improvement.Your crash scares me, in that it doesn't sound like you use the front brake??, find an empty road and do an emergency stop with just the rear brake,then with just the front and then with both.NOTE place a marker at the start point and do not lock the wheels.Trials is about complete control and knowing your bikes capabilities. ENJOY LEARNING AS TRIALS IMPROVES YOU AS AN ALL-ROUNDER..look at how good trialsmen are at super enduro,and also mick andrews being the best in the superstars six competition back in the 80's. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timdog Posted February 18, 2022 Report Share Posted February 18, 2022 Villiers services relined my tlr brake shoes with soft, high friction material and the improvement in brake performance was noticeable. With trials tyres on I wouldn’t want to be travelling fast on the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dsgb031 Posted February 24, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2022 Thanks for the replies gentlemen. I was going around 25 mph when I had my little crash. I did use both brakes however there was nothing in the world that could have stopped that from happening. I know that this is sacrilege and I will most likely be crucified for saying this but I intend to instal the fork off of my NX250 and have disc brakes up front……. The length of the NX fork is almost identical to the TLR200 fork only it’s a 37mm fork as opposed to the 33mm unit on the Reflex. I’ve already sourced the wheel from an XR250L to run on it as this will bolt right up with room for the speedo drive. Im actually planning on using the brake hub from the NX250 as well once I get a wheel with a 111mm drum that fits. I am almost done building my son his first dual sport by updating an 89 NX250 with disc rear brakes, upgraded shock, USD forks, and a 21/18 wheel combo. This will be my second TLR200 build. I loved my first one but I can’t wait to have good brakes!! I know how to get those engines to really move but hopefully now I’ll be able to stop as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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