MZ TS250 Front Brake Upgrade!

[Kruh]

I have thought of that solution as well. But I figured it would require that spacer and cable mount to be welded to the plate. Although, i do not know what type of aluminium the plate is and if it can be welded.

Could you upload a few pictures of your front brake setup. I would really appreciate it.

[mr_luke]

Here it is. You'll have to excuse how filthy the bike is at the moment!

As you can see, the implementation isn't the most elegant, and I would like to tidy it up somewhat to improve cable angles, etc., but it does seem to work fairly well.

If you wanted to do a better job without welding it, I wonder if you could open up the bore through the brakeplate a little way from the outside, and fit a steel bush/extension, either pressed in or threaded? You could include a grease nipple then, like the rear one.

[Kruh]

Thank you
It is pretty simple and effective.
How is the braking performance? Have you experienced the stock brake, or is this your first TS so you have no point of reference?

I should be able to make a bolt on cable holder without looking too out of place. My only worry is the shaft, or rather the extension for it. Since its sticking out a fair bit there will be a larger force on the shaft and brake plate.
Maybe a neater solution would be to shorten that shaft or buy one from another bike (both seem a bit tricky).

[dave47]

You could remove the remaining 2mm at the rim by adjusting the spoke length, although a dished wheel is weaker than an undished one.
Puffs is right about hubs being deformed by incorrect spoke tension.

[Puffs]

Removed

[mr_luke]

To my mind it seems to work pretty well. This is my first TS, but as I said before, about 10 years ago I had an ETZ250 Std with the drum brake, and before that I had an ETZ125 Std as well. I didn't find the drum brakes on either of the ETZs as scary as I had been led to expect, but they certainly weren't "great"!

This Supa 5 with the longer arm is a noticeable improvement over either of the ETZs. There are improvements I'd like to make in order to neaten it up - including improving the cable angles and improving the strength of the arm (which unfortunately has been modified to accept the cable in such a way that the nipple is pulled into the slot) - but overall I'm fairly impressed by it: including a couple of rapid stops on the motorway.

Thank you
It is pretty simple and effective.
How is the braking performance? Have you experienced the stock brake, or is this your first TS so you have no point of reference?

I should be able to make a bolt on cable holder without looking too out of place. My only worry is the shaft, or rather the extension for it. Since its sticking out a fair bit there will be a larger force on the shaft and brake plate.
Maybe a neater solution would be to shorten that shaft or buy one from another bike (both seem a bit tricky).

[Kruh]

Agreed, that arm is no good. The cable end pulls on the weakened cut portion and also, due to the longer shaft, seems like it could potentially slip out. The slot method is fine, the original brake uses it as well. However it should've been the other way around (the slot should be in the front). It will require the bottom to recieve a slot as well.

Moving the outer cable mount further back (closer to the original position), as well as shortening that shaft should fix any angle issues.

I do intend on to do the same to mine. Probably cut the shaft and reweld it. If done properly I think it sould be plenty strong.

[dave47]

Here's another variation, currently on ebay

[R1100purist]

Do you have a link to the eBay part?

[dave47]

I don't. I'm not sure it would fit your 1974 4-speed anyway. Most of the discussion of replacement brake plates relates to the later 5-speed bike. It wasn't just that the brake plates are anchored differently, the hub was also redesigned. I'm not saying it wouldn't fit: I just don't know.
I assume that the brake plate in the picture above is just from a TS250/1 rear wheel. There is a nos one on UK ebay at the moment for £25. The torque arm is probably original, the brake arm looks longer than the MZ one, and the cable bracket is probably home made.
Somebody with the 4-speed would be better able to say how to improve the brake - perhaps shimming the brake shoes as the OP suggests or with the shims available from Ost2rad.

[Blurredman]

I do believe that last picture is of the bike that someone on this very forum had done that adaptation to..