Wildguzzi.com
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: luthier on August 10, 2016, 07:18:07 AM
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I'm fitting a brake light switch on the front brake cable on the Ambo with the twin leading shoe brake, with switching cables no longer available from MG or Harpers.
There are universal brake cable kits from Portugal and even from Oz.
Plus there are inline switches made by Lucas for British Iron all on Ebay. So I have the means quite cheaply at my disposal.
Just remembering from some resto threads that there might be a great cable place in USA that'll do the job better than I can?
Does anyone know or remember?
Cheers,
Dan
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I was having cables with a switch made by Barnett Tool & Engineering. If Joe Snell is still with them, he's the guy you'll want to talk to. I have the original drawings they sent me back then if needed.
http://www.barnettclutches.com/contact-us.html
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Thanks Charlie. I've emailed them.
Did you notice reduced effectiveness of the brake with the switch fitted? It has been suggested that the switch inclusion makes the feeling 'wooden '.
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It wasn't an issue with the Barnett cables, but was an issue with (*most of) the switched cables from Europe. The feeling was just the opposite of "wooden" - squishy or vague would be my description.
Of course, it wasn't all down to the switch - the construction of the cables themselves was sub-par. The inner wire was woven of too few strands and not tightly enough, the outer housing was wound of round section wire (vs. square section of the originals), end fittings crimped vs. soldered. All of that made for a very "stretchy" cable, poor braking action and feel. This is exactly why I had Barnett make cables in the first place.
The one problem I did have with the Barnett cable was the switch. It was originally meant for a Harley clutch(?) cable to disengage cruise control. Inside, separating the contacts was a foam washer which worked fine on a clutch cable that had slack in it when not "pulled", but became a problem on Loop brake cables which have some tension on them at all times. The foam disc sacked out and then the brake lights would stay on. The switch comes apart easily though, so I replaced the foam disc with a rubber o-ring and that restored it to proper working order.
Both of my Ambos are running cables without switches (one from Barnett an the other made by Motion Pro). To activate the brake light, I've rigged up switches hooked to the brake arms as shown here: http://www.thisoldtractor.com/moto_guzzi_loopframe_brake_light_switch_alternative_2_-front-.html
* For a very short time, Stucchi (before they went bust and reorganized as LGC) sold a very heavy made switched cable that was nearly the equal of the factory originals.
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Thanks Charlie, that clears things up a lot. Cheers.