Foot brake

Hi has anyone fitted a footbrake to a silverwing e.g. one off an MP3 ? Any help tips advice will be much appreciated . Thanks in advance

No in my case...although I love control of the rear brake for low speed control/balance aide.

On SilverWing, effort/cost surely not worth it....ABS/linked/ might have some real problems screwing with the system.

I would just be substituting the hand lever with a foot one so don't see that it would interfere with abs !I may of course be wrong with that assumption.

Silverwing linked brakes---left hand lever works both front and rear.

Yes I am aware of that .

Sounds as a bit as if you're trying to perfect sealing wax.

"Kindly come to terms with your ass for it bears you" --Fra Junipero Serra c.1761

Not really I have a damaged left hand and having a footbrake would make life so much easier for me .

Knackered left hand? Well then that makes sense. Check the Helix Discussion forum: http://www.slonaker.net/helixforum/index.php
Seems to me that, even though the Helix has a foot brake, there have been similar discussions, albeit changing from foot to hand brake, on that forum. So maybe taking cues from those discussions you could reverse engineer the job.

Please keep us informed about your progress. We all benefit from shared information.

Thanks for that info,will keep forum up to date with what I find out and eventually do.

Scottish silver wrote:

Not really I  have a damaged left hand and having a footbrake would make life so much easier for me .

Sorry to hear you have a damaged left hand, but if that is the case what was your reason to choose a scooter with hand operated brakes ?

I like a silverwing ,so why not try and make it easier for me to ride ??

Have you tried the NABD as they have contacts with folk who can engineer answers to many problems for disabled bikers ? I don't see why scooters should be out of their remit .

I was puzzled but no longer. I hated the foot brake on my Helix. It made me bear weight on my left foot which is numb from nerve damage. It is strong and all but the numbness made me leery of putting weight while holding the rear brake with right foot when starting and at lights, etc.
I sold the bike while exploring the hand brake conversion. I am sure there is a fix out there, just a matter of asking at the right window !!!!

Jay

I'm not sure if it could be done but thinking our cages only have one brake for 4 wheels why not one hand brake for 2 wheels? Tie the S'Wings system together perhaps? with a proportioning valve if needed.

It seems Scottish silver only needs the rear brake ( left hand) to get the bike started. For stopping the front brake is right there. The rear brake lever trips a switch that closes the circuit to the starter. If that switch could be wired closed at all times, problem solved: no need for rear brake lever.
I am no mechanic and have no idea how to go about it, but I think this could solve the problem.

Jay.

I have an idea that would work, i have a goodrich hose that if connected to the front master cyl via a dual banjo bolt then run direct to the rear caliper both brakes will work from the right lever you might have to block off the centre piston in front caliper. these goodrich pipes came off a racing scoot that i have broken up left lever went direct to rear caliper and right direct to front caliper by passing abs and the small valve thats mounted in the faring frame, just how much braking you going to have front to rear might be an issue

cotetoi wrote:

It seems Scottish silver only needs the rear brake ( left hand) to get the bike started. For stopping the front brake is right there. The rear brake lever trips a switch that closes the circuit to the starter. If that switch could be wired closed at all times, problem solved: no need for rear brake lever.
I am no mechanic and have no idea how to go about it, but I think this could solve the problem.

Jay.

While reworking it any way may affect resale value perhaps just using a micro switch on the right side wired to the left might do it, something that could be removed easily.

Can I clear something up I don't want to do his just so I can start it up I want it as Honda intended i.e, able to use both brakes if needed .Whatever I do will be easily removable to put bike back to original spec ,same as I do with the left hand switch gear .Thanks for input so far

This all sounds very interesting in theory, but I'm just wondering what your insurance company will say when you inform them that you've altered the braking system from manufacturers spec to something that's been knocked up in a shed. For many years I worked as a technician designing and fitting various adaptions to cars for disabled people and trying to get some of those approved was mighty difficult.

As far as any mods I do I always inform them,plus they need to pass a yearly MOT .

Might be a good idea to start with the MOT folks first. Would be a real bummer to put in all the work and have them reject the MOT. There may have been precedents similar to yours.

Jay.

As said earlier talk to NABD.
Technically I see no difficulty, I would be looking at modifying a spare handbrake and master cylinder onto a small bracket assembly to be operated by a boot. This could be surface mounted onto the footboard and plumbed up.
Plenty of people ride modified bikes to manage a disability so there are ways means and ways.

As Steve says above, shouldn't be a great problem to mount a cylinder on the floorboard for foot operation, only point I can think worthy of mention would be, use a master cylinder with remote fluid reservour as the pedal will be lower than the brake union on the fork yoke, using a master cylinder mounted on the floorboard would put the fluid reservour below the highest point of the fluid line & thus making it impossible to fill & bleed air.