brakes

[andyx]

Hi
The consensus is that drum brakes are not good and that to upgrade dics are the way to go.
Having only ridden a px with disc brakes I've never experienced drums, are they that bad? and  is there anyway to improve them with different lings or simple mods etc.

[citydaz]

Yes they are that bad!
On buying my P200E the first thing i did was buy a new front hub and brake pads. When that didnt really improve the braking situation I upgraded to a disc brake.
The best scooter upgrade so far.

[ironsloth]

Drum brakes can be good but you have to keep looking at them. You can get better lined shoes (a 'halo' material is used for the classic race boys done by Mintex), sure they are available for scoots. Newfren is used on scoots, grooved so the sh*t flies out of them, and supposed to be a much better compound. Just depends on your budget really, either a £30 odd quid for shoes, or god knows for a complete front end, possibly minus a few parts. Is your Vespa kitted? If so, what with?

[andyx]

No scooter at the moment, owned a px 200  20 odd years ago (Green s reg px200 first of the disc braked models) Bet fun I've ever had on two wheels, looking to get another scoot like the look of some of the older models but do like to ride my  bike but want to live a long life lol. I know drum brakes can be improved (owned a landrover airportable whos brakes were atrocious when I got it but managed  to improve it braking performance quite substantially) and wondered if the same could be done for the vespa. It would widen my selection of vespas but want it to be safe to ride in modern traffic (My px was the only bike I locked up the front wheel on and saved it quite easily). Thanks for your thoughts /insight guys.

[ironsloth]

Christ if you've ran an old Landie everything else will be a breeze...

[andyx]

Ran it for 10 years, probably averaged about 6 or 7 thousand miles a year on it, cars, and bikes in fact  motorised transport is meant to be driven, however old. Thats why I asked the question about brakes. I wouldn't want to graft a disc onto a drumbraked scooter but I do want to bloody stop (to be honest I prefer the look of the drum brake on a scooter.Also may want to attach a side car (granddaughter is disabled and nuts about cars and bikes and I want to take her out for a ride someday). So  looking to make some decisions  over the next few months on a suitable scoot (old, reliable, torquey, keep up with modern traffic )and not fantastically expensive to purchase ( nearly an old age pensioner with funds to match )
 So should be easy