Brakes sticking. Where would you start the troubleshooting?

[jasonb01]

My rear brakes on my big red stick a little. Especially when I put it in reverse, cause you have to pull the back brake to get it into reverse. I figure it's either the cable, spring inside hooked to the pads or the big spring on the outside where the cables hook on at. Is this common, and if so what is usually the culprit?
Also, is there a way to make the handlebar lever "spring" back better. They never really retract back all the way. I tried adjusting the cables with the wing nuts at the wheels, but that doesn't help. Figure it just may be how they are. Hell, my bike is the first utility trike I have ridden in my life that has brakes. LOL That is the number one thing that amazes people about it. That it has brakes.

[Erics350x]

prolly time for new springs.
you could try a good cleaning and lube the pivot points and cable.

[jasonb01]

The springs on the inside that hook to the pads or the big springs on the outside where the cables hook? I did lube them with PB Blaster. Haven't taken the wheels off yet.

[longbedGTs]

Other than looking at the spring, you might try lubricating the cable itself. Take a syringe with oil in it and shoot it in at the highest point(up at the handlebars) and gravity should do the rest.
FWIW, I had the same problem with my 125M. Brakes work fine, but stick and the brake lever wouldnt retract. The cable was 'stuck' and after working the brakes, the cable is free and it operates like it should.

[Dirtcrasher]

Take the drum off and get all the gunk outta there. I'd also replace the cables and lube up the pivot pin and points that the shoes ride on.

[rally4x4racer]

my 250es is the same - will be working on it soon

[rally4x4racer]

I am a

there are a few things that could be wrong with the 250es - I worked on ours forever today and never figured it out.

brake pad springs
brake cable springs
rear lever return spring
brake arm return spring
brake cables
brake pivot arm not lubed
drum I.D. out of tolerance

I went thru half a can of cable lube and flushed every cable on the bike. I pulled the drum and one of my pad springs was stretched out plus the pads were seperating from the shoes. I took parts from the SX and got it all back together but they still stick. The only thing I can come up with is the brake arm return spring is not strong enough, the cables are toast, or the ID is oversize allowing the pivot pin to open 90*.

The cables have a plastic coating on them and when it starts breaking down it gets stuck in the sheath. Whats up with that? After I lubed the front brakes they started sticking too......

If you want your front lever to return to the open position tighten the adjuster on the brake arm.

Longbed you are crazy - go to the nearest cycle shop and get a cable luber it works better; I have even brought cables back to life with mine (plus, it is faster and if you get the yamaha brand cable lube it smells real good).

[bigreddaddy]

Yeah definitely take the drum off and see whats going on in there. If the brakes haven't been changed in a long time you will probably have a lot of crap in there, and you'll probably need to wire wheel the drum too. New cables make things so much easier. When I first brought my 250es home I pushed the rear foot brake pedal and the brakes locked up. I took it apart and the brake cam was frozen. New shoes, grease, cleaned up the drum and it works great. I also recently did the front brake as well. You can get new cables fairly cheap on ebay, under$20.

[Erics350x]

if everything moves free its time for new pads. they are letting the pin spin to far.

[rally4x4racer]

good point Eric. I did not think of that but my pads are fat.

anyone know where you would send a pair of old shoes to get oversize pads glued on?

[jasonb01]

Well, I'm off this week, so I had some time to look at it. I just came on from taking apart the rear brakes. They actually looked real good. Plenty of meat on the pads and the drum was very clean. Don't think that's my problem. I did spray all of the joints and springs with PB Blaster. Also, I did a little adjusting to the cables where they go into the levers. That seemed to help out a bit. It is definitely better now.

Can you still get the big springs from Honda? The spring that is on the rear foot brake pedal and the spring on the brake arms at the wheel where the cables hook to? I imagine over time those get weak. My foot petal does not spring back up like it should. I have been spraying it down with PB Blaster every other day or so and is getting better.

Thanks for all the replies, I have been reading them all. There is no way I could own and maintain one of these old trikes without this site being here.

You guys rock!

[longbedGTs]

Another thought is to look at the lever that goes through the brake housing into the drum. It is the piece that has splines on it on the outside, and on the inside is flat and presses the brake shoes away from eachother making them rub the brake drum. Anyway, it seems gunk can get in between this piece and its bore. I had a heck of a time removing it on an 84 200m I had. Afterwords, the brakes were effortless.

[RedRider_AK]

If you need springs, I would go to your local snowmobile shop and look at the different exhaust springs they have there. You can probably find a pretty good size to fit your needs.

[bigreddaddy]

Another thought is to look at the lever that goes through the brake housing into the drum. It is the piece that has splines on it on the outside, and on the inside is flat and presses the brake shoes away from eachother making them rub the brake drum. Anyway, it seems gunk can get in between this piece and its bore. I had a heck of a time removing it on an 84 200m I had. Afterwords, the brakes were effortless.

Thats the brake cam. They can be a real pain in the arse if there is no grease left in there. I had two that were froze up.

[jasonb01]

How do you grease the brake cam? Do I need to actually remove it and slather it with grease and stick it back in? That sounds like it could very well be the problem.