Finally my Fontana magnesium 2ls rear drum brake has arrived

yves norton seeley · Aug 12, 2017

After 4 long months of waiting. I receive my Fontana 210mm 2ls magnesium drum brake.
The Fontana is replacing the Yamaha TD/TZ rear brake that was installed on my Seeley.
Like my Fontana 250mm 4ls drum brake, the rear Fontana is working beautifully.
Progressive and powerfull; it matches the front brake perfecly!
Forget the stories about blocking the weel's with Fontana's, if you use modern tyres with
modern compounds, it should never be happening (at least I hope so!)
The next step will be to change the rim and the spokes, becouse the rim I received with the brake
was not really made for a 210mm drum; its spokes are slightly bent.
In the far future I wish to change my TTI 5 speed gearbox for a 6 speed TTI... I know thereis no objective reason to do that, but it's my pleasure!
So long
Yves
Foto's made by Nick Kuijpers from dutch magasine "Motor Revue"

Finally my Fontana magnesium 2ls rear drum brake has arrived

res 1 by marina kips, on Flickr

res 2 by marina kips, on Flickr

res 4 by marina kips, on Flickr

res 5 by marina kips, on Flickr

res 3 by marina kips, on Flickr

Fast Eddie · Aug 12, 2017

Re: Finally my Fontana magnesium 2ls rear drum brake has arr

Looking good Yves!

Let me know when you get your 6 speed box and I'll take that rough old 5 speed thing out of your way :wink:

yves norton seeley · Aug 12, 2017

Re: Finally my Fontana magnesium 2ls rear drum brake has arr

Fast Eddie said:
Looking good Yves!

Let me know when you get your 6 speed box and I'll take that rough old 5 speed thing out of your way :wink:

The TTI 5 speed is not a close ratio but the first gear is a little bit longer as stock

cjandme · Aug 12, 2017

Re: Finally my Fontana magnesium 2ls rear drum brake has arr

Fast Eddie said:
Looking good Yves!

+1 - truly outstanding!

worntorn · Aug 12, 2017

Re: Finally my Fontana magnesium 2ls rear drum brake has arr

Yves, if I had your money I would throw my money away :mrgreen:

Glen

aceaceca · Aug 12, 2017

Re: Finally my Fontana magnesium 2ls rear drum brake has arr

Big drums just look good on period bikes. Yours is definitely in that category. I recall ogling over huge drum brakes used on Cunningham cars at his museum south of here somewhere in LA .
Worth a visit if it is still there. Sorry, it was a long time ago. Now go to Naples , Florida.

http://articles.latimes.com/1987-01-01/ ... tti-royale

acotrel · Aug 12, 2017

Re: Finally my Fontana magnesium 2ls rear drum brake has arr

Yves, your bike might not be entirely functional, but the good stuff you have on it makes it really worth looking at. The rear brake on a race bike actually doesn't do much other than just steady the bike as you brake. But that Fontana looks really great. Most of the crashes I've had while racing have been due to drum brakes - there are too many ways they can be wrong. And even when they are right, you often cannot safely grab a big handful. Disc brakes are much more reliable, in fact the three discs on my Seeley are a major factor which makes it competitive, - if you can brake hard with confidence, you can go much faster.

acotrel · Aug 12, 2017

Re: Finally my Fontana magnesium 2ls rear drum brake has arr

One thing which I can't quite figure out is what Yve's bike represents. Perhaps it is the natural extension of what the Gus Kuhn Seeleys might have become, if the race class had not ended ? The drum brakes put it in the sixties, and a six speed box was just becoming available. So there doesn't seem to be much anachronistic about the bike. To my mind, that is where the value lies in the project. When you see something like that, if you know what you are looking at - it evokes a strong sense of nostalgia.

acotrel · Aug 12, 2017

Re: Finally my Fontana magnesium 2ls rear drum brake has arr

Yves, would you please post a photo of the right hand side of the bike ? I am very impressed. - You have set an example for others to follow.

yves norton seeley · Aug 12, 2017

Re: Finally my Fontana magnesium 2ls rear drum brake has arr

worntorn said:
Yves, if I had your money I would throw my money away :mrgreen:

Glen

Hi Glen
If you had my money, you will be a poor man just like me, at 67 years old I work every day to pay the stuff on my bike.
The true is that I have a ritch women and she take care of the financial side of our live, Marina is disabled (MS) but I take care for here night and day
She understand my passion for motorcycles and thats great
Thanks Marina, love you so!

yves norton seeley · Aug 12, 2017

Re: Finally my Fontana magnesium 2ls rear drum brake has arr

acotrel said:
Yves, your bike might not be entirely functional, but the good stuff you have on it makes it really worth looking at. The rear brake on a race bike actually doesn't do much other than just steady the bike as you brake. But that Fontana looks really great. Most of the crashes I've had while racing have been due to drum brakes - there are too many ways they can be wrong. And even when they are right, you often cannot safely grab a big handful. Disc brakes are much more reliable, in fact the three discs on my Seeley are a major factor which makes it competitive, - if you can brake hard with confidence, you can go much faster.

Hi Acotrel,
If you are built like a mexican chiken, then the rare brake will not be so important, but if you are built like a belgiam pig like me, I weight 0.1 ton, the rear brake is usefull
My bike is very functional, iI ride 10.000 kms/year
Last week, a dutch magazine did a test ride with the Seeley and I receive only good comments, also on the drum brakes

yves norton seeley · Aug 12, 2017

Re: Finally my Fontana magnesium 2ls rear drum brake has arr

acotrel said:
Yves, would you please post a photo of the right hand side of the bike ? I am very impressed. - You have set an example for others to follow.

I will do it tomorow, thanks for the good comments
Yves

Fullauto · Aug 12, 2017

Re: Finally my Fontana magnesium 2ls rear drum brake has arr

Fabulous!

bsaboss · Aug 12, 2017

Re: Finally my Fontana magnesium 2ls rear drum brake has arr

You deserve every bit of joy that your beautiful Norton brings you!

Mr. Rick · Aug 12, 2017

Re: Finally my Fontana magnesium 2ls rear drum brake has arr

I wonder if you really need a new rim, Yves?
Looks like you could make it work just with shorter spokes, and trading the inner spokes for the outers, as regards placement/lacing.

yves norton seeley · Aug 13, 2017

Re: Finally my Fontana magnesium 2ls rear drum brake has arr

Fullauto said:
Fabulous!

Of course the cylinder head is a Fullauto, fabulous to!

yves norton seeley · Aug 13, 2017

Re: Finally my Fontana magnesium 2ls rear drum brake has arr

Mr. Rick said:
I wonder if you really need a new rim, Yves?
Looks like you could make it work just with shorter spokes, and trading the inner spokes for the outers, as regards placement/lacing.

I wil try to bore the spoke holes in the rim at a good angle, and so save the rim
Yves

acotrel · Aug 13, 2017

Re: Finally my Fontana magnesium 2ls rear drum brake has arr

You know those Brit bikes which have somewhere on them in very fine print 'made in England' ? I'm thinking of having two such stickers made, which I might stick under the Norton logo - saying 'not made in Japan'. I love Japanese road racing bikes, but a lot of our historic road racers are converted Japanese road bikes. Might be fun, but really their owners have lost the plot. What you have built is really worth the money you have invested in it. I know it functions well as a road bike, but that is not what it really IS. It is not even the same as a 56 model Norton Inter, it is the died-in-the-wool real deal, just fitted with headlights. A mate of mine did that to a genuine long-stroke 500cc Manx, back in the 60s. It was also a really lovely thing.

yves norton seeley · Aug 13, 2017

Re: Finally my Fontana magnesium 2ls rear drum brake has arr

acotrel said:
Yves, would you please post a photo of the right hand side of the bike ? I am very impressed. - You have set an example for others to follow.

You ask, we play
Note: i find a better way now for the cable from the rear brake
Yves

res 6 by marina kips, on Flickr

Fast Eddie · Aug 13, 2017

Re: Finally my Fontana magnesium 2ls rear drum brake has arr

yves norton seeley said:
acotrel said:

Yves, would you please post a photo of the right hand side of the bike ? I am very impressed. - You have set an example for others to follow.

Click to expand...

You ask, we play
Note: i find a better way now for the cable from the rear brake
Yves

res 6 by marina kips, on Flickr

Looks like it needs cleaning Yves...

Finally my Fontana magnesium 2ls rear drum brake has arrived

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