Lehman Brakes

[jkchipster]

I have an 06 Lehman kit on an 06 Electra Glide with drum brakes and need to change the shoes. Anyone know how to tell what shoes they used. Also think I my need to take the rear end housing cover off and clean. I think the grease fitting is bad and there seems to be a lot of grease and gravel/sand around the belt. I'm not a master wrench dog but have decided it's better to screw up learning than to pay the local shop to screw up 3 or 4 things while fixing one!!!! Thanks for any advice

 

[Lehman Trikes]

The drum brakes on your '06 Lehman conversion are the same as on an old Mustang II or Pinto rear end. The Raybestos p/n is 474RP and the NAPA p/n is SS474.
It doesn't hurt to clean out the carrier housing but it won't cause a problem unless it gets on the belt. It would be unusual for the grease zerk to go bad, but possible. Some riders feel that if a little grease is good, more is better - not necessary. I pump with a normal grease gun for each 1000 miles (usually at oil change time) is plenty.

 

[jkchipster]

Thank you very much for the brake info. one more question. There is a thin metal plate between where the belt enters the rear end and exits the rear end. looks like stainless steel about 8' long 4' wide and curved to fit. I discovered the plate was broken where it fastens on and was just hanging there. I removed the plate/guard. do I need to look for a new one or will I be OK without it ? do you know a part number? again thanks so much for the break advise.

 

[Lee H. Mann]

Thank you very much for the brake info. one more question. There is a thin metal plate between where the belt enters the rear end and exits the rear end. looks like stainless steel about 8' long 4' wide and curved to fit. I discovered the plate was broken where it fastens on and was just hanging there. I removed the plate/guard. do I need to look for a new one or will I be OK without it ? do you know a part number? again thanks so much for the break advise.

That is a debris guard that keeps unwanted material from getting between the belt and the pulley. I believe the part number is LS1018, available from a dealer.

 

[jkchipster]

Thanks for all your help.

 

[1550vt]

I "think" I have talked to you already via e-mail, but I communicate with lots of people, am old now, and have severe memory-loss (according to my wife).

If I have not already shared this....I have a drum-to-disc brake conversion for the older Lehman kits that works at a cost of less than $500.

 

[bootzy]

i am a disabled rider [no use of legs]. i have a sportster1997 lehman rear.i am looking for a single lever brake control. i have dual disk out front and drums in rear with a control balancer in between.i am still not happy with the stopping power. any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[jkchipster]

I "think" I have talked to you already via e-mail, but I communicate with lots of people, am old now, and have severe memory-loss (according to my wife).

If I have not already shared this....I have a drum-to-disc brake conversion for the older Lehman kits that works at a cost of less than $500.

Yes you emailed me and I'm keeping your info. I am thinking of trading for new trike but if I don't I will up grade to disc this winter. Thanks for your help.

 

[1550vt]

bootzy....I am a little behind the curve here (been on a long trip). Do you have BOTH the front calipers connected? If not, you should be able to disconnect one of the front calipers and wind-up with stronger brakes all way round. The dual calipers on the front do not provide twice the stopping power and one caliper will do okay up front. You need MOST of the trike stopping power on the rear where all the rubber is on the road.

Now....we all know that fooling with brakes for fun is not something you normally do, but there are riders out there just like you that have found this method to be acceptable. One front and two rears should work with the handlebar master cylinder.

 

[cewhit1]

I have an 06 Lehman kit on an 06 Electra Glide with drum brakes and need to change the shoes. Anyone know how to tell what shoes they used. Also think I my need to take the rear end housing cover off and clean. I think the grease fitting is bad and there seems to be a lot of grease and gravel/sand around the belt. I'm not a master wrench dog but have decided it's better to screw up learning than to pay the local shop to screw up 3 or 4 things while fixing one!!!! Thanks for any advice

I think you'll find Lehman uses Mustang brake shoes, on their drum brakes.

 

[1550vt]

The Pinto family of Ford fox-bodied cars. See post #2. Also, I have found that a squirt of grease every 1,000 miles is too much IMHO. All it does is squish-out past the carrier bearings into the hollow axle-tube, or either through the diffy-halves and sling out inside the housing. There is not much grease in the diffy at all and don't get carried away. All you are doing is wasting grease and making a mess. I'd say more like....a shot every few thousand miles to push the old out and replace with the new. The carrier bearings are sealed. All you need in there is enough to grease the spider and pinion gears and the axle-splines in the diffy. BUT....I am no dealer....just John Q. Mechanic that has had more than one of these apart.

When you do this...."feel" the bolts that hold the diffy-halves together through the opening for the grease fitting. They can work loose. I take them apart and double-nut all the bolts with nylon lock-nuts. I kept finding nuts on my garage floor wondering where they came from. One day I was greasing the rear-end and found out.

I believe there are 16 bolts that sandwich the rear sprocket and the diffy-halves. I had lost 4 nuts and several of the others were loose. All the original hardware from the kit was used (sorry Lehman), but that is not good enough for the application and the work involved to get to them for repair. I may have been the only owner on planet Earth that had this happen....but I doubt it.

 

[jkchipster]

1550VT,
Thanks for all your info. it is great to have someone share their knowledge. That 99 you have for sale is a great bargain for someone. I have more than double that in my 06 and bet the 99 is as good or better. Wish I had your trike and the extra cash in my pocket. Did you put the extra fuel tank in the tour pack? I am thinking of installing one but don't have a clue how it all works-plumbs in???

 

[1550vt]

jk......I have been all over, under, around and through these Lehman kits. I am not beating on Lehman (I promise). After-all...they practically invented these things and introduced them to the public. The problem is the dealer network. It's non-existent in this part of the country and the last one I knew anything about was working out of his garage and I would not let him work on my lawnmower. None of this stuff is rocket-science and the average guy/gal with a little common mechanical sense can keep these things in good working order. The hot-rod boys can build anything out of anything and if you have any hot-rod blood in you....piece of cake.

I really regret letting my 99 Lehman go. The wife has health issues and no longer rides. I will be sticking with a 2-wheeler until I can't ride any longer. That 99 I have for sale is a 99 in "serial number only". It has had all the engine mods to bring it up to speed. If you sat it by a new one....most people could not pick-out the 99 from the new one except for the show-room shine on the new one. The Lehman rear-end has been completely re-worked. All the bearings have been replaced and it has Sta Bo bushings in the swing-arm and custom disc brakes as well. The guy that I bought if from had around 35K in the conversion and bike at the time. I know....I helped him build it. It sit in his garage for around 5-years and I finally convinced him to sell it to me and I admit that I bought it for a very fair price, so I can sell it for a very fair price.

Somebody will stumble across it and realize it is simply not worth the extra money shelled-out for a new TG, or to trike their existing bike, which will likely need another couple of grand of aftermarket work done to it to make it comfortable.

If you ever have any issues....I have been-there-and-done-that, so give me a holler!

 

[1550vt]

I rambled on so much that I forgot to mention the aux. fuel tank. I put a 2-gallon aluminum tank inside the tour pack and have a high-pressure electric pump that is activated from the ACC switch on the dash. The early EFI's had a drain-plug at the rear of the fuel tank where the lines connect. I ran my aux. fuel line into this drain-plug. You could just as easily run it to the crossover between your tank halves. My pump has a check-valve built-in that will not allow any back-flow. This extra 2-gallons gives me a 200-225 mile cruising range so I could ride with the 2-wheelers.

I have also built aux. tanks for guys out of aluminum beer kegs.....now that is a novelty and always draws a crowd at any service station.