Joining the Righteous

In the early days of hot rodding and of cutting and bobbing motorcycles a common phrase of appreciation was, “Man that is righteous!”  A short hand acknowledgement of something good that was done to stock parts and tin ware.   I recently have joined the righteous with my Overland project.

I have taken a drill and a die grinder to the stock Honda rear brake hub.  However right out of the box I almost cocked it up.  During the measuring and drilling process, for the first two holes, I didn’t get the center punch in the right place on one hole.  But that was good because my original idea of just drilling two large holes in the brake plate steady bracket actually sort of sucked.  Even if I had gotten them centered correctly it didn’t achieve the look I wanted.

So out come the sharpie pen and the die grinder.  I have decided, since the holes have already been drilled it has to go forward.  So the decision was made to reconsider the shape and size of the holes.  So the holes will be enlarged and reshaped into a rounded triangle to echo the shape of the steady bracket. 

                                         Calibrated eye failed me

I have also decided to cut some air holes to allow warm air from inside the brake drum an easier exit to help keep things cooler while running.  So out came the sharpie marker again. 

So the intent is to remove the metal marked in black in between the casting risers and so open up the brake plate for air flow out of the drum.  I haven’t decided yet what treatment the outside face of the brake plate will get.  The options are to leave the holes open and be racer casual about it.  Or cut a nice alloy frame to hold a fine mesh screen and then drill and the tap the plate for some round headed button hex screws.  Not sure yet.