guys, dont throw mud at drums so fast.... people in classic racing with drum braked G50's, Manx Nortons and a certain CB450T guy named Henning could outbrake you all.
I am almost certain that henning isn't running a 450 drum on any of his racebikes, and if he is it is a severly re-worked drum with new liners, mechanism, and pads - it would be in no way shape or form anything that resembles a stock cb450 drum. Most dracers forced to take a drum for a racing class use the Gt550/750 drum for the larger bikes, and the t500 or worked 350 drum for the smaller bikes (some of the really small ones use 350 honda drums). Most of the racers I talk to would rather have discs if the class allowed it because of a drums heat sensitivity.
I was going to let this just die out since someone had to get the moderators involved and all but since it is being resurrected.....
I don't see any reason for you to insult my riding experience. I have been riding for over 30 years and put at least 7000 miles a year on my bikes. What kind of track riding do you do that puts less stress on the brakes than on the street, parade laps ? When I am doing track days on my R6 I use very close to max braking before almost all the turns around the track. Yes a 450 drum may be a bit small for a 750 but it works absolutely fine for street use on a 550. I'm done wasting my time with this.
comparing a track day on a dics brake R6 with a vintage racebike drums shows you are pretty inexpirenced and oblivious as to how both these systems work and feel. Comparing a modern disc brake setup to a drum is like comparing apples to pencils. First off the amount of work that goes into a racing drum is far and away more than would go into your track day R6. Plus a racing drum will be mazimized for maximum stopping power and minimal drag, something that is not optimal for a street drum. Some setups won't even stop the bike until some heat is built up in the shoes (sintered metallic shoes espically).
As far as that crack about your riding is concerned you must not be logging very many of those 7000 miles on your drum brake cb. If I were to ride a cb550 with a 450 drum brake into work everyday instead of my 750 I can pretty much gaurantee there would be at least once per day an incident where that drum would have exceeded its limit - as it stands my 750's disc brake is at its limit once a day between the cabs and the other traffic. I actually have a 550 chop with a drum on it and it is the bike I use the least because of the brakes alone. I am locked into using a drum because of the narrow springer front end, but I would ditch that drum in a heartbeat if I could.
Now, recommending a 450 stock drum for use on a 550 is stupid advice plain and simple. The 450 drum was inadiquate for the bike it came on, the cb450 and is one of the bigger complaints about those bikes - to then recommend it be used on a larger inline four is just reckless. 1970s honda brakes in general are not that great to begin with, even the stock cb750 discs are a bit lacking, why anyone would want to give up stopping power for the sake of looks is beyond me, espically when the cb450 drum is not eye candy - it is just an ugly drum that won't win you anything in the looks department.
If you want to take your life into your own hands with it that is fine, but don't recomend it to people who don't know any better.
I don't have an intrinsic problem with drums, as i said in an earlier post there are plenty of appropriate sized drums, if you can't be disuaded, most of them designed for bigger bikes. Gt550/750 4 leading shoe drums, moto guzzi drums, bmw drums, grimeca aftermarket drums, etc....
