Asbestos in Laverda drum brakes

Yves

Yves

New member
Location
Switzerland (bilingual GER/FR area)
Hello
I wanted to know how you deal with old drum brakes, especially drum brakes on old Laverdas (for example, the 750SF).

As a “relatively young person” of 33, I am still aware of the existence of asbestos and have come into contact with it several times, whether on motorcycles, in industry, or in old houses as electrician. Thankfully, I take the necessary precautions.

I have still the old drum brake shoes on my Laverda 750SF that brake excellently and are ground into the old drum, and the braking performance is truly phenomenal for their age, which is why I currently see no reason to replace the brake pads, even if I am a bit afraid and although it might be better to replace them with a view to the future.

Does anyone have proof that Laverda drum brakes contain asbestos? And how do you handle this?


Greetings
Yves
 
Yves said:
Hello
I wanted to know how you deal with old drum brakes, especially drum brakes on old Laverdas (for example, the 750SF).

As a “relatively young person” of 33, I am still aware of the existence of asbestos and have come into contact with it several times, whether on motorcycles, in industry, or in old houses as electrician. Thankfully, I take the necessary precautions.

I have still the old drum brake shoes on my Laverda 750SF that brake excellently and are ground into the old drum, and the braking performance is truly phenomenal for their age, which is why I currently see no reason to replace the brake pads, even if I am a bit afraid and although it might be better to replace them with a view to the future.

Does anyone have proof that Laverda drum brakes contain asbestos? And how do you handle this?


Greetings
Yves
Click to expand...
Get the brake shoes upgraded with modern, non-asbestos lining material. The refurbisher should be able to offer different grades of material to match or improve the existing linings.
 
Yves said:
Hello
I wanted to know how you deal with old drum brakes, especially drum brakes on old Laverdas (for example, the 750SF).

As a “relatively young person” of 33, I am still aware of the existence of asbestos and have come into contact with it several times, whether on motorcycles, in industry, or in old houses as electrician. Thankfully, I take the necessary precautions.

I have still the old drum brake shoes on my Laverda 750SF that brake excellently and are ground into the old drum, and the braking performance is truly phenomenal for their age, which is why I currently see no reason to replace the brake pads, even if I am a bit afraid and although it might be better to replace them with a view to the future.

Does anyone have proof that Laverda drum brakes contain asbestos? And how do you handle this?


Greetings
Yves
Click to expand...

"How do I handle this"....................... well by riding the bike and not worrying about the brake shoes! Why do you care if the brake shoes are asbestos, are you going to eat them?

You can still purchase new asbestos brake shoes here in the USA as it is not illegal. Most if not all companies here in the USA don't make asbestos brake shoes anymore but they can still be imported. If they say made in China, they are probably still asbestos as they are cheaper. The ban on new asbestos brake shoes in the USA does not take effect until 2036.

In many other countries I understand asbestos has been banned for years, but not here.
 
Memories of blowing out brake drums on mid-70s bikes when I worked as a mechanic freak me out and make me wonder how dangerous the stuff is/was. I do know that it can be incredibly dangerous for some people, but obviously not for others. Older associates who work/ed in the building trade tend to be fairly blase about solid asbestos in buildings - treat it with respect, but not as if it were strontium 90. We just paid A$2k to have the 70 or 80yo corrugated asbestos wall of our garage removed by certified practitioners - it formed the fence of the neighbour's driveway. Council had advised us to leave it, but the time came to remove it, with bits starting to break off!!

I have always assumed that brake shoes in the 70s did indeed contain asbestos. Can't really answer your question, but if it were mine I'd probably have them checked/analysed and possibly replaced.
 
You won’t get anyone to check and analyse if they know they contain asbestos……..

You mention that they wrk well, ride it until you wear them out! Then you won’t have the problem of disposing. 😜

I know I know you young fellas have a conscience about your carbon footprint and that’s just fine 😉
 
so far as I know all Laverdas also produce co2, but I do not want to change it to electric drive. But isn‘t it anacronistic??
 
If you want more to worry about. The clutch plates, head gasket and the copper exhaust sealing rings in your bike all have asbestos in them.

I can't imagine why you would be worried about the brake shoes? What do you think will happen if you continue to ride the bike with asbestos brakes? If so worried about the brake dust, then don't touch them and all will be OK.

And by the way, the exhaust gases coming out of the motor contains carbon monoxide which can kill you.

The fuel in your tank causes cancer and is very flammable.

The used motor oil has a number of bad chemicals in it and can also cause cancer.

On a hot day your fuel tank is venting very dangerous hydrocarbons.

Your battery has lead in it which is poisonous and sulfuric acid in it which is highly corrosive.


When the time comes to work on the brakes and they are asbestos, spray with water and there will be no dust or wear a mask. But replacing the brake shoes for no other reason than they are asbestos, makes no sense.
 
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Like Q said, it's when they get disturbed in a big way. saw a doco years back, where a once-off job as a teenager working on Bus Brakes resulted in mesothelioma 30 years later. My first decade in the building trade absolutely would have resulted in contact. My first big break career-wise had me contacting for the Reserve Bank, our Central Bank, and I heard those famous words, We really like you, you will have a job here for life. 6 months later, they raised a Bill in Parliament for $50 million dollars to remove asbestos in the building, so no more job. 40 years later, what do I read in the news? More asbestos has been found in that Building, but now it's a touch more expensive to remove; the new bill is now just over 1,2 billion Oz Dollars.
https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/...0m-makeover-blows-out-to-1-2b-20250811-p5mm51
 
My good Kiwi mate died a couple of years ago from Aspestosis. He was 73 and hadn’t used it since he was an apprentice.
RIP Digby

As Clem would know, we used it in various forms on steam boiler shutdowns.
 
piranha-bro2 said:
Memories of blowing out brake drums on mid-70s bikes when I worked as a mechanic freak me out and make me wonder how dangerous the stuff is/was. I do know that it can be incredibly dangerous for some people, but obviously not for others. Older associates who work/ed in the building trade tend to be fairly blase about solid asbestos in buildings - treat it with respect, but not as if it were strontium 90. We just paid A$2k to have the 70 or 80yo corrugated asbestos wall of our garage removed by certified practitioners - it formed the fence of the neighbour's driveway. Council had advised us to leave it, but the time came to remove it, with bits starting to break off!!

I have always assumed that brake shoes in the 70s did indeed contain asbestos. Can't really answer your question, but if it were mine I'd probably have them checked/analysed and possibly replaced.
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Same here Quentin.

I remember dad using his circular saw to cut those corrugated sheets you mentioned, with him standing in a cloud of dust without any protection. He made it to 86 nonetheless.

It can safely be assumed that original Laverda brake shoes contained asbestos, as did the clutch plates and many gaskets. Just about all friction materials of the time contained asbestos. Asbestos has been banned in Europe for many decades and its' legal disposal is a costly nightmare. Friction materials are now all asbestos-free and most work far better than their asbestos-containing counterparts, the only reason for hanging on to the stuff would be ignorance.

There are still many riveted OE shoes in use, some still work OK, most don't. Normal use on the road doesn't set life-challenging amounts of asbestos free, the main danger is in the maintenance that Q mentioned. OE brake linings still pop up occasionally, riveting them correctly is a job that often goes pear-shaped. If shoes are to be re-lined, take them to a re-lining service. These companies will bond them to the shoes and can dispose of the old linings environmentally correct, at least here in the EU. Don't know/don't want to imagine how it's done in places where the environment and human safety concerns are shat upon.

piet
 
I've used SAFTEK in Cleckheaton UK to reline my 1000/1 rear shoes and Villiers Services in the West Midlands for my tiddlers. I'm certain there will be relining firms in all countries as there's a large global Vintage/Classic demand. Relining in both cases was extremely cheap for what is a safer material that gives superior performance. It's a no brainer really.
 
I'm not afraid of the brake dust that is produced when braking. I'm not going to eat the brake shoes, as 1200ts wrote.😄

The amount of brake dust that is released into the air while braking is small in relation to the ambient air.
I'm more likely to survive by braking than to die by braking with these asbestos pads.

I may have the paranoid idea that in 10-30 years I will have forgotten that the pads contain asbestos and will handle them carelessly during a brake service. But I made a note in the servicebook. Nevertheless, I'm going to look around for companies that can make new brake pads.

Thank you for your answers, I have learned something new.
 
I hold my breath, more or less, when working on brakes.

The risk of injury or death is higher when riding a motorcycle than driving a car.
The risk of mesothelioma is higher when breathing asbestos dust than fresh mountain air.

Paul
 
Unless you happen to be climbing a mountain being saturated by the fallout from Chernobyl, as I was in April 1986.
I’m still debating whether I will die prematurely from exposure to asbestos (or other nasties) in my work environment, the Chernobyl fallout, a motorbike crash or lying in bed worrying about all the things that could kill me, but probably won’t. 😕
 
I went on a course a couple of years ago at work about asbestos. The general consensus was that it is best to leave it in situ undisturbed if possible. Blue asbestos is the most dangerous, has very small fibres and is not to be messed with. They didn't seem too worried about those corrugated roof sections and not all of those panels contain asbestos either apparently, depends on when they were made. We used to smash them up and throw them on bonfires when we were kids because they made nice little explosions. I would think if you wore a mask when cleaning brakes out you would be ok.
 
Super six roofing sheets are by far to fear, you can see the filaments escaping the grey corrugated sheets. Domestic grade "Fibro" is 3% asbestos ditto older switchboards which i have to drill many the time however, something i will not by choice do, will water drenched cut ( tungsten tipped hand scorer ) no power cutting tools as a firm guide. Friable and Non Friable asbestos need to be addressed at chemical and engineering level, not hyper media mania, we have a school scare going on now, full battle dressed "workman" taking pre school model sand into hazmet trucks... the chemical analysis yet to be divulged.... nothing like getting your way to spook the public and claim we saved you... yer James Hardy Co. made that an art form and the governments "no problem" for decades, known from WW2 onwards the dangers of their product.

Wittenoom a disgrace that this country will never live down, that is the asbestos reality and the children of my era died as their fathers came home, and the kids played in a cloud of mined asbestos dust.....j BTW i sit and type in a beach shack clad inside and out in asbestos, the yard covered in broken asbestos buried by the lunatic(s) prior owners. Its everywhere on this property, the 3% grade.
 
at first i did not want to answer, but what a stupid question about refurbing an old drum brake and mount new modern perfectly aligned asbestos free brake shoes to perform perfectly. and what an ignorance to not correct dispose them especially when worried about asbestos.
 
iis_iis said:
Super six roofing sheets are by far to fear, you can see the filaments escaping the grey corrugated sheets. Domestic grade "Fibro" is 3% asbestos ditto older switchboards which i have to drill many the time however, something i will not by choice do, will water drenched cut ( tungsten tipped hand scorer ) no power cutting tools as a firm guide. Friable and Non Friable asbestos need to be addressed at chemical and engineering level, not hyper media mania, we have a school scare going on now, full battle dressed "workman" taking pre school model sand into hazmet trucks... the chemical analysis yet to be divulged.... nothing like getting your way to spook the public and claim we saved you... yer James Hardy Co. made that an art form and the governments "no problem" for decades, known from WW2 onwards the dangers of their product.

Wittenoom a disgrace that this country will never live down, that is the asbestos reality and the children of my era died as their fathers came home, and the kids played in a cloud of mined asbestos dust.....j BTW i sit and type in a beach shack clad inside and out in asbestos, the yard covered in broken asbestos buried by the lunatic(s) prior owners. Its everywhere on this property, the 3% grade
Click to expand...

My house when I bought it, most all of the flooring was asbestos tile and all the paint was lead. The ceilings in a few rooms were also asbestos. Was told by the experts, don't worry about the asbestos, just put carpet over it and paint the ceiling. So we did and all is OK. The lead paint is still here and I have to remind myself not to eat it!

My father used to come home covered in asbestos. His first job job in the 1950's was at a company that made boilers for power plants. As it was a union shop and he was an engineer, he was no allowed to build boilers but was allowed to take them back apart to see how they were made. He said it looked like it was snowing there was so much asbestos floating in the air. No one wore a dust mask or any protective clothing. He died at 91 years old. I breathed asbestos brake dust many times in my life but am smart enough now to wear a mask.
 
Most people are lucky, including me so far.
Some are extremely unlucky, and die slowly many years after exposure. I’ve seen it happen, so I’m not so cavalier nowadays. Protecting the asbestos from damage by painting etc, not using power tools, wetting down dust etc are easy and sensible precautions.
Personally I’d remove the brake shoes and clean up with wet cloths, avoiding compressed air which only spreads it around.
 
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