1982 550c3 ltd back brake locked up doing ten mph

I was doing ten around a wide curve when all of a sudden my back brake locked up, I think I heard a loud ping but I'm not sure. Well, I was stuck in the middle of the street. Well, I loosened what I think was my brake rod adjusting nut all the way. It's the nut at the end of the bar that connects my back brake pedal with my back wheel. With that done, I could drive it back to my parking spot. Any ideas what happened?

Maybe the foot level return spring broke and your foot pressure applied the brake.

Might have broken something internal such as a rear brake shoe return spring for example, or maybe a brake shoe lining separated, etc.

Would disassemble, clean, inspect, and replace any worn or broken parts.


Good Fortune!

Remove the rear wheel & take a look at everything. It's a dirty job - don't breath the dust & avoid contaminating the wheel bearings. I cut off the bottoms from a couple of plastic bottles then tape them over the bearings w good duct tape.

If you don't know how old the shoes are, go ahead & order a new set straight away - Z1Enterprises.com has them. The lining adhesive can fail over time. The lining came off one of the shoes while I was rolling the bike off the center stand in front of the garage, so that was kinda lucky. Be sure to use brake grease on the pivot points etc. I use Permattex Ultra Disc Brake Caliper Lube in the little pouches.
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