Rear Brake/Hub grinding sound.

Mine was grabby. I took apart the shaft, cleaned and greased it, put a little grease on the blocks where the cam spreads the shoes. Problem fixed. I lived with it too long. I changed the tire and did it at the same time. Why did I wait so long? :huh:
Steve

Hmm, mine is the opposite of grabby, but I'll still give it a shot, can't hurt, right? ha

Maybe grabby was the wrong word. The shaft would stick and the brake would drag until I took off, then it would free up. I don't know why, it's only 40 years old. :lol:
Steve

There is also the drum to consider Kowitz.
Almost any vehicle, if you change the brake shoes (or disc pads) but don't turn the drum (or rotor) will feel somewhat "squishy" as you say. It's partly because the shoes are perfectly smooth and the drum/rotor is likely not, so the shoe rides on the top of any ridges etc, not fully engaging the surface of the drum.
Further complicated by, in your case, the potential for a little run-out as a result of the wheel bearings having gone the way of the Dodo and that oddly absent spacer. These may have caused some drum distortion. I'm hoping not but it's possible.

It's not an easy thing to true-up the drum or rotor without machine help but you may be able to inspect the drum's surface, possibly observe if the shoes are riding in the correct space and such. That your adjusters are operating as they should. It's possible to "tune" the drum surface by hand but it's long and arduous. If you see the surface is beat up or heavily grooved, it would be better to leave to a professional (like a machine shop... read why later)

The rear adjuster should need to be backed-off simply because your new shoes are thicker than the old ones. This may cause the chrome arrow/indicator to fall out of the range labelled on the hub and if so, then you would remove the arm (was pictured in one of your photos) and re-position it so it's at the beginning of travel for that indicator.

I always hand spin the wheel after brake work and operate the brake lever in question to watch how the shoes (or pads) are seating back in. The stopping action should be uniform and not on/off/on/off which indicates the drum may be warped or worn excessively.

BTW. I've had recent experience with KZombie and taking wheels, rotors, drums to local shops for "turning" only to find out that most places CANNOT (as in, they're not allowed to) work on motorcycle brakes. Or so I was told. It's a liability issue apparently, so you might have to find a machine shop or an old-school motorcycle shop if this is deemed needed. Even my local big time "motorsports" store said they cannot turn motorcycle brakes anymore (same statement: insurance issue).

When I worked in big shops we used the "insurance" scam when we didn't want to work on something. Chucking up a rear wheel and turning it would be a pain in the a$$.

Yeah, my wife was with me that day that I tried to get all my brake rotors turned and she said the same thing - "they probably just don't want to bother with it..."
BUT
In both instances, I was dealing directly with the shift managers, not just a potentially reluctant miscreant worker bee when I went to a motorcycle powersports store and service center as well as a popular, big name, nationwide tire and brake center. It's not like these brake rotors would be any more difficult to mount than my pick up truck's. Heck they were perfectly clean already. The guy wouldn't even get his hands dirty. LOL

No money in it for them. Get a car up on the lift and find other things to fix too.
Steve

Got the brake pedal mostly sorted, gonna mess with it more this evening.

Also, might be picking up another 81' KZ550 LTD, tonight. Doesn't run, but it has a few pieces on it that mine is missing, and also has a Vance and Hines 4-1. $200 for the whole bike.

Good deal.
Steve

Yeah, I was pretty happy when I saw that pop up on craigslist.

The Vance and Hines 4-1 is quite a bit more quiet then I was expecting! I haven't had a chance to ride it with it installed yet, but I will in the morning.

I'm expecting to want a little more noise from it, is it okay to take out the baffle, or will that lose the back pressure that I need?

You can get a competition baffle for it but you'll have to rejet. Without one the bike will lose top end.
Steve

Ah never mind, I think it sounds about perfect, and the bike is running great. Amazing what a little back pressure can do.

Now I just need to replace the fork oil, they are fairly squishy. Time to start my own project thread too after work I think.