Suzuki 2 Strokes

There are no aftermarket brake shoes for the 4LS that are currently available.
But the ST400 Temper did use the 4LS front brake & Vesrah made the VB-331 brake shoes for it.

The VB-331 shows up on eBay from time to time, so I bought a few. They look correct.
Pic of shoes from my GT550 cafe project & VB-331:


Interesting; a PO made grooves in the stock shoes. Not sure why.

Also if you are interested, there currently are more Vesrah shoes listed on eBay.

The printed parts manual for the GT550 4LS brake:


It shows an axle spacer adjacent to the axle nut.
Part #50 in the diagram, part # 09180-15019.
The online parts diagrams show the part but do not list it.

Also, the manual lists the part count as 2, but the pic doesn't show the second one.

Its NLA. Anyone know how thick this the spacer should be?

I have a 550 J drum brake. I dont have and never have had item #50. I had my OEM brakes relined with modern improved material(dont know what though just took them to a specialist in UK) The grooves in the shoes was a common practice by racers in an attempt to improve performance by cooling them down quicker.
EDIT just checked my parts book which is original and there is no trace of the part you mention

Thanks for the info.

Took a look at the manuals on OldJapaneseBikes.com
Ian, thanks for listing all this good info.

The GT550 shop manual has a parts diagram of the 4LS front wheel — part #50 of my diagram is not shown.
The GT550 parts manual shows one spacer listed as part #52 with the same info (part # & count of 2).

The GT750 parts manual (1974 edition) shows two spacers listed as part #20 with the same info (part # & count of 2).
The second spacer is on the other end of the axle.
The manual lists the spacer dimensions as 15.1x30x5

No doubt that the modern brake material will provide the best brakes.

There might be some interesting history behind my 4LS brake.
Some PO had used a center punch to mark the cam lever positions on the brake cams.

The second part #50 spacer seems unnecessary in that it just impacts the number of turns to tighten the axle nut.
The other part #50 spacer changes the wheel lateral location because it positions the hub further from the axle nut.

My GT550 is in bits, so I can’t check mine.
GTandcbr, is there enough lateral room so that your front end can be assembled with the part#50 spacers?

Hi, i think the answer is yes but it would mean the axle nut would sit more proud of the fork clamp. Like you i think the washer is not necessary. This is my hub rebuilt https://youtu.be/oOHbhaJwrc0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

GTandcbr wrote:Hi, i think the answer is yes but it would mean the axle nut would sit more proud of the fork clamp. Like you i think the washer is not necessary. This is my hub rebuilt https://youtu.be/oOHbhaJwrc0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Good video.

On your bike, is there a gap between either of the brake panels & the fork tubes?

Just took this photo does it help? As you can see there is a gap

Thanks. This is an interesting little quirk from the way things were done back in the 70s.

I think my GT550 had a spacer on the left side. Vaguely remember thinking “what’s this doing here” when I took the front end apart. I tossed the part in a box of other stuff. Looked today & there is a 3mm thick “washer” with the correct OD & a slightly larger ID. Maybe 5mm in the GT750 parts manual was a typo, or a PO used a substitute part.

OE brakes are sold here.. http://www.cmsnl.com/suzuki-gt550-1972- ... ml#results" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The groves in those shoes were to stop squeaks and supposedly stop better. I would grind them into shoes back in the day.