Hi,
I just bought my 1st ATV.
its a Honda 1988 fourtrax 200cc
the front brakes are mushy and will work after 3-4 pumps on the brake lever.
But the rear brakes barely work, and being adjusted to the max. limit.
Anyways I'm trying to get to the brake shoes in the rear drum and have made lots of progress but now i'm stuck and confused.
Below are pictures of where i'm at now.
Anyone know how to remove the final 'plate' pictured below??
Thanks a million. -Justin

 

Back the hand and foot brake cables off. If the shoes are expanded out against the drum it will make it hard to remove the drum.

 

Disconnect the brake cables entirely, as you will probably want to replace them along with the brake pads. Cables do stretch with use, and can contribute to soft brakes. At the very least, you will want to lube them before reinstalling them

Use a little...repeat little...bit of light-duty threadlocker on the outer axle nut once you put it back together

Unfortunately, you will never get anything more than adequate performance out of Honda's drum brakes...at least your model has the excuse of being really old as for having drum brakes....the same can't be said of a lot of atvs Honda has put together in the current century