I'd venture to say a few of us have had scoots which had no front brakes at all. Exciting times to say the least.

 

Previous posts have said it and so will I , drum brake will never stop as well as the cheapest disk setup will . I'll suggest you keep all the original parts but if you want to ride it regular you do a late model swap very easy . Late stuff will fit those trees and you can find pull off stuff at any decent indy shop cheap I do this conversion fairly regular on earlier bikes .

 

GMA used to (may still) make a dual disc set-up that will work with the vintage sliders. I bought a set and never mounted them because I found out that proper cable routing, adjustment and shoe adjustment can make a HUGE difference. A properly adjusted drum with good shoes doesn't stop all that poorly. It's never going to stop like a late model disc set-up, but it works good enough for my purposes.

 

Those drum brakes will be self energizing which means the small shoe will contact the drum first causing it to rotate slightly & press on the larger shoe for the majority of your braking.
i believe that the small shoe is front & the larger one is towards the rear.
Hatch.

 

Got me to thinking about all the Harleys I rode when first starting out my first was a 1937 EL.Brakes were a joke back then but so were brakes on everything else.Not until I started hot rodding everything did brakes become a very important issue.My 53 Pan was the first I delt with.Back then no options so learned to ride the bike and anticipate my stops.Good Luck

 

I would disassemble the brakes and clean the drum and shoes.Replace the shoes if needed.
Use some medium grit sandpaper to clean the glaze off.Lube the brake arm.

 

just check the drum and brake thoroughly for glazing and so forth. the old drum brakes are really not that shabby when they are set up right. I've had some re-chromed drum brakes from the 1930's put on some bike's and they stop pretty good to me, but they get all glazed over quick. that's all I have to offer...

 

They might be full of grease from over lubricated grease fittings on the front end.

 

Harleys used mechanical brakes a lot longer than they have used hydraulic. I agree there are a lot of self absorbed spoiled riders now.

 

My 1940 Flathead 80" Ridged, rear brake, front spool, suicide clutch with jocky shift.
Definetly had to pay attention while riding, Never stoped at a stop sign on a hill....
Either upgrade the Brakes, or keep it stock and ride it accordingly....