Brakes require more than occasional relining to maintain peak performance. Inspect annually for corroded brake lines and cut, abraded or heavily weather-checked brake hoses.

Disc brakes can benefit from periodic removal of the brake pads and "exercising" of the brake calipers. Use a big screwdriver or pry bar to pry the caliper apart, compressing the piston(s) back into the bore. That will break up any corrosion outboard of the seal before it has advanced enough to freeze up the piston. Repeat this several times for each caliper, by pumping the brake pedal to push the piston back out.

Then remove the pads, and wire-brush or file the pad seating surfaces of sliding channels in the caliper (depending on whether you have 1 or 2 piston calipers) to permit the pads to slip back and forth easily. Lightly lube the sliding surfaces with caliper grease or its equivalent, being careful to avoid greasing the friction surfaces of the brakes. Similarly, remove the rear brake drums, and exercise and lubricate the self-adjusting mechanism, as well as the contact surfaces of the shoes and backing plate.

Inspect the handbrake cables, and squirt some grease or oil into the sheathed portion of the cable. Check out the ratchet mechanism in the handbrake lever as well, lubricating the pivot point and pawl. Once everything is nicely lubricated, you might see if there's a benefit in adjusting the cable itself, generally done where the spreader bar splits the single cable from the handle to the two individual rear-wheel cables.