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How are your brake pads holding up?


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I had a look at my rear brake pads today and was surprised at how much material was still there after 20,000 miles of hard riding. I use a lot of rear break for low speed stability, and city riding etc.

 

these are the EBC Double H Sintered pads and thus far have already outlasted the previous OEM rear pads. I haven't pulled them out of the bike to measure them against a fresh pair but looks like less than half worn, and even the inside one doesn't appear to be as much worse worn than the outside one, which is typical for our bikes. I was planning on just swapping them out, in for outside to get equal wear on them.. I wasn't expecting so little wear on them. Wow..

 

I always carry a spare set of pads with me on the bike (doesn't take any space) as I got caught once with metal on metal pads on the wrong side of a long weekend holiday out of country.. ugh. and those had less than 20,000 in them..

 

but thus far I must say I am very happy with these pads over OEM

 

Your mileage, as they say, may vary.. (opinions too) ;)

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I put those pads on the last time but I don't know how miles I have on them right now but it seems they have been on there a long time.

I do use the front brakes quite a bit along with the rear and I try to make the fronts do most of the braking. I do need to check them before the riding season.

BOO

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My rear pads are still good, but may go ahead and replace them around mid summer. With 22K miles on my bike, I am nursing my rear pads and using more front brakes. Like I said, by mid summer, I'll go ahead and replace just the rear pads. BTW, do they sell just rear pads or you simply get them as a set (front and rear)?

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My rear pads are still good, but may go ahead and replace them around mid summer. With 22K miles on my bike, I am nursing my rear pads and using more front brakes. Like I said, by mid summer, I'll go ahead and replace just the rear pads. BTW, do they sell just rear pads or you simply get them as a set (front and rear)?

 

they are sold separately (usually).

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Thanks, RandyR. That is good to know that pads can be sold separately for front and rear. As we all know, our front pads last much longer than the rear pads. I've never done a pad swap on my Venture, but I think it should be straighforward. However, it will take a little bit more time for me to clean the calipers before installing the new pads. I can sort of picture it now...this can be the perfect weekend job for me once the weather improves and it is a little warm enough in the garage.:cry:

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I have 20,000+ on my last set of the organic (NOT the HH) pads and about 30% left (measured w.r.t. new pads). I do have a complete set (fronts and back) on standby though and I have started to carefully check them weekly. When we get a warm day on the weekend I will probably go ahead and swap them out for the brand new ones and keep these as spares as it is getting a bit close.

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Wow! Impressive, Rick. You probably don't slow down for anything. :big-grin-emoticon:

 

As far as cleaning the calipers, I've never done one on my car but I can't wait to do this job around summer time.

 

Ride Safe all...

 

I'm a 2 lane rider and just cruise and enjoy the ride and use gears to slow down. Must be the x truck driver in me. I stopped driving 26 years ago and my wife says I still slow down way to early.

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I'm BigDawg, the new guy, and just surfing the forums for knowledge. My '06 MV has just over 5K on it, so based on my readings here those original brakes should give me 20K or so, is that about right? I've never done a bike brake job, so that would be a new adventure when the time comes. What pads do most of you use after your originals wear out? Sounds like some of you keep spares around just in case, you obviously are riding a lot more than I have the time for right now, but it sounds like a good goal, wearing out brake pads every year!

 

thanks for your input and advice, it's always good to hear it from other guys who have done it!

 

S/F

BigDawg

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I'm BigDawg, the new guy, and just surfing the forums for knowledge. My '06 MV has just over 5K on it, so based on my readings here those original brakes should give me 20K or so, is that about right? I've never done a bike brake job, so that would be a new adventure when the time comes. What pads do most of you use after your originals wear out? Sounds like some of you keep spares around just in case, you obviously are riding a lot more than I have the time for right now, but it sounds like a good goal, wearing out brake pads every year!

 

thanks for your input and advice, it's always good to hear it from other guys who have done it!

 

S/F

BigDawg

Welcome BigDawg - glad you found us.

 

Do not count on more than 10,000 from those stock rear pads! Many folks find the inside one completely gone by 8,000. This is not an issue with folks riding the rear brake - it is just the stock rear brake pads are junk (IMHO). And the excess wear on the inside pad doesn't make any sense at all with active pistons on both pads, but it affects almost all of these bikes. This means that you cannot trust the pad wear by looking at only the outside pad - too bad, 'cause that is the only one that is easy to see! Spirited riding in the twisties with trail braking will eat those stock rear pads way faster than you can imagine, even if you totally avoid the rear brake in most other riding, so keep an eye on that inside one. You will have to pull the saddlebag and take off that plastic cover to peer in there with a flashlight to see how much material is left - the tire blocks your line of sight if you try to inspect it from behind.

 

With decent pads on the rear, many of us just swap the inside and outside pads every time we replace the rear tire - this will make them last MUCH longer if they are not wearing evenly. You can find lots of information on this subject by looking at the many older threads dealing with it. The most popular replacement brake pads are EBC HH pads, and those will generally last between 30,000 and 40,000 miles on the rear.

 

Stock front pads generally last for at least 50,000 miles, even for riders who heavily favor the front brakes (like we all should). I think that the EBC pads are the pest choice for replacing the front, too.

:080402gudl_prv:

Goose

Edited by V7Goose
fix stupid typo!
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I have 33000+ on my 08 RSTD and I am still running the factory original pads.I brake with the front front brake mostly and use my gears to slow down.I also make it a practice to remove the pads and swap them inside to out side each spring.I have replacement pads ready to go on when I need them but haven't needed them yet.We'll see what I find this spring.

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ergh.. Hopefully someone with a better memory than I can help me out..

 

I pulled the two pins out of the rear brake pads to check them (not removing the brake housing yet).. and there is a spring plate under those two long pins..

 

(hangs head low)

 

Which way does it go back on? There's a slight up slope to one end of it.. for or aft?

 

Thanks

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