Brake Pads - Recommendations

I have searched the forum and have not found much information on brake pads.

I do not track the bike - mostly used for touring. Occasional two up riding with my 9 year old son (185lbs me + 90 lbs kid).

I want to replace both front and rear.

There are so many choices out there - ceramic, sintered, semi-sintered, organic, organic Kevlar, etc. Just not sure what I should install.

Anyone have suggestions?

Mike

 

SBC HH pads. Front and rear. They work great, and are cheaper than OEM. I can't say anything about rotor wear since I've not had mine on long enough.

 

I think FJ12 means EBC not SBC. I use them on both VFRs and I have no complaints on braking what so ever, but I also added steel braided lines to both rides as well. Stopping now, I'm more concern about losing traction than I am of not having enough stopping power.

 

Put the EBC HH pads on front and rear, work great, make a slight sound from holes in disks, normal from what I have read.

 

Yes, I did mean EBC. Brain fart, happens all the time when you get old. layful:

 

no worries - I can read typo.

Based on a unanamous recommendation (and that never happens on this site :eagerness I ordered both front and rear (3 sets of FA261HH) today from amazon. Price was $32/set * 3 sets = $96 total. I'll install next weekend. Thanks

 

Go to AutoZone get a can of brake cleaner spray & Permatex Anti-seize Lubricant for sliders and pins.

 

Do the bobbin routine too. A very easy and new to me learned task.

http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthread.php/46539-Brake-Disc-Bobbins

I have been quite happy with the OEM pads, but I cannot talk down what others have posted here because I have not tried them. Most of my miles were commuting and long distance. Technical rides were not too often and not too technical.

 

That's about the cheapest you'll find them anywhere. I ordered 3 sets on amazon as well.

 

I feel I can give some insight on this subject for everybody. For starters all of the VF500, 750, and 1000 Interceptors all came with sintered brake pads from the factory front and rear. Brake pads have improved tremendously since then for sure. Can you use an organic pad? Yes, and years back many people liked the feel of organic pads particularly for wet weather usage.

Organic pads = These are brake pads without any copper or metal in them The compounds will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer but you can know they have that in common. This would be an organic, ceramic, ceramic/organic, or carbon/ceramic type compound. They can formulate the compounds for certain conditions if need be.

Sintered pads = You will often see sintered pads use "HH" somewhere in their part number or compound name. That "HH" is a rating/standard that any pad using it have to meet. Sintered pads over the years have changed as well. The biggest change for some people is that a couple of the top aftermarket brands have worked very hard to reduce "Brake Dust" to a minimum. Those with white wheels are very happy with that I am sure! Todays pads are also more aggresive than they used to be. Todays HH sintered pads will have a more aggresive wear on all of our first generation Interceptor brake rotors. Why? Because they are Billet Steel rotors and are slightly softer the newer harder stainless versions now being used.

Semi-Sintered pads - A year and half ago EBC started to produce what they call a "Semi-Sintered" brake pad. This is not the same thing as a "Semi-Metallic" pad. It is a pad that EBC designed to kind of give the best of both worlds.The better stopping of a Sintered pad and the rotor friendliness of an Organic pad. I mention these simply as an alternative to the HH sintered pads for those that are concerned more with possible rotor wear.

Today's sintered brake pads are certainly more aggresive than the early versions but still can offer the the best stopping for most riders. You will also find that today's sintered pads are probably be slightly more aggresive in their wear on the early billet rotors.

I hope this explains some of the differences between the brake pad compounds.

For anybody changing brake pad brands and or brake pad compounds within a brand if you want the very best results I recommend the following procedure.
1st, Remove and clean the rotor surface to get rid of the old compound that is embedded in the rotor. How can you do this? If you have a blasting cabinet blast the rotor Blade surface (That is where the pads contact the rotor). If you do not have a blast cabinet then the next best thing is to buy a rotor hone from your local automotive parts store. You put it in a drill, lay the rotor flat spin the drill "SLOWLY" and go around the rotor blade. It will both remove the old pad material and leave a non-directional finish on the blade surface.
2nd, Now you can clean the rotor blade off with some brake cleaner to get rid of any contaminant.
3rd, reinstall the brake rotors and install the new pads.

When you go to ride you will now be breaking in the new pad material to the rotor. Brake pads work best when they are working against their own material. Or once you inbed the material in the rotor then the pads will be working against the same material and you will get their best results.

So often when somebody you know changes brake pads they don't feel the great results they were expecting from the new pads. This is why most of the time.

I hope some of this may have helped. If anybody has questions I will certainly try and give you an answer.

 

I agree with all the recommendations for the EBC HH pads. I recently pulled some of these out half worn, and replaced them with some OEM parts. The genuine parts have much less bite and you need to apply more brake pressure to achieve the same degree of braking. They did drag less on the disc surface however, which was noticeable when pushing the bike around the garage, and the bike stopped just fine. However I preferred the feel of the EBC pads so I re-installed them.

 

EBC HH. No going back.