Bake Pads - Shot after 1200 km

[GateKeeper]

Well I am not sure if this is normal or not as I have never had this happen....

I put on new brake pads when I rebuilt the bike, I rebuilt the brake system, complete cleaning of the system, new ss lines, new seals, spotless calipers and pistons, everything was spic and span and as far as I was concerned everything was perfect....

Then a few days ago the rear brake was squealing and making an awful noise, took a quick look and saw there was no more brake pad left.....WTF....

This is only after 1200 kilometers, I am not heavy on the brakes, especially on the rear I use the front 90% of the time and brake with it way more than with the rear.....and I am down to almost no pad.....

rotor is fine, true as it can be, does have some scoring on it now, but just some very fine ridges, would this be the culprit, then again my fronts are similar and still lots of life on the pads...

took the old pads out, inspected the rest of the system found no issues, I was even able to push the pistons back by hand with no issues at all, popped in the new pads and took a test ride, no issues braking is just fine, with the right pressure I can even lock up the rear....

so is it just crappy pads, or is there something else going on....

good thing when I ordered new pads I screwed up and ordered 2 sets of rears, don't ask, I was thinking it was the same setup as the front,,,,dual rotor setup....LOL

anyways a few pics


















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[salty_monk]

Unless they are just old & whatever was bonding the lining has gone soft so they disintegrated (doesn't look like that to me) I reckon you must have a issue with them being stuck on or be riding round with your toe resting on the pedal...

For reference I'd easily expect them to last 12-15k km from my experience.

By the way "baking" them is probably not a good idea

[tkent02]

Do this, ride a few miles without touching the rear brake at all.

Does it get hot? If it does your brakes are sticking on somehow.

[GateKeeper]

Baking changed to Braking....

Thanks for catching that one...

LOL

I don't recall having my toe on the brake lever, I usually have my toes on the foot pegs, other than my left foot, but I will keep an eye on that as well....perhaps I will move the brake lever down a notch or 2....

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[GateKeeper]

Do this, ride a few miles without touching the rear brake at all.

Does it get hot? If it does your brakes are sticking on somehow.

I will try this out tomorrow on the way to work....

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[GateKeeper]

Rode to work and even though it's a short ride about 4 Km I am happy to report that the rear rotor did not get hot, well warm, I am sure that is heat transfer of some sort, but I could put my fingers on the rotor and not get burned, the fronts were a touch warmer.....

I made sure I did not use the rear at all, even kept my toes under the rear brake lever....

so it would appear all is working as it should, perhaps a bad set of pads, perhaps my toe really was resting on the brake lever, perhaps I am using the rear more than I realize, I do a lot of stop and go riding, as I do commute to work almost each day and it's always during traffic, this could be the biggest cause of the quick wear...

Well let's just see how these hold up...

Perhaps I will order another set,,,,,,just in case....LOL

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[tkent02]

Rode to work and even though it's a short ride about 4 Km I am happy to report that the rear rotor did not get hot, well warm, I am sure that is heat transfer of some sort, but I could put my fingers on the rotor and not get burned, the fronts were a touch warmer.....

I made sure I did not use the rear at all, even kept my toes under the rear brake lever....

so it would appear all is working as it should, perhaps a bad set of pads, perhaps my toe really was resting on the brake lever, perhaps I am using the rear more than I realize, I do a lot of stop and go riding, as I do commute to work almost each day and it's always during traffic, this could be the biggest cause of the quick wear...

Well let's just see how these hold up...

Perhaps I will order another set,,,,,,just in case....LOL

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Must be the toe thing, but keep an eye on it. The brakes should last 10 - 20 times longer than that depending on how you use them. Usually they last longer than the front brakes but I guess that depends on how you use them too..

[koolaid_kid]

Personally, I go with EBC pads rather than OEM. Vesrah also makes quality pads.
Hope this new set lasts longer than 1200 km.

[tkent02]

Pads made from wine corks glues onto popsicle sticks should last longer than 1200 KM.

[GateKeeper]

Personally, I go with EBC pads rather than OEM. Vesrah also makes quality pads.
Hope this new set lasts longer than 1200 km.

I will next time, but when I made my order with Boulevard Suzuki I just went with OEM, and since I ordered 2 sets by mistake I am stuck using the OEM until they wear out, could be fast....LOL

Pads made from wine corks glues onto popsicle sticks should last longer than 1200 KM.

I agree, and this is what had me puzzled ?

perhaps my toe was resting on the brake pedal, I will make a mental note on this and make sure I am off the pedal....

maybe it was just a crappy set of pads.....

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[Guest]

when your lever is in the release position does it hit the bottom of your peg? The reason I ask is I had this same thing happen to me 30 years ago when I purchased my 750ED new, I had moved the lever on the spline up one tooth to make the brake alittle touchier, and when I did It actually put presure on the caliper because it hit the bottom of the peg not allowing full release of the master cyl., thus doing just what yours has done , wiping out a set of pads. set the brake pedal so that it does not bottom on the peg and bottoms at the end of the throw of the master cylinder in stead and the problem went away.
If you rode to work and didn't use your rear brake at all you should have 0 heat in the rotor, it should be cold.

[GateKeeper]

I don't believe it's touching the peg, but I will double check it too make sure, I was looking at old pics of the rebuild but don't see any good shots of the brake lever.....

The rotor was warm, not hot at all, I thought it to be heat transfer only, it is warm out today and was this morning, but the rotor was not stone cold, just warm to the touch, front's were way warmer

all good things to look for, and I will make sure I look things over once more...

Thanks for the tips...

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[GateKeeper]

Checked the pins, they were cleaned, and a bit of anti-seize was put on them, so this should not be the cause.....but I will double check once more.

Another good idea, and item to check...

Cheers

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[tkent02]

When you are riding, and not using the brake, where is your foot? Beside the brake pedal? Under it? Maybe back on the top of the footpeg?

Or is it hovering over the pedal?

If my foot is over the pedal the brake is going to be dragging, just a little bit unless I conciously lift my toe uncomfortably up. i never ride that way.

[daturat100r]

had the same problem after putting new pads on me old gs,the wrong compound pads (modern sintered metallic)wore super quick and scored the rear disc,got some kevlar ones specially for old disc material problem sorted