Brake Pad Mileage

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RedBaron
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Brake Pad Mileage

Post by RedBaron »

Hi All

Its been a while

I've not done as many miles as i thought for near 1st year of ownership

4000 mile service is coming up and just wondered about front brake pads. How many miles have you guys/gals been getting out of them?

Cheers
RB
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Re: Brake Pad Mileage

Post by you you »

RedBaron wrote:Hi All

Its been a while

I've not done as many miles as i thought for near 1st year of ownership

4000 mile service is coming up and just wondered about front brake pads. How many miles have you guys/gals been getting out of them?

Cheers
RB

Depends on how you use them. Best to check. Easily done with a torch, just look for the amount of pad left between the disk and the backing plate.
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Gil
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Re: Brake Pad Mileage

Post by Gil »

Adding to what youyou said, if you can still see the groves on the brake pads, you are good. I use engine braking a lot and have a somewhat long commute, so in 10,000 miles my pads look almost like how the previous owner left them.

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Re: Brake Pad Mileage

Post by iceman »

Had to change the front ones at 13,500 miles (3.5yr's+ riding) as I had been experiencing a 'scratching' noise once per rev for some weeks and thought it must be the pads (did not check just bought new ones - £12 for EBC ones delivered from Ebay / £20 the same ones collected from a Honda dealer). I was basically scraping metal on metal as there was a fraction of a mm left on both front ones!

A good sign they need replacing is if the level in the rhs top reservoir drops significantly from what it was new - usually you do not loose any brake fluid so if it goes down a lot, something is wrong. Mine fluid level rose to where it used to be with the new pads fitted, which being 5mm width each were hard to install due to the effort needed to push the three pistons home (even after cleaning). It's good to remove and clean them every year or so as I found, leaving it so long proved tricky cleaning the pistons and rubber stuff.
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Re: Brake Pad Mileage

Post by gn2 »

Sold my PCX at 19,500 miles and it still had the original pads and shoes.
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Re: Brake Pad Mileage

Post by Hax »

My front pads were worn out in 4000 miles! I didn't think I was that heavy on the brakes? I sold my Triumph Speedmaster with about 35,000 on the clock and that still had the original front brake pads!
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Re: Brake Pad Mileage

Post by Gil »

It might also have something to do with your driving conditions. City driving will have more breaking events and consequently more wear. I'm at 18,000 miles and most of the wear was from the previous owner that worked/lived in the city. I bought the scoot with 7,500 miles. I do use engine braking a lot, maybe you are jackrabbit riding in your daily commute.

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Re: Brake Pad Mileage

Post by izani »

It all depends on your riding style & condition. Use engine braking and anticipate to slow down tends to make the brake pad last a lot longer.
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Re: Brake Pad Mileage

Post by Mel46 »

Another thing that might contribute to wear is if the brake lever is adjusted too tight so that the brakes are slightly engaged all the time, or if you ride around with your hand on the brake.
I was behind a rider on one of those 50cc scooters recently, and his brake light was always on, which tells me that he was riding with his hand on the brake.
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Re: Brake Pad Mileage

Post by DiogoPT »

Hello, my breakpads started making noise at around 9000 km. I inspectioned them and they are completly gone.

I only ride in city on heavy traffic, so heavy breaking is normal.

Does anyone knows the price of one set of breaking pads OEM?
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Re: Brake Pad Mileage

Post by Mel46 »

Wow...9000 km...5500 miles!

I keep my bikes in pristine condition. I recently checked my wife's front brake pads because she has 13,000 miles on her bike. The pads were only half way down. Plenty of pad left. Still, I will probably change them just because I have the spare disc pads.

5500 miles and your front pads are worn out says to me that you ride the bike hard and don't use engine braking.
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Re: Brake Pad Mileage

Post by DiogoPT »

Mel46 wrote:Wow...9000 km...5500 miles!

I keep my bikes in pristine condition. I recently checked my wife's front brake pads because she has 13,000 miles on her bike. The pads were only half way down. Plenty of pad left. Still, I will probably change them just because I have the spare disc pads.

5500 miles and your front pads are worn out says to me that you ride the bike hard and don't use engine braking.
It is not like I am a racer, I am pretty calm driving, but because of the rush hour traffic for you to manage to split lanes and squid around cars you have to brake all the times.

Can you tell me how much a set of pads cost? I am buying today, but I have no clue of the price.
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Re: Brake Pad Mileage

Post by Ganglylamb »

iceman wrote:Had to change the front ones at 13,500 miles (3.5yr's+ riding) as I had been experiencing a 'scratching' noise once per rev for some weeks and thought it must be the pads (did not check just bought new ones - £12 for EBC ones delivered from Ebay / £20 the same ones collected from a Honda dealer). I was basically scraping metal on metal as there was a fraction of a mm left on both front ones!

A good sign they need replacing is if the level in the rhs top reservoir drops significantly from what it was new - usually you do not loose any brake fluid so if it goes down a lot, something is wrong. Mine fluid level rose to where it used to be with the new pads fitted, which being 5mm width each were hard to install due to the effort needed to push the three pistons home (even after cleaning). It's good to remove and clean them every year or so as I found, leaving it so long proved tricky cleaning the pistons and rubber stuff.
Agree with the fluid level. I had to change mine after only 6000kms. After disassembly I noticed one of the brake pistons was not engaging. In fact one of the brake pads was completely worn down while the other side was not. Also, the one that was worn down was not worn down evenly; the front side was almost completely worn off while the 'back side' was still in good condition. Probably because one of the pistons was stuck - guess that is what you get by commuting every day even when the roads are quite salty. I cleaned the whole brake systems and made sure all pistons were engaging again. Mounted some new brake pads and now, with some occasional royal brake cleaning fluid spraying- especially after riding on salty roads they are still going strong and more importantly evenly after 13000 km.

Below some pictures; says more than words:

You can see the uneven wear, top left side is clearly worn much more (guess it was metal to metal to be more specific) then top right side, bottom pad is still fine...
IMG_20190207_221627901.jpg
IMG_20190207_221627901.jpg (65.56 KiB) Viewed 2351 times
After taking them out.
IMG_20190207_222139871.jpg
IMG_20190207_222139871.jpg (67.66 KiB) Viewed 2351 times
After a bit of cleaning it still looks quite dirty...
IMG_20190207_224553116.jpg
IMG_20190207_224553116.jpg (89.13 KiB) Viewed 2351 times
After some more cleaning and making sure all pistons were engaging again.
IMG_20190207_232758626.jpg
IMG_20190207_232758626.jpg (78.07 KiB) Viewed 2351 times
IMG_20190207_233032929.jpg
IMG_20190207_233032929.jpg (103.66 KiB) Viewed 2351 times
And finally the new pads vs the old pads; still fine after more then 13k kms.
IMG_20190207_233015428.jpg
IMG_20190207_233015428.jpg (66.02 KiB) Viewed 2351 times

I now inspect them regularly and clean them quite often with brake cleaner fluid, it's nice to be quite fast off the line but also nice to be able to stop when it's needed.
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Re: Brake Pad Mileage

Post by DiogoPT »

Yesterday I bought the new pads in Honda dealer. Here in Portugal it costed me 39 euros.

The old ones were completly gone, and they were both the same size.

Also cleaned the pistons with brake cleaner so they slide better.

Greetings from Portugal.
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Re: Brake Pad Mileage

Post by Inoplanetyanin »

I am at 28300 on my Elite 110 and still have the original brake pads.
Some owners never needs them if all they do is highway riding. On the other hand, if you are delivering women for liposuction surgery in San Francisco, you may need brake pads sooner.
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Re: Brake Pad Mileage

Post by you you »

Inoplanetyanin wrote:I am at 28300 on my Elite 110 and still have the original brake pads.
Some owners never needs them if all they do is highway riding. On the other hand, if you are delivering women for liposuction surgery in San Francisco, you may need brake pads sooner.

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