The Honda PCX / Forza / ADV150 / SH Forums

After taking a clean bike out on a clear dry day the front rim will always have a very light coat of a dark dust and the rear will be slathered in the dirty black stuff. I used to think it was road dirt but no it's not because always the same color regardless where you ride. It's not the belt bits blowing out the vent in the back of the CVT cover either because it's on the front rim too. So it's brake dust boys and girls. Disc pads on the front and drum pads spewing like a smoke stack on the rear. Now what can be done about this because it irritates me I don't get this on the Buell and I have a GIANT 6 caliper rotor front disc brake... so whats up? cheap pads

Wash it off occasionally?

This stuff kills brake dust and leaves wheels squeeky clean. I use quarterly.

http://www.autogeek.net/sonax-wheel-cleaner-plus.html

Jge64 wrote:This stuff kills brake dust and leaves wheels squeeky clean. I use quarterly.

http://www.autogeek.net/sonax-wheel-cleaner-plus.html

Thanks sir, good to know. I was hoping for ideas on better pads and shoes. Do they make ceramic brake pads for the PCX?

You do not want ceramic pads, you want organic. Ceramic are hard and wear the rotors, plus leave a lot of dust from the wear (rotors are cast iron which quickly rusts to a brown color). You want organic, which are soft and sacrificial, plus have a better feel.

I use S100 (not the wheel cleaner) on paper towel for the rims, and don't polish it, leaving a flat sheen that makes taking the next coating of dust off very easy. There's no damage to the rims from harsh cleaner either.

What are The Best Brake Pads: Ceramic or Semi-Metallic?
http://www.autoanything.com/brakes/the- ... allic.aspx

S100 12500S Total Cycle Cleaner Bottle - 16.9 oz. $10
https://smile.amazon.com/S100-12500S-To ... automotive

WI_Hedgehog, I think you're confusing ceramic pads with semi-metallic. (your linked article says ceramics create less dust and are easier on rotors, with which I agree)

My experience with ceramic pads on 5 different vehicles has shown them to be easier on rotors and create much less dust than either organic or semi-metallic pads. I usually buy Akebono pads, so maybe other brands behave differently? Have you had some bad experiences with ceramic pads?

homie, there are quite a few wheel sprays available for cars that are supposed to keep brake dust from sticking. I haven't tried any of them, and I don't know if there's a preferred one for motorcycle wheels. If you find any ceramic pads, let us know!

I recently fitted EBC organic pads as my originals were worn out at near 13,000 miles - Honda dealer supplied for twice the price of Ebay but interesting to note a Honda dealer could order Honda originals but stocked the EBC organics. They seem fine for sporty scooters as EBC sell sintered for ultra fast race track bikes.
Perhaps there is something in treatment the disc gets as the front brake pads usually skim against the rotor most of their life (by design)

Eiron wrote:WI_Hedgehog, I think you're confusing ceramic pads with semi-metallic. (your linked article says ceramics create less dust and are easier on rotors, with which I agree)....

Note I'm not a brake expert, but from experience organic brake pads are sometimes "the best" unless you cook them with heavy use, such as in the mountains or on the race track, or hard street use. (Once they're glazed they're not nearly as good.) Given this is a mid-sized scooter, hard street use might not be an issue for the driver.

Modern ceramics lack some feel, lack cold weather bit (for many that's not an issue on a bike), wear the rotors a little more, are a bit noisier, and cost more, but don't dust up the wheels and don't overheat (typically). Those might be big advantages for some people.

This might be of further use:
What are The Best Brake Pads: Ceramic or Semi-Metallic?
http://www.autoanything.com/brakes/the- ... allic.aspx

Motorcycle Brake Pads: Sintered Vs Organic
http://powersports-blog.denniskirk.com/ ... s-organic/

There's also this from EBC on Ceramic Brake Pads:

What are ceramic brake pads?
https://ebcbrakes.com/articles/ceramic-brake-pads/

In the case of EBC they are Aramid Fibers, trade names Kevlar®, Twaron®, Nomex®, Technora®. These aramids are similar in basic structure and sometimes are produced in the same facilities. Kevlar® has a para-aramid structure, Nomex® is a meta-aramid. An aramid is a polyamide where at least 85% of the amide bonds are attached to aromatic rings.

Our discs are stainless steel not cast iron.

Ceramic pads are hopefully organic, possibly not if from China, and true ceramic will probably chew any rotors. As @you you states the rotors are stainless, I apologize, I was thinking of the ones on my truck as I've not looked at the PCX rotors yet.

After looking up the employee reviews of Dennis Kirk & Parts Giant I bought the organic front pads (FA196) from Parts Giant (Michigan Powersports) for less money. I'll report back after trying them on the chopper; some say they're noisy, others say they're great. The front brake is a hard pull, the rear is soft, both OEM pads are semi-sintered on stainless rims, so this should soften up the pull on the front...we'll see how it goes.