Rear Brake Pads Last Forever!!!

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SkooterG

Purveyor of Crooked Facts
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Well, I finally got around to changing my ORIGINAL set of rear brake pads a few weeks back.

[SIZE=14pt]AT 140,100 miles!!!![/SIZE]

YES, I do use them. Just don't abuse them like the 'Nutster. That boy goes through rear pads and gerbils faster than Iggy goes through cheap Euro-Porn!

Now, I thought these pads would have been toast many thousands of miles ago, and no doubt, some individuals with weaker intestinal fortitude would have changed them out much earlier, but I kept my eye and them and though they were very close to the limit for the last umpteen thousand miles, they never actually hit it.

And, I am happy to report that changing the rear pads is an easy-peasy evolution. Just remove two bolts and then take everything apart. Per the service manual, springs and shims should be replaced with pads. I didn't, just because I forgot to order those pieces. I don't think it is that big of a deal, but would still recommend what the service manual says to do. BTW, I used OEM pads again. My brakes work fine and obviously they give good life, so I saw no reason to re-invent the wheel.

Without further adieu..........the requisite piccies....................

After disassembly of caliper (removal of two bolts). Some corrosion inside the piston, but after 141,000 miles, I'm not too disappointed. I didn't even bother cleaning it up.

140kmilesrearbrakepads2.jpg


Old pads and new, side by side.........

140kmilesrearbrakepads6.jpg


Close-ups of rear pads after 141,100 miles.......

140kmilesrearbrakepads12.jpg


See the little bump off to the side? That's what you use to gauge wear. I never hit it. I suppose I could have gotten 500-1000+ more miles on these pads, but I will call it, 'good enough'.

140kmilesrearbrakepads11.jpg


And, one final photo comparing new pad's thickness to the used and abused one.

140kmilesrearbrakepads14.jpg


So, in general, I would say that you can expect long life from your rear brake pads with normal service.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Nice pictures and nice to know that I can expect high mileage out of the rear pads. And I don't ride in the rain nor use water to wash my bike, so I suspect I won't have a big issue with corrosion either.

Thanks for the posting!

 
Plus...if you ride with really used pads...there is less mass/weight for the bike to propel and suspend. Better gas mileage and cornering clearance to boot! ;)

Good job there Skooter!! B)

 
Skoot, you ride like a little girl. Oh, wait, you are a little girl... :****:

Rear CL pads right with 8k miles on them, new CL's on the left:

IMG_2193a.jpg


Since, I've gone back to the stock pad on the rear brake and will do the same on the front. Though the CL's offer great bite (too much on the rear, IMO), they last for shit.

 
I noticed a sudden resurgence of posts by the Skoot.

Did his girlfriend break-up with him?

Jus wonderin...cause I'm nosey.

 
Did his girlfriend break-up with him?
A big rally is about 2 weeks away. Last time he went to this event.....ummm....well.....he did really, really well. He has a reputation to live up to now. ;)

 
I'll take them old ones off yer hands iffn yer done with them. Couple thousand miles is a couple thousand miles, dontcha know?

 
I'll take them old ones off yer hands iffn yer done with them. Couple thousand miles is a couple thousand miles, dontcha know?
Just reline your old ones with old shoe soles. Oh, sorry, forgot. ;)

texas2.gif


 
Did the old pads wear about the same or did one wear more?

I noticed that the inside pads on the front calipers wear faster than the outer pads so I swapped them when I was installing a new tire. Should extend the life of the pads for many more thousands of miles.

The two rear pads appear to be symmetrical (can be swapped) as well.

 
Zombie thread alert!!!

Good think I checked my rear brake pads during my last round of suspension maintenance. They were due for replacing. This is my second FJR and sadly, I can't say the rear brake pads lasted 140,000 miles like on my first FJR. They only lasted 130,000 miles! And as you will see below, if it weren't for some uneven wear, they could have gone another 10,000 miles. What a rip-off!

As you can see, the top pad is worn more than the bottom by a little bit. But the problem was the right side of the top pad. Soooo close to the metal wear nub indicator!

P1010254_zpsaa730f9b.jpg


The more worn sides of both pads.

P1010251_zps1250b1ec.jpg


The less worn sides of both pads.

P1010252_zpsb36ba3b1.jpg


Boy what a trip down memory lane this thread was. Three forum greats - Twowheelnut, radman, and Scab all posting up. Damn I miss those boys!

 
It looks like if you had reversed the pads at 100K then they would have lasted 200k. I used to have very one sided Pad wear on my Yamaha Venture, one time I wore one pad down to the thickness of a sheet of paper and the other had about 2/3 of the pad left. After that I reversed the pads every time I changed the tire.

 
It's nice to bump up these old threads w updated info, otherwise us newer-older dudes would never of had the pleasure :)

Nice pics Skoot!

 
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