Back when my 07 FJR reached 33,900 miles, I replaced the front brake pads with Carbone Lorraine SBK5+ pads as recommended by Gary at Mondak Motorsports. The factory pads were really expensive and these were considerably cheaper (as would have been the EBC pads that also fit the bike). I didn't replace the rear actuated pads because they still had plenty of meat left.
Yesterday I was riding home from work and noticed a grinding sound from the front brakes and made a mental note to inspect when I got home. The front right caliper rear actuated pads (lower set) are still good with 47,000 miles on the bike, but all the front actuated pads show considerable wear. The cause of the noise was the left caliper, inner lower pad which is worn to the metal:
Luckily I had that other set of CL pads that were slated for the rear brake actuated position still sitting in the drawer, so I was able to use them and avoid the dreaded "drive to work in the truck" routine. And for those that don't want to do the math: Factory pads lasted 33,900 miles but CL pads were down to metal in only 13,100 miles. This means the factory pads last over 2.5 times as long!
From inspecting the rotor, I can see that the metal to metal contact was only at the inner and outer edges of the rotor with no contact in the center where the friction material rides. This tells me that there's a trough worn in the center of the rotor. I'm guessing that this is normal rotor wear and not accelerated wear due to the CL pads because those pads wore out twice as quick as factory pads. I'll need to grab a micrometer and check the rotor thickness today.
I'm now shopping for new pads. I liked the braking power and feel of the CL pads, but had no complaints about the factory pads other than replacement cost. I'll have to check prices again, but unless the factory pads are more than twice as expensive as the CL pads it's false economy buying the cheaper CL pad because they wear out twice as quick! Maybe I'll try the EBC pad next because I've had good experiences with them in the past on other bikes.
Yesterday I was riding home from work and noticed a grinding sound from the front brakes and made a mental note to inspect when I got home. The front right caliper rear actuated pads (lower set) are still good with 47,000 miles on the bike, but all the front actuated pads show considerable wear. The cause of the noise was the left caliper, inner lower pad which is worn to the metal:
Luckily I had that other set of CL pads that were slated for the rear brake actuated position still sitting in the drawer, so I was able to use them and avoid the dreaded "drive to work in the truck" routine. And for those that don't want to do the math: Factory pads lasted 33,900 miles but CL pads were down to metal in only 13,100 miles. This means the factory pads last over 2.5 times as long!
From inspecting the rotor, I can see that the metal to metal contact was only at the inner and outer edges of the rotor with no contact in the center where the friction material rides. This tells me that there's a trough worn in the center of the rotor. I'm guessing that this is normal rotor wear and not accelerated wear due to the CL pads because those pads wore out twice as quick as factory pads. I'll need to grab a micrometer and check the rotor thickness today.
I'm now shopping for new pads. I liked the braking power and feel of the CL pads, but had no complaints about the factory pads other than replacement cost. I'll have to check prices again, but unless the factory pads are more than twice as expensive as the CL pads it's false economy buying the cheaper CL pad because they wear out twice as quick! Maybe I'll try the EBC pad next because I've had good experiences with them in the past on other bikes.
