Kevlar brake pads

[Charlie Hoss]

Did the search, yada, yada.....no luck.

Has anyone tried the Kevlar brake pads that are all over the FJR1300 section of EBay? Do they seem to work for you?

NEPRT?

 

[Fred W]

Charlie,

I wouldn't trust 'em. Unless they say a specific manufacturer, they are some kind of cheapo Chinese crap.

Either get the EBC pads or OEM. I went with OEMs because they work pretty damn well and don't wear out the disks

 

[ionbeam]

eBay does have EBC Kevlar pads for the FJR.

In the 90's I put name brand Kevlar pads on my V-4 Honda and a friend put them on his motorcycle with the same results; dunno if this would be true of today's EBC Kevlar pads or not.

The rotors on both of our bikes had ~50k miles and the surface of the rotors were not smooth and not warped. When the pads first went on the front brakes scared the shit out of me when they only returned 5-10% of possible braking force. In retrospect, this was because the pads were so hard that they only made contact with the highest ridges on the rotor and did not bed in for flush rotor contact. Within a short time brake effectiveness returned. Then over time I saw why -- the rotors broke in to the pads. The pads were slowly wearing away the rotors. After a couple of thousand miles the rotors were completely flat with a mirrored finish. You could run a fingernail across the rotor and it was smoother than if it had been turned. Once the rotors had achieved a completely flat mirror like finish I canned the Kevlar pads and went back to a semi-metallic sintered pad. Even though the rotors were polished and now somewhat thinner, the pads showed zero wear. I believe the rotors would have disappeared before the pads showed any wear :glare: The rotors on my friend's bike also were ground flat and polished up to a reflective surface with zero pad wear.

Besides polishing the rotors, the other advantage of the Kevlar pads was zero brake dust because the pads did not wear.

 

[Fred W]

sounds like a cheap way to resurface your rotors...

 

[Geezer]

Sounds like we need Kevlar rotors and steel brake pads.

I have used the OEM pads up 'til now and liked them. This time I tried the EBC Galfer pads, not kevlar, and I immediately liked the way the brakes felt. Squeezing the lever felt almost like a steel rod rather than a hydraulic system, excellent feedback. However, after a few thousand miles, I noticed the rotors are wearing faster than with the OEM pads, and there is a lot of brake dust all over the front wheel. I don't mind the brake dust, but I don't want to wear out the rotors, so I'm switching back to OEMs.

 

[Fred W]

It should be noted that there are multiple different KBC compounds. Which ones were eating your rotors, Greg?

 

[Geezer]

It should be noted that there are multiple different KBC compounds. Which ones were eating your rotors, Greg?

Oops, They were Galfer pads. Luckily I saved the packages they came in to store the half used pads I took off and just found them on the shelf. I will correct my post above.

 

[FJRBluesman]

I would be cautious with any pad that could wear the rotor out faster than the pads.

 

[Charlie Hoss]

Thanks to all for your helpful comments. Kinda like I expected. I always like to save money, but hey, I have over 49000 miles on the original pads and they aren't gone yet. I shouldn't worry too much about Yamaha prices on replacements. I've always agreed that pads are way cheaper than rotors.

C

 

[08FJR4ME]

Thanks to all for your helpful comments. Kinda like I expected. I always like to save money, but hey, I have over 49000 miles on the original pads and they aren't gone yet. I shouldn't worry too much about Yamaha prices on replacements. I've always agreed that pads are way cheaper than rotors.
C

49K and only half worn? Sounds like qualifications for CBA.

On a more serius note. There was some mention here on the forum of being able to buy them at Auto zone. 26K on mine and 2/3 shot and need to be replaced.

Dave

 

[RaYzerman19]

Has anyone got comments on the Carbone Lorraine pads? I had heard good things here and perhaps they might alleviate the rotor wear concerns while delivering superior braking......

https://www.spieglerusa.com/cfm/carbonelorraine_street.cfm

 

[Charlie Hoss]

Thanks to all for your helpful comments. Kinda like I expected. I always like to save money, but hey, I have over 49000 miles on the original pads and they aren't gone yet. I shouldn't worry too much about Yamaha prices on replacements. I've always agreed that pads are way cheaper than rotors.
C

49K and only half worn? Sounds like qualifications for CBA.

On a more serius note. There was some mention here on the forum of being able to buy them at Auto zone. 26K on mine and 2/3 shot and need to be replaced.

Dave

I save my brakes for places like the Dragon, the Snake, and CFR (ask FJRGuy, eh). :scooter:

 

[JamesK]

Has anyone got comments on the Carbone Lorraine pads? I had heard good things here and perhaps they might alleviate the rotor wear concerns while delivering superior braking......https://www.spieglerusa.com/cfm/carbonelorraine_street.cfm

I have been running a set of the CB pads for the past 15+k miles, they are really nice, I'm yet to feel any brake fade due to repeated hard braking in tight twisties riding and they don't seem to be chewing up the rotors (per Ionbeam's experience, my rotors still have the original grooves ). And the cost is about 40% of the OEM pads (front & rear).

These are the part # for my Gen II:

Model: FJR1300 A/AS

Year: 06-

CC: 1300cc

Front Qty: 4 (2 pads per card)

Front #: 1175

Rear#: 1084