Source for front brake pads?

[worney]

Just got quoted $180 for non-oem pads for the front of my '08 ABS by my local dealer. Does anyone know of a cheap source for decent front brake pads?

Thanks

-Worney

 

[HotRodZilla]

EBC H&H from Bike Bandit, or someplace, or get OEM from Stadium Yamaha or someone like that. Deals to be found, it just takes more looking than we'd like sometimes. Hell, check ebay and Amazon.

 

[DennisJ]

OEM Yamaha pads are expensive but the EBC pads have a lot of good reviews and I will be using them when my pads need replacing. A number of sources for them, check around for the price you like best.

https://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/11048/i/ebc-double-h-sintered-brake-pads

 

[RossKean]

Just a note on buying front brake pads for Gen II or Gen III. Yamaha OEM pads come in pairs - two pads per package. Since each caliper takes 4 pads, you will need a total of 4 packages to do your front brakes. The EBC HH are sold in packages of 4 pads so just two packages are needed. I have been using and liking the EBC HH pads. Life might be SLIGHTLY less than OEM but they are just as effective at stopping the bike, don't squeal like some pads and the price is about half the OEM. Some have complained that the EBC cause excessive rotor wear but I have not found that to be the case. Switch inside/outside pads on each caliper about mid-life since they rarely wear evenly.

 

[redzgrider]

I've had great results from both my local Cycle Gear and good old Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/EBC-Brakes-FA423-4HH-Brake/dp/B005JNYB1M/ref=sr_1_1?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1429293807&vehicle=2012-1210-17594-20-----14303------3-0&sr=1-1&ymm=2012%3Ayamaha%3Afjr1300a+abs&keywords=fa423%2F4hh

 

[mcatrophy]

Just a note on buying front brake pads for Gen II or Gen III. Yamaha OEM pads come in pairs - two pads per package. Since each caliper takes 4 pads, you will need a total of 4 packages to do your front brakes. The EBC HH are sold in packages of 4 pads so just two packages are needed. I have been using and liking the EBC HH pads. Life might be SLIGHTLY less than OEM but they are just as effective at stopping the bike, don't squeal like some pads and the price is about half the OEM. Some have complained that the EBC cause excessive rotor wear but I have not found that to be the case. Switch inside/outside pads on each caliper about mid-life since they rarely wear evenly.

You can usually get away with three OEM packages since the pads from the linked rear brake generally wear much less quickly than the other three pairs. I've even gone as far as using the least worn of the six pads for the link rear ones when they did finally need replacing.

 

[Fred W]

Very clever. So you'd only need 2 pairs of OEM pads, or one package of EBCs HH.

Anyone ever run a mixed set of stock and EBC pads? I don't imagine that would cause any problems.

 

[RossKean]

Very clever. So you'd only need 2 pairs of OEM pads, or one package of EBCs HH. Anyone ever run a mixed set of stock and EBC pads? I don't imagine that would cause any problems.

I don't think I would mix them on one piston pair but don't see any reason why you couldn't have different pads on each of the two piston pairs.

 

[mcatrophy]

I once got away with two pairs by using the best of the worn pads, but that was very much a temporary measure.

As for mixing makes of pads, I'd expect the friction to differ between the makes, so I would expect one make to wear more quickly than the than the other. It would certainly go against all brake and pad manufacturers' recommendations.

 

[worney]

The idea of reusing decent pads appeals to my pocket book but doesn't apply here. My pads got saturated with fork oil from a leak so the all need to be replaced.

I thought that some people were not happy with the EBC pads and recommended stock.

I took a look at eBay and there are complete sets for $20 there from China. Should I jump on those? (Joke)

 

[Fred W]

Very clever. So you'd only need 2 pairs of OEM pads, or one package of EBCs HH. Anyone ever run a mixed set of stock and EBC pads? I don't imagine that would cause any problems.

I don't think I would mix them on one piston pair but don't see any reason why you couldn't have different pads on each of the two piston pairs.

Ok, thinking this out in real time, and also playing devil's advocate: Why would it matter even mixing the pads on one caliper?

There is clearly no need to balance the braking power on the two calipers/disks of the front wheel since Yamaha does that (to the extreme) when they put two active brake pads on one side while only one is active on the with the odd pad being dedicated to the rear/linked lever. And I can't think of how it would matter if one of the two pistons on a caliper had more or less friction.

So why would it matter, from a purely hypothetical standpoint, if you mixed the pads / compounds?

 

[mcatrophy]

...So why would it matter, from a purely hypothetical standpoint, if you mixed the pads / compounds?

As I intimated in my post above, you may well find sacrificial wear on one make of pad.
All hyperthetical in the OP's case, however, he's (sensibly IMHO) replacing the lot.

 

[escapefjrtist]

With the performance and lack of disc wear they offer, shop around, spring for OEM and be done with it.

I'll be rotating the front pads with my next tire change. At this point, they look to be good for at least 80K.

Just my $.02 YMMV

--G

 

[RossKean]

Ok, thinking this out in real time, and also playing devil's advocate: Why would it matter even mixing the pads on one caliper?

...

So why would it matter, from a purely hypothetical standpoint, if you mixed the pads / compounds?

Fred; on second thought, I agree with you. Other than the fact that one side may wear quite differently from the other, there is probably no reason why the pads can't be mixed on one piston pair. I probably wouldn't do it (just "seems" wrong to me) but I can't imagine that catastrophic failure would ensue.

 

[eg23232]

Galfer semi-metallics for $39.95/rotor here: https://www.pashnit.com/product/galfer/galfer_buynow.html#pads