Brake Pad Lifespan

[Sven]

So, how long are brake pads supposed to last?

I replaced Galafer rear pads (with the same product) after only about 13,200 miles (and 13 months).  Is that about normal for others?

I guess one factor is a commute a lot, which means more stopping at intersections, and more stop-and-go (move up a foot, stop, move up a foot, stop...) in traffic.

[txbanditrydr]

Yikes..... only 13,000+ on rear pads?????  You, my friend, have a very heavy foot.  I'm at 50,000 on my OEM rear pads with 50% life.  I'm getting 25,000 to 30,000 out of the front.  Maybe you should adjust the brake lever down a tad... could be dragging them without knowing it.

[Sven]

Yikes..... only 13,000+ on rear pads?????  You, my friend, have a very heavy foot.  I'm at 50,000 on my OEM rear pads with 50% life.  I'm getting 25,000 to 30,000 out of the front.  Maybe you should adjust the brake lever down a tad... could be dragging them without knowing it.

THese aren't the OEM pads, which did last about 22K miles.

The OEM front pads lasted 33.5K miles.

I'll check the brake lever.

BTW, my buddy (on ZRX1100) replaced his last summer and again this summer as well.

I have no idea what's the "book" lifespan.

[Sven]

Update:  So I did adjust the brake lever down a bit, in case it was just too high and my foot was hitting it.

On the other hand, nobody I ride with has said my brake light was on all the time...

Since the brake pads are always touching the rotors/discs, it would seem that there is some wear occuring at all times, anyway.

[txbanditrydr]

On the other hand, nobody I ride with has said my brake light was on all the time.

My rear brake light doesn't come on until I really get on the pedal - as noted when I check to see if the modulator is still working.  It takes very little front brake to activate the light.

Since the brake pads are always touching the rotors/discs, it would seem that there is some wear occuring at all times, anyway.

I agree there's some contact but the rotor shouldn't be hot.  You could try an experiment and ride 10 - 20 miles in your "normal" riding position/style using only your front brake to stop.... if the rear disk is hot perhaps you have a stuck caliper.

[Sven]

I agree there's some contact but the rotor shouldn't be hot.  You could try an experiment and ride 10 - 20 miles in your "normal" riding position/style using only your front brake to stop.... if the rear disk is hot perhaps you have a stuck caliper.

I'll give it a try and report back!

[txbanditrydr]

I have no idea what's the "book" lifespan.

I doubt there is one... everyone rides differently and as long as we get stopped without incident then I'd say pads were pretty cheap insurance.  

I do catch myself getting "lazy" (my term as applied to me by me and me alone) by using the rear brake more often.  I try to stay away from that except in extreme panic straight-away stop conditions.

[Sven]

I do catch myself getting "lazy" (my term as applied to me by me and me alone) by using the rear brake more often.  I try to stay away from that except in extreme panic straight-away stop conditions.

More often than what?  The textbook says you apply both brakes at the same time in most situations, but I'll admit that I tend to tap the rear brake when entering a curve, although I have tried to break that habit.  It's more of a habit than a real need to break, but I don't do that kind of riding so much that it would wear my breaks out early.  I most frequently ride commuting, about 10 months a year.  But then I do the about 4 1600-mile vacations a year, too, which is then that bad habit surfaces.

Damn, I hate talking about this stuff, because it makes me seem less competent that I am.  I am not a talented rider, but I *am* competent!

[txbanditrydr]

[More often than what?  The textbook says you apply both brakes at the same time in most situations...

I rarely use the rear.... if I do it's usually hands-off the bars just coasting to a stop.  I find that frequent use of the rear develops a habit of applying it that may not be beneficial.  Acutally... that should read "mis-applying" it because you are correct about textbook ideals.

Too much rear break can be a very bad thing in some situations (but hey- so can too much front).  I really hate the thought of the rear locking up in a corner so I tend to just stay away from it all together.

When I find myself using the rear more out of habit I will then try to stop using it so I don't overuse it in the wrong situations.  Again... as long as everyone stops in time or makes it thru the corner it doesn't matter really how one brakes.  

As an aside... I originally thought "trail-braking" involved using the rear brake.  I did some reading on it - I was wrong and could have made some bad cornering errors.  I wish we had an sticky "glossary of terms" on the board since there are a number of items that could use definition.

[Blade]

So, how long are brake pads supposed to last?

I replaced Galafer rear pads (with the same product) after only about 13,200 miles (and 13 months).  Is that about normal for others?

I guess one factor is a commute a lot, which means more stopping at intersections, and more stop-and-go (move up a foot, stop, move up a foot, stop...) in traffic.

Riding style plays a big factor in how long brakes last. I personally am very hard on brakes, due to my riding style and traffic. I do a lot of lane sharing and have to stop hard quite a lot do to either people not watching or dilberately cutting me off.

Now my liter bikes have really good brakes and I use mostly the front brakes and the rear just to hold me. But when I ride the twisties, I will use the rear as a speed scrubber if I need to knock just a little speed off, but all inital braking is done with the front.

On the average, I will get about 10 to 12K out of the front and about 7K street riding on the liter bikes. Racing I only get about 3K if I am lucky front and back.

[B6mick]

When I was full time motorcycle couriering, I would chew through a set of rear pads at the same time as a rear 009 shinko tyre, about 25 thousand K's.
Yes lots of stop start, and yes I drag the rear at slow speed crawl between cars, lanesplitting, and I've been told I have this very annoying habit of dragging the rear coming outta, yeha, run stuff corners .

The brake light on coming outta corners shytes the living heck outta the minister    

BTW Gold Fren ceramics are my choise of pads. Can be a bit on the harch side for disc wear, but I shyte you not they stop Hot, stop Bloody hot, stop too bloody hot the brake fluid is just about to boil, wet, and bloody brass monkey cold.

[Sven]

BTW Gold Fren ceramics are my choise of pads. Can be a bit on the harch side for disc wear, but I shyte you not they stop Hot, stop Bloody hot, stop too bloody hot the brake fluid is just about to boil, wet, and bloody brass monkey cold.

So, uh, your're saying they're rather reliable?  (Thanks for the recommendation.  Al I find locally are Galfers, and online, EBC.  You'd think nobody else makes pads!)

[Sven]

On the average, I will get about 10 to 12K out of the front and about 7K street riding on the liter bikes. Racing I only get about 3K if I am lucky front and back.

Yeesh, only 7K out of the back street riding?  No lane-splitting here, but my commute is all surface streets, which means a lot of 4-way stops and traffice lights.

[txbanditrydr]

Carbon Lorraine's SBK-3 & SBK-5 pads are an excellent pad upgrade.  I don't know how they compare to Gaffer's but they are far superior to the OEM pads.

[Blade]

BTW Gold Fren ceramics are my choise of pads. Can be a bit on the harch side for disc wear, but I shyte you not they stop Hot, stop Bloody hot, stop too bloody hot the brake fluid is just about to boil, wet, and bloody brass monkey cold.

So, uh, your're saying they're rather reliable?  (Thanks for the recommendation.  Al I find locally are Galfers, and online, EBC.  You'd think nobody else makes pads!)

The Galfer HH pads are really good pad for stopping and that is what I use for racing.