Brake pads

[Stedman8]

Today I tried to change the front and rear brake pads on my 2001 Fazer 600 - what a palaver, the new brake pads ( pyramid parts pp252 front and pp104 rear ) for the front seemed to be the wrong shape i.e. flat on top and curved underneath which is the opposite of the pads that were in it and the pyramid ones didnt seem to fit in the caliper. The rear ones seemed to fit but they were too thick to get the disc in , I tried to push the pistons back but they didnt seem to move much ( looking at the rear caliper without the pads in from the back to front direction, the left hand piston sticks out about an 1/4 inch and the right sticks about 1/2 inch and will not move any further ) I tried taking the reservoir cap off and taking out some fluid but nothing seemed to help, could any one out there please enlighten me,should the rear pistons both stick out to different lengths or should the distance be similar,thanks in advance for any help,steve

[alexanderfitu]

It is possible that they are too thick, but you can pump the pistons further in, try using a c clamp with apiece of wood on top, I used a vice with a piece of wood last time.

[Chris]

The pistons should go back in further than that, they should be almost flush with the caliper faces. Sounds like the calipers might need a good clean out to get the pistons moving more freely.
 
Chris

[darrsi]

With all the discussions we've had on here about braking, i don't understand why you've chosen such a naff make of pads?
For about £15 more you could have had all round SBS pads that have been thoroughly talked about, will fit properly and have a generally high review!
I dunno what rear disc you have on either, but you've bought sintered pads too, which from personal experience i wouldn't have recommended.
I will always tell anyone to spend a few more quid on pads, as i think it's kind of important to stop the bike when you want it to, rather than when lousy pads decide to kick in!
Sorry to sound a bit harsh but it's just the way i see it.

[yamy]

Hi i got mine from wemoto and fit perfectly and so does everything
I've got of them

[Stedman8]

With all the discussions we've had on here about braking, i don't understand why you've chosen such a naff make of pads?
For about £15 more you could have had all round SBS pads that have been thoroughly talked about, will fit properly and have a generally high review!
I dunno what rear disc you have on either, but you've bought sintered pads too, which from personal experience i wouldn't have recommended.
I will always tell anyone to spend a few more quid on pads, as i think it's kind of important to stop the bike when you want it to, rather than when lousy pads decide to kick in!
Sorry to sound a bit harsh but it's just the way i see it.

Dont worry Darrsi it wont be happening again  but we all make mistakes from time to time I hear what you say though,the one thing you shouldn't skimp on is the things that stop you , suffice to say the pads will be changed

[elbrownos]

The pads probably aren't too thick. You do need to retract the pistons til they're almost flush.
The pistons get corroded and don't want to retract so pump them a bit further out and clean them properly before forcing them back in with a G clamp.

[unfazed]

The piston should really push back using pressure with your thumbs, if not they are probably in need of a good clean.
One thing I never skimp on is Brake parts, they are way to important.
 

[darrsi]

With all the discussions we've had on here about braking, i don't understand why you've chosen such a naff make of pads?
For about £15 more you could have had all round SBS pads that have been thoroughly talked about, will fit properly and have a generally high review!
I dunno what rear disc you have on either, but you've bought sintered pads too, which from personal experience i wouldn't have recommended.
I will always tell anyone to spend a few more quid on pads, as i think it's kind of important to stop the bike when you want it to, rather than when lousy pads decide to kick in!
Sorry to sound a bit harsh but it's just the way i see it.

Dont worry Darrsi it wont be happening again  but we all make mistakes from time to time I hear what you say though,the one thing you shouldn't skimp on is the things that stop you , suffice to say the pads will be changed

I wasn't taking a dig, honestly, i just feel that 'stopping' always comes before 'hitting'...! ! !
It's "the" most serious part of any bike!
If you don't slow down when needed, then chances are you ain't riding that bike again for a while! 

[Lawrence]

I just put some £6.99 Kyoto pads on the back of mine and they have way more bite than the Goldfren that they replaced.
 
I wouldn't normally use cheapo ones like that but since the fronts still have about 1/3 left I wanted to do the whole lot together once those are gone
 
As for the pistons in the rear caliper, mine were a complete pain in the arse to push back in.  I managed to snap my only G clamp too 

[darrsi]

I just put some £6.99 Kyoto pads on the back of mine and they have way more bite than the Goldfren that they replaced.
 
I wouldn't normally use cheapo ones like that but since the fronts still have about 1/3 left I wanted to do the whole lot together once those are gone
 
As for the pistons in the rear caliper, mine were a complete pain in the arse to push back in.  I managed to snap my only G clamp too 

The rear brake is generally used more for control at lower speeds, ie: traffic, so you can try different pads out until you find a set that suits your way of riding.
The trick with the rear caliper is to give it a good scrub and degrease with brake cleaner 3 times a year, and then put fresh red rubber grease on the pistons, and buff up the pad pins and smear lightly with copper grease.
If you leave them untouched over different seasons with hot, cold and wet weather's then that is when they will start misbehaving.
This is especially important if you use organic pads that create more dust, it's for that reason alone why i don't use them.
The dust just gets baked on and creates seizures.

[JZS 600]

I'm using Ferodo organic pads on the front and don't see a lot of dust?
 
Maybe I need to brake a bit harder,,,,,,,

[darrsi]

I'm on Galfer sintered up front, which are wearing incredibly well and don't seem to be doing anything to the discs, and i'm trying SBS ceramic on the rear for the first time which bite very well and i'm more than happy with.
I was planning on trying SBS up front next time, but i've got another set of pads in my garage which are almost like new that i found, as well as the set i sent to Lewis, so may as well use them first whenever the Galfer's decide to wear out, but that won't be anytime soon by the looks of it.
For some odd reason Galfer front pads sold by Calsport on Ebay are £18 a pair, but £30 on their own website.
£24 a set difference is quite a lot (about £24 actually  )!!!

[Chris]

That's a tank of petrol worth 
 
Chris

[darrsi]

The way the Galfers are wearing, or not wearing i should say, then even at full price they still probably make economic sense compared to a lot of other brands!

[Stedman8]

Just ordered SBS ceramics for the back once I get the piston sorted, and EBC organics for the front, hopefully these will do the job,has anyone any experience of these and arethey a good choice - by the way many thanks everyone for the advice,Steve

[Fuzzy]

I'm trying out the SBS ceramics on the rear and am not especially sold on them. The best thing about them is that there is very little dust compared to EBC organics but they somehow don't feel as progressive as the EBCs. Could be a matter of getting used to them, but already considering going back to the old ones. Would be interested in hearing what your verdicts are Darrsi & Stedman8.

Got SBS sintered up front and very happy so far, quite a bit of dust but they don't seem too harsh on the discs and provide excellent braking. They cost £33 so not far off the bargain Galfers which were unavailable at the time.

Just ordered SBS ceramics for the back once I get the piston sorted, and EBC organics for the front, hopefully these will do the job,has anyone any experience of these and arethey a good choice - by the way many thanks everyone for the advice,Steve

Most folk go for sintered on the front but organics usually provide a better feel and smoother braking. For road use they're probably more than sufficient but whether you like them or not is down to preference. Sintered's supposed benefits are having superior wet weather performance, don't need chemical bedding in like organics, and superior power in general but I had EBC organics up front for a while and were quite happy with them and didn't notice a massive difference tbh.

[darrsi]

The SBS ceramics on the rear needed bedding in properly for a couple of weeks before they felt right  for me, if truth be told, but i'm happy with them now.
Don't forget i'm mainly riding to work in traffic though, so bedding in could be done muck quicker if wanted.

They bite and grip well, and are very responsive in traffic so i could quite easily stop millimetres away from a subject with complete accuracy and confidence.
I really like them, but each to their own i s'pose.


I'm very interested to hear you say that the SBS sintered create dust up front, as i wasn't expecting that at all, in fact i'm a bit surprised.
The Galfers i'm using definitely don't cause dust, in fact i checked them again last night and they don't appear to be doing anything at all, no disc wear and the pads still look like new and they've been on there a few months now.
As i said earlier i have a newish set of pads in the garage still so i'm not gonna need any more for quite a while yet anyway.

[Fuzzy]

Thats good to know, I'm getting the opposite atm where although power is good, they seem a bit unpredictable. I'll give them a bit longer to see what happens as I suspect I need more time to get used to them anyway. They're paired with an EBC disc - it could be they're not a great match?

As for the sintered fronts, yes they are dusty. I have ABE discs and the combination stops incredibly well whilst retaining good feel. The finish on the discs is rougher than OEM so that is likely a contributory factor in creating more dust - I'd prefer to wear through pads than discs so thats okay by me. I'm tempted to give the Galfers a go next time though. I never knew brake pads could be so interesting 

[darrsi]

Thats good to know, I'm getting the opposite atm where although power is good, they seem a bit unpredictable. I'll give them a bit longer to see what happens as I suspect I need more time to get used to them anyway. They're paired with an EBC disc - it could be they're not a great match?

As for the sintered fronts, yes they are dusty. I have ABE discs and the combination stops incredibly well whilst retaining good feel. The finish on the discs is rougher than OEM so that is likely a contributory factor in creating more dust - I'd prefer to wear through pads than discs so thats okay by me. I'm tempted to give the Galfers a go next time though. I never knew brake pads could be so interesting 

Get Galfers from Calsport but on Ebay, it's much cheaper.
I had sintered Galfers with an EBC ProLite disc on the back and although the bite was second to none it ate the disc like it was made of cheese. But i must stress i had front braking issues for quite a while, so was compensating with the rear brake until i solved the problem, which took a lot of time, effort and money 

[Dead Eye]

I had the opposite to Fuzzy on my bike; SBS Ceramics up front and EBC Organics at the rear

Was very happy with the combo - I will be going back to this once I get paid

[Stedman8]

Well you will all no doubt be pleased to hear that I managed to sort the pistons out on the rear caliper with shed loads of WD 40  several g-clamps and mucho swearing it is now working as it should and later today the new SBS ceramic pads will be going in, hopefully.So once again thanks for the advice everyone and I'll be in touch soon - the front discs and pads are up for messing with 

[Lumpy]

Don't use Armstrong pads either, ever.

[Anarch]

I replaced the stock pads (they still had some life in them, but were glazed over) with Nissin NS (semi metalic) - I gave them a while to bed in, but I just dislike them.


I've been searching the forum for opinions on brake pads and it seems that SBS Street Excel get the best scores - but I have a few questions to the users -

Roughly how long do they last and how are they on the stock rotors (I'm not sure whether the original rotors are stainless steel).
In two weeks I'll be going for a trip with a pillion to Alps - how do the SBS deal with long term braking (lots of heat)

Thanks

[darrsi]

Got SBS ceramics on the rear which bite well, but too early for me to comment on longevity.


My Galfer pads on the front though are just ridiculously long lasting, they brake really well but i just can't understand how they aren't wearing at all, and they're not wearing the discs either?
 
And they're way under priced on Ebay, at just over half price      http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Galfer-HH-Front-Brake-Pads-Yamaha-FZS600-FZS1000-Fazer-FZ6-FZ8-FZ1-/141014149710?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts_13&hash=item20d5192a4e