Brake Pad Issues

 Had my front tire replaced at the dealership yesterday.  At the same
time, they noticed and replaced the front brake pads.

2006 Honda Shadow 600.

I noticed maneuvering the bike out of the dealership that the front
brakes were perhaps 30% as effective as they were before the service.
I talked to the service manager about it, and he said that the pads
take some time to acclimate to the disk.  He said it should be far
better within 100 miles.

What I mean by "30% as effective" is that I have to apply a lot more
force on the lever to get the same braking.

Questions for you:

a)Is this normal for new brake pads?

b)Is his statement about them taking some time to break in correct?

c)If all else fails and I don't like the pads, what are my options as
far as different brake pads?  I'd like pads that are quite "grabby",
but I don't know what the different materials are or how I would order
or find pads that are as "grabby" as possible.

Thanks, DFC

 

They all do that, sir.

In order to break in your new pads, do about 10 hard stops.

Wrong. You DO NOT want grabby (high *mu*) brake pads.

Original equipment brake pads are grabby and cause a lot of front end
dive.

What knowledgeable sportbike riders do is install a *harder* (lower
*mu*)compound pad to reduce front end dive with the compromise that it
takes more effort to stop.

This increases the controllability of the brakes.

The Greek letter *mu* is used to symbolize the ratio of force applied
to the pad  to braking force obtained.

Motorcycle disc brake pads have a *mu* value of approximately 0.3...

Oh, you could install high friction sintered metal pads, but you would
wear out your rotors rapidly.

The best commonly available brake material is what has been used for
years: it's an organic semi-metallic compound with small flakes of
brass in it.

The brass won't harm your rotors.

If you want to investigate the properties of various brake pad
compounds go to www.denniskirk.com, or www.mawonline.com or
www.motorcycle-superstore.com and look up brake pads and then go to
the manufacturer's website to see what they have to say about their
own products.

Don't pay any attention to the customer reviews your encounter on the
websites, those are from a bunch of enthusiastic kids who don't know
shit from applebutter about the products they're reviewing.

 wrote:


This is a matter of personal preference and not of controllability or
front-end dive.  I'm sure that high-mu brakes don't cause front-end
dive if applied lightly.


Thanks.  I"ve never had a physics class or had exposure to the greek
alphabet, so I appreciate you clarifying this for me.


Sounds about right.  Since tires on a wet road are about 0.5 - 0.7, I
could accept that.  I might have expected a tad lower, though.


Thanks, DFC

 

Yes, high-mu brake pads *will* cause front end dive even if applied
lightly,

I remember thinking that I would brake lightly, let off the brake
lever and flick my GSXR750 around a sharp right hand corner from
Mulholland Highway (where the squids play) onto Stunt Road (where more
squids play).

But when I noticed that my rear tire was an inch off the pavement, I
changed my plans about making the righthander, went straight, did a u-
turn and came back to make a left onto Stunt Rd.

I wasn't braking hard at all, it was just the *grabby* high-mu
original equipment pads.

I replaced them with harder aftermarket pads and I will probably never
wear those pads out.

But if I pull hard enough on the front brake lever, the gixxer will
definitely do a stoppie.

 

I have not found this to be true on the new motorcycles that I have
bought, or with oem brake pads that I have installed.


I do not know, nor have I heard of, any knowledgeable sport bike, race
bike, street bike, cruiser bike or touring bike rider who has ever
sought to do this, talked about doing this, or advocated doing this.


I don't believe this is true.


You should also be careful about requesting information from people on
usenet, and be aware that their responses may not always be accurate.