Brake Pads and Fade.

[dan90210]

On the rear of my bike I still have the same pads the previous owner fitted. EBC green I believe. Shocking things, anyways....

Coming down Porlock hill the other and they faded like nothing I have experienced before. Cars or bikes. I know how to get down this hill without brake fade.

Its time to swap out these pads for something else.

What do you guys recommend? Brand names are not important to me, I just want to stop!

[Scotty]

How much rear brake are you using on this hill? It should be mostly front brake, your rear will be doing 5/8 of f*ck all to slow you down.
EBC green pads are not good at all, get some sbs pads in there, the Street Excel ones are superb, but stick these in the front and use that in preference to the rear!

[goatpants]

Braided lines mate. My old VTR used to suffer terribly. I put goodridge lines on and I stopped over shooting my junction . Funny you put this thread up, I checked my fronts tonight and found excessive play on the floaters. That is gonna cost me

[dan90210]

How much rear brake are you using on this hill? It should be mostly front brake, your rear will be doing 5/8 of f*ck all to slow you down.
EBC green pads are not good at all, get some sbs pads in there, the Street Excel ones are superb, but stick these in the front and use that in preference to the rear!

Using next to no brake at all, I was in first gear all the way down. That's why I was surprised how badly it was affected.

Already got braids all round.

I have EBC (normal ones) in the front, there're 'okay'. For the first thousand miles amazing, they've gone off a bit now though, what was once a touch on the brake lever is now a squeeze.

Anyways, back to the rear....

I was thinking HH pads? What are they like?

[Stikley]

Don't put HH in the rear if your front hasn't got them. Just get the same as the front. I can't comment on rear brakes too much as I put bog standard EBC ones in as I only use them if the front wheel comes up too much in wheelies or a month before MoT to make sure they still work. I find if I'm breaking enough the back wheel comes up in the air.

[dan90210]

The front will be HH soon.

So you are saying just to make sure they all match???

[Scotty]

No, you don't need to put HH in the rear brake, it'll be way too powerful and prone to locking, just stick them in the front. As said, try SBS Street Excel, much nicer feel than EBC and work just as well, if not better.

If going down a big steep hill don't just use engine braking and rear brake to govern your speed, use the front brakes, they're much cheaper than new engines...

[dan90210]

Point taken about the pads, thanks.

Not too sure I agree with the engine comment though. A 2-Stroke with throttle operated oil feed maybe you 'could' ruin the big/small end bearing or piston rings but not a 4-Stroke where oil feed is constant. That's for another thread

Cheers all.