brake pads - Harley Forum

admin · #1 05-25-2007, 01:04 PM

Anyone have any recommendations for brake pads? I'm due for a new set and am just curious about any other brands besides the ones from HD. Got any stories about good/bad expiriences with other brands? Thanks....

Posted by: bigben on Nov 15, 06 1:59:45 pm

admin · #2 05-25-2007, 01:05 PM

BigBen.....I installed a set of EBC organic front pads on my '05 Road King to eliminate the squeal. I have about 2500 on these pads so far. At first they were awful and needed to brake in but now they have a nice feel to them when braking and and do the job nicely. Dont know if they are considered "good or great" pads but the bike shop I bought them at said they were reliable quality pads. I havent had any problems with them and they do the job. Period. Hope this helps. Botz

Posted by: Botzman on Nov 15, 06 5:55:41 pm

admin · #3 05-25-2007, 01:05 PM

Where I work, we sell EBC pads almost excusively. Gold-metallic pads for `99 and newer bikes and Kevlar-organic for older ones. The older single piston calipers and thier discs just don't seem to like the metallic compounds and the new two piston ones love it. We have always had excellent feed back from our customers and they have always worked well on our personal bikes. They last fairly well too.

Posted by: dls8 on Nov 19, 06 5:05:40 pm

admin · #4 05-25-2007, 01:05 PM

I have experience with EBC, SBS, Ferrodo, Vesrah, HD, and maybe one other pad that I can't remember, and once they "break-in" I honestly can't tell the diff,, in-other-words, I like em all... Of course you gotta be sure you're puttin the correct pad material and rotor together...
Now, calipers, there's another story...
Hey BigBen,, why is it that you don't wanna use HD pads..??

Posted by: frisco-rigid on Nov 19, 06 10:29:21 pm

admin · #5 05-25-2007, 01:06 PM

I'm just curious about the opinions from other people. I'll be replacing my pads this winter and so I'm just looking for other ideas. I bought HD last time. I've got a brand spankin' new PM 6 piston caliper for the front and I'm still shopping for a rotor. I hope to have that on sometime soon. I'm pretty curious about just how much of a difference there will be with that caliper (designed for a 13" disc). Since the Heritage only has the single front brake I decided to go with the 13" set-up.

Posted by: bigben on Nov 22, 06 1:27:00 pm

admin · #6 05-25-2007, 01:06 PM

Outa sight Ben...
Once I started replacing 10" rotors with 11.5" rotors I never went back,, I bet the 13" is awesome...
Now here's something that I read a few years ago and just dismissed it as being too scientific for me... It was a long article in I think "Thunder Press", it went on to say that using a larger diameter rotor(i.e. longer lever//more-leverage) didn't really give better//more braking,, and it gave a bunch of scientific reasons for it--- heck, I dunno, I know I like it a whole group more...

Now, PM wheels, I love em,,, and even though I've only used one PM caliper,,, I will never use another,,, I must say I prefer HD, GMA, Brembo... We all have our fav's...

Posted by: frisco-rigid on Nov 22, 06 6:16:45 pm

#7 04-05-2008, 05:56 PM

GENERALLY, a larger rotor won't stop you faster - maybe even a little tiny bit slower. What it is mostly good for is it dissipates heat better/faster, which means you'll experience less fade when you're at the limit, i.e. on a track, etc.

JB

frisco-rigid · #8 04-06-2008, 04:00 AM

Hi John

It's interesting that you reply to a 2 year old thread but I'm glad you did..

In my experience the larger OD rotors brake faster/better..
If it's from heat dissipation because of more mass then it's interesting to note that many rotors are barely wider than the caliper pads and fastened with buttons (floating) thus not able to tranfer heat or with a laced design rotor hub,, again less mass for heat transfer/dissipation..

You stated that they might even be a bit slower..
Is that from your experience or perhaps something you read or heard.?
Curious guy me..

Whopper · #9 04-07-2008, 09:47 AM

Must agree with frisco-rigid. Much like a torque wrench, the further out from the center of the wheel, the less force is required to generate a given amount of torque. Therefore, the larger the brake disc OD the less force will be required at the disc to achieve a given amount of stopping tractive force at the tire contact patch.

#10 04-07-2008, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whopper

Must agree with frisco-rigid. Much like a torque wrench, the further out from the center of the wheel, the less force is required to generate a given amount of torque. Therefore, the larger the brake disc OD the less force will be required at the disc to achieve a given amount of stopping tractive force at the tire contact patch.

All other factors being equal, the larger the radius to the brake pad the more stopping force applied.