Is there as easy way to check brake pads for wear?

[brand new bike zealot]

Short of say, driving at a wall and seeing if you can stop before it....

Car disc brakes have squealers, do motorcycle brakes? My bike is a 78 550 barn find, that I have now put 9000k on whatever the brakes were that came with it. 9000k ago, I popped them out when I rebuilt the calipers, but being my first bike, I had no idea how thick brake pads are supposed to be, or how long they can be expected to last.

The vast majority of my riding is in traffic, crawling to work through the city and back, so it's just weekends where they really get used very vigorously.


Any advice would be appreciated.

[bonanzadave]

My back caliper has plastic inspection cover on it. Take it off and look at the pads with a flashlight. I can eye up pad height on both the front calipers.

[bwringer]

Bend down and look. You can see the remaining thickness.

Brake pad wear is obviously pretty variable, but I usually get a good 10,000 miles out of a set of fronts, and I use them pretty dang hard. Most people get a lot more than that.

The friction material on new brake pads is around 6mm - 8mm thick. They're not as thick as car brake pads.

[SqDancerLynn1]

Boy you must use them hard I just changed mine on my 850 45K miles I personally know they had at least 20K, For all I know they were originals, which may be true because the rears were toast when I got the bike. The OEM pads had a red line on the pad, so when it got into the line it was time to replace them

[BassCliff]

Hi Mr. brand new bike zealot,

I never could see the pads well enough through those little check windows. However, it takes me only a few turns of a couple of bolts to have the caliper in my hand to take a good look at the pads.

As you have learned, the longevity of the pads depends on your driving habits. My normal commuting gives me better than 15,000 miles on the pads, regular EBC composite. When they get worn down level with the slot in the middle, it's definitely time to change them. Don't wear them down to the metal like I've done a couple of times.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[brand new bike zealot]

When they get worn down level with the slot in the middle, it's definitely time to change them. Don't wear them down to the metal like I've done a couple of times.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

Good advice indeed!

Realistically popping off the caliper is pretty darn easy, I just hadn't really thought of it that way. So many things like that on these 30 plus year old bikes are laughably basic and easy to get at.... except maybe the carbs.....

good info on the slot. I'll get the caliper off and give that a look this week.

thanks guys!

[Clone]

I just swapped out the original pads on the front at 32000km. I will see if I get another 32000km out of the replacements.

[duaneage]

Obviously mileage life depends on driving conditions. Straight highway driving will yield 100K life for sure. But the backs do get rusty at times and the caliper could stand some grease now and then. Failure to grease the slides can cause it to hang and that is not good.

I was working on a GSR members bike ( I won't embarrass him) and found less than 1/32 of an inch of pad left on the rear. I would not let him leave the house without replacing them with a spare set I had. He was one hard stop away from the rotors. His front brakes were really soft so he was depending on the rear a lot more

A 750 I parted had a locked rear brake lever. It drove the pads into the rotors and removed about 2 mm from each side of the rotor. Trashed everything back there. It's amazing how people will drive these bikes without looking at the brakes.

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Click for PDF files:

Front Brake Pad Replacment

Rear Brake Pad Replacement

Here's a fairly new brake pad...



Here's a fairly worn pad...



It's fairly obvious, but I just had to show off my picture taking ability. It's fair.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[nisom512]

Hi,

Here's a fairly new brake pad...



Here's a fairly worn pad...



It's fairly obvious, but I just had to show off my picture taking ability. It's fair.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

That is some good she i izzle

[Zooks]

Some replacement pads don't have the groove. I wear mine down to about 3 or 4mm and then change them. This allows you a margin of error if you can't get them changed straight away.

BTW - I tend to check them every few weeks. It's good practice to go over the bike on a regular basis so you know as things need repair / replacement / maintenance etc.

[bwringer]

I never notice the pads are wearing out until I'm leaving for a long trip in two days, and suddenly there's no time to order them and every shop in town is out of them and I have to get one set from one shop and another set from another shop, and...

[bwringer]

Boy you must use them hard I just changed mine on my 850 45K miles I personally know they had at least 20K, For all I know they were originals, which may be true because the rears were toast when I got the bike. The OEM pads had a red line on the pad, so when it got into the line it was time to replace them

To be fair, my brake pads will last 15K miles or more if I stay around Indiana. But I never wear them out all the way -- a trip to twisties in the mountains in North Carolina or the hills in West Virginia will cause them to wear at an odd angle due to repeated hard use and the way the calipers flex when used really hard.

Once the angle is too steep, they will start sticking. I get plenty of warning when the amount of lever travel starts to increase.

These days, I'm concentrating more on riding "The Pace" in the twisties, and using the brakes much less to set corner speed, so that also is helping me get a little more life out of brake pads. The Vesrah pads I prefer have a great "bite" and feel, but are rather soft and don't last nearly as long as EBC pads.

The OEM pads are very durable, but don't bite nearly as hard as modern aftermarket pads.

[lurch12_2000]

My back caliper has plastic inspection cover on it. Take it off and look at the pads with a flashlight. I can eye up pad height on both the front calipers.

Same here with my GSes. You can check both front and back.
But I would also check if one side is wearing much quicker indicating a dragging caliper piston. You should be able to spin both tires easily when on the centerstand. Also, wipe down the rotors real good with a CLEAN cloth, no sense in putting new pads on if the rotors have a film of whatever from sitting. You can scuff the old pads with a very fine sandpaper if they have plenty of life left to cut any glazing on them for a short term fix.