RobbieAG
Robert
I recently replaced my rear tire and noticed the pads were almost shot after 16,000 miles. What is considered normal? How many miles do you get before replacement?
How Many Miles Do You Get Out of Rear Brake Pads?
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Sadlsor
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Just finished putting my rear tire back on at 16.2K miles on the original pads and I have better than half the life left on the rear pads.
Bought it 13 months ago, with 8300 miles.
I've confirmed they are OEM Honda pads.
Bought it 13 months ago, with 8300 miles.
I've confirmed they are OEM Honda pads.
It depends how you drive it too. Alot of things that cause pads worn faster than usual such as weather, driving condition, traffic, etc.
i’m out at ~ 15k miles. I was driving on Highway and city combined.
i’m out at ~ 15k miles. I was driving on Highway and city combined.
It depends ... it's whatever I get out of them ...
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I went through 9 sets of rear brake pads on my ST1300. Always OEM pads for that bike. The average was 18,000 miles. The rears wore much faster then fronts which averaged 25,400 miles over 6 sets.
I get about 1/2 the miles out of my rear pads,, compared to the fronts. Due to the linked braking system,,, I adjusted my braking style to mostly use the front brake lever,, and just let the smc do it's thing. My foot rests beside the brake pedal,, not on it. Rear pad life will suffer if your linked brake system is not %100. I routinely polish my brake pistons on every pad replacement, both front and back. I had a lot of stiction and rear drag and heat and wear before I started doing that. cheers,, CAt'
I'm pretty much committed to converting to unlinked brakes this next winter. Short rear brake pad life is likely related to your linked system not working 100% right.
Kevcules
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What's your plan to do that? Change the fluid line routing or install a mechanical stopper on the SMC?
Replace the MC and use a 2-line banjo bolt to route one braided line each to the front calipers. Block off all the cross traffic.
Kevcules
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Have you done this already on another bike? I'd like to see and hear more about this. I'm really disappointed in the SMC problems that can arise on a bike trip.
One ST13 rider I spoke with, used a different solution for the linked brakes. This was only during police competitions. He had developed a removeable wedge that could be quickly installed, to effectively lock out the smc's function. I am not sure of how completely it separated the front/rear braking. But it could be quickly removed when desired. Just fyi,,, CAt'
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The rear definitely wear a lot faster than the front, even though they are thicker.
Like Catmandu2, I rarely apply the rear pedal. It's never feels like the rear do "more" than they should. I've thought about "unlinking" by introducing air into the SMC line, but the brakes really do function well as designed.
Below is a graph of my brake pad replacements since new. They aren't always toast when replacing, but at least you get an idea of mileage.
Like Catmandu2, I rarely apply the rear pedal. It's never feels like the rear do "more" than they should. I've thought about "unlinking" by introducing air into the SMC line, but the brakes really do function well as designed.
Below is a graph of my brake pad replacements since new. They aren't always toast when replacing, but at least you get an idea of mileage.
Excellent durability. Perhaps the difference between Sport riding and Touring ?? Do you brake mostly off the front,,, and let the smc regulate the rear ?? CAt'
I have done this two line setup on another bike. I have not de-linked brakes before.
Aside from safety and reliability concerns, they're just finicky and require a lot of maintenance.
To me, they also feel squishy. Reasonable people can and have disagreed about the feel and even the performance. As a former fairly fast guy, I prefer independent control of my brakes. I've given the linked brakes a try and my verdict is "meh." YMMV
Sadlsor
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On my '97 Blackbird (a previous generation or maybe 2, of Honda's LBS), I replaced the rear pads at around 24K IIRC, but that was obviously in Sport mode - manually selected. 
sky.high
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Well its linked braking so front brake activates rear as well and front brake provides way more stopping power than rear, so yes the front does all the stopping. In general I try not to brake at all, of course that not possible in the city, but on open roads its rarely necessary to brake very much or very hard with good lines and good rubber unless its a very spirited ride. We are rarely overtaken on any ride, so I'd like to think we're always in sport mode, but that's pretty subjective, we don't see not much motorcycle fun in riding a 'touring' style LOL
Just trying to figure out how you are getting way more than double the usual life out of your rear pads,, compared to most others. Since you are mostly fully loaded,, and driving a spirited ride,, and getting nearly 50k km's per rear pad set,,, you are definitely doing something right and different, than some of the rest of us. I expect to get about 18k km's out of my current rear pads for example,,,, cheers,,, CAt'
On the 1100 outfit approx 12,000 miles, the rear brake is used a lot due to the extra weight, although I always replace the pads before any long trip and now always use OEM pads. Back in 2006 I had fitted EBC pads and on the descent down the Pte St Bernard pass (Italy to France) suddenly found myself with no rear brake (whilst 3 up and pulling a trailer I hasten to add). Thankfully, the sidecar has its brake linked to the front brake, but by the time we got to the bottom of the pass my right arm was pumping somewhat. When we got the old pads out, there was just metal on the pads, it appeared that the brake material had simply departed from the backing plate, faulty batch? who knows. Thankfully we found a very friendly French Honda dealer near Chamonix who had OEM pads in stock and helped me get the pistons back in.
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