Cheap pads that work

Hey, I just installed the second set of cheap brake pads. First on my bike and rode them all summer. Excellent feel, sensitive, precise stops, no noises and really low price. What more can you ask for?

I gritted my teeth after reading all the posts that say stick with OEMS. But I recommend these. Here's the details.

• I got them on eBay from "VGCYCLES". Now I get emails from D2MOTO. I assume this is just the vagaries of name changes to sell on eBay.
• The brand on the package is "Volar"
• The listing on eBay is: "Front & Rear Carbon Kevlar Brake Pads - 1991-2002 Honda ST 1100"
• I paid $25 for all 3 sets... total. NOW $18 with free shipping.
• No, I have no affiliation with these people at all. Just passing on a good deal.

I just installed them on my gfs ST1100 and it was an instant transformation. She had sintered Nissin pads. They were crap. Wooden feel at the lever. The fronts were grabby at the limit. Instantly her bike feels just like my bike. The only difference in our system is I have OEM discs. She has EBC, I believe. But the results are the same.

I've installed a set of ceramics off Ebay. They are the bomb - work much better than the OEMs that were previously on it, plus mileage

I love my EBC's, but have a set of these el-cheapo's on my bench.
Bought them also as the price was right just in case something went wrong like a sticking calliper and I needed some in a hurry.
As my fronts on have about a thousand or so miles left, I'll give these ones a kick at the cat.
Thanks for the feed back.
Been sitting there on my bench since 2010.

I used a set of cheapies off ebay for a few thousand miles. They worked great until one pad delaminated and the backing rubbed the rotor. It was the rear and I didn't notice right away. It damaged the rotor but I was able to save it. After pricing a rotor I went to ebcs. Never had a problem with them.

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nhdiesel said:

They worked great until one pad delaminated and the backing rubbed the rotor. It was the rear and I didn't notice right away. It damaged the rotor but I was able to save it.
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That's exactly why mine have sat on the bench for so long.
I'll watch them closely due to your mishap.
Thinking if the pad lets go, you may of felt like you had to pump your lever or pedal more than once to make them grab.

I think the linked brakes masked it some. If it happened while I was mainly using the front brake it would have hidden the sudden soft pedal.

So if you have harder pads do the rotors wear away faster?

Why in the world would you cheap out on brake pads??! They're not that expensive.

Ditto here. 98k on my bike, OEM were on for the first 28k. Cheapies for a couple thousand after that. Then EBC the rest of the miles. The front rotors are still in great shape. The rear is in good shape, even after the incident with the cheap pads and my repair (light resurfacing). I have little doubt these rotors will still be within serviceable limits for at least another 50k+ miles.

Re: hard pads: there are two downsides, and this is why as a professional I advise customers who need brakes for their cages to stay away from any "lifetime warranty" pads. One downside is that overly hard pads will wear the rotors faster, and rotors cost far more to replace than pads. The second downside is that very hard pads give reduced braking performance. I want pads that stop. I see no point in having pads that last longer, yet don't stop the bike (or car).

EBCs have given me good performance, good life, and good economy. They cost a bit less than OEM, and a lot less for me because where I used to live, the dealer charged shipping for out of stock parts and ST parts were always out of stock.

I think you can't go wrong with either OEM or EBC. I would avoid the generic pads though.

UNTMatt said:

I've run EBC HH sintered on the ST13 for about 100k miles and the rotors are still well within tolerance. I didn't measure them when they were new or even new'ish; however, if there's any wear on them I can't imagine the rotors have worn much at all.

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The EBC HH pads are only ones the Honda dealer carries in lou of the OEM pads. For very good reason, as the Honda rotors will cheese-shred other options.
Not saying other pad options won't work, just life of pad will be reduced. I ran the EBC HH pads as dealer was out of OEM and I needed them prior to leaving on a trip. They worked fine, but having less lever feel and wore out in half the mileage. Not particularly my option in the future either. OEM is on it on both ends now. Definitely a nice noticable difference.

I'll be putting my no name pads on the front soon, so I picked up 3 sets of these from eBay.
Sounds like they are kind of endorsed by lllincoln
$17.99 plus free shipping.
If your adventurous like lllincoln and me go for it.
Just paste this in the eBay search:

Front & Rear Carbon Kevlar Brake Pads ST

what happens if I mix non-OEM brake pads with double Dark tyres that is 2 negatives and a negative X negative = positive so I say go for what ever your wallet will allow

I think the ceramic pads are $60 +/- a few. I figure if they are good enough for high performance sports cars they are good enough for my bike. The grip sems to be a bit harder than the OEMs and I actually like the feel. I realize they aren't common for bikes yet, but I'm inpressed so far (about 6K in on the front and about 1K on the rear).
And yes I realize race bikes use sintered pads, but they aso change out rotors after about every race.

Winston Lee (66).
From Down under in Western Australia.
Where I am Dealers are few and far between and as far as parts are concerned everything has to be ordered and then freighted in , and this is usually from the good old USA.And shipping is expensive.
I believe that , the proof of the pudding is in the eating.
Now having said that , I also believe that one is silly if you would compromise on your safety by using inferior or suspect parts on your motorcycle.
However , many motorcyclists do the majority of their own maintenance and seem totally aware of the overall condition of their favorite ride.
Why not ,and I have , on many occasions opted for a more economical choice when selecting a needed replacement item other than going for what can be regarded as an overpriced replacement OEM. item that is supplied from a dealer outlet.
Of course it is imperative that the selection should be made with due care and a relative comparisons in regard to the quality and suitability of the so called (cheap) replacement part.
With the limited amount of spare cash that I have at my disposal, I prefer to then spend any savings that I can make on maintenance parts, on the needed fuel for the days outing than to buy the (expensive) OEM parts .
The at least I get to go for a nice ride ,other than that I only get to spend some time in the shed ,polishing the beaST ,and wishing that I was somewhere else.
As a Ps. I have been riding motorcycles since I got my first licence some 56 years ago, have always done my own maintenance, never had a major mechanical failure or crash , and enjoyed every mile that I have traveled on every one of the assorted machines that have been between my legs over the years .
As someone said,"There are many paths to the top of the mountain"
Well that is my thoughts anyway.
Cheers
Winston Lee

Personally I don't care too much about how many miles the pads last - I check them often enough.
I'd rather have pads that last less long but cause less wear on the rotor - the most important bit for me is will they get me to slow down enough when I need them to.
Everything else is just secondary.

I am willing to try low cost parts including tires & brakes. Just because something costs less doesn't make it automatically inferior. I used a set of Chinese tires on my old Jeep that only cost $75 each and they were some of the best performing, and lasting, tires I have used. I tried to find more but haven't been able to. And trust me, I put them to the test, including a 2200 mile round trip drive to Kentucky to beat the heck out of the Jeep on trails for 3 days, and the tires worked great.

That is why I thought it was worth giving the cheap pads a try. Unfortunately I found the quality to be lacking.

When I work on a customer's vehicle I always recommend the best parts available regardless of cost. Sometimes those happen to be cheaper parts. On my own vehicles, where I have the knowledge to keep an eye on my parts and be able to notice a problem when it's starting, I will sometimes take more chances.

Jim