Friction noise after brake pads change

Joined
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Hello Pan community !

I have just changed the brake pads on my front wheel (Genuine Honda pads).
I can hear a friction noise at slow speed. I have ridden about 20 kms, the noise is softer but still there.

I that normal ?

Thanks.

Thomas :poPoST1:
 
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There usually is some noise from the pads lightly touching the rotors... if there is any binding of the front wheel, that that is not normal. You can check by placing the bike on the center stand and loft the front end off the ground and spin by hand. If it takes considerable pressure to turn the wheel, then its binding. You should be able to spin for 1 to 1 1/2 revolutions by hand.
 

paulcb

- - - Tetelestai - - - R.I.P. - 2022/05/26
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Assuming they're not binding, that sounds normal. It's the pads touching the high points on the rotors. It will go away as the pads wear to the rotor profile, which will be pretty quickly.
 

Chance

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Thank goodness that's normal! Lol. I was just hoping until you guys chimed in! :)
 
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Check to make sure the top of the pad is inserted into the slot on the inner and outer pads. The first time I did the front pads, the inner right pad missed the slot, and I was still able to insert the pin.
 
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thomas63
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I have ridden 600 km this WE and no more noise.
Anyway I have checked my pads and they look ok.

Thanks !
 
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Statesville NC
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I too notice some noise from the new set of Rear Honda OE Pads. While I have only put 20 miles on new pads I still hear the slight dragging noise. (this is with bike on center stand and rotating wheel by hand) The caliper is releasing but the heat on rotor is my only concern. Its not hot enough to sizzle spit, but warm enough you don't want to hold too long. Reading all these comment can one assume there's a 'break in' period for the new pads to become enbedded into the existing grooves of the worn rotor? Like to hear from everyone's heat and time frame (miles/km) it took for things to correct?

Update: After 125 Miles better but still had a light drag/rub on Rotor so I removed and inspected My new rear Pads to find the leading edge of Front Pad was .008" thinner then the trailing edge. I concluded my Caliper wasn't engaging the Pad evenly so I removed Caliper and using DOT4 Synthetic Brake Fluid, tooth brush, a 3/4" wide strip of Scotch-Brite and polished my pistons. I also cleaned and applied grease to the (2) pins the Caliper floats upon. Removed Spring Clip, cleaned and re-installed. Re-assembled and took a short test ride and it appears Pads are retracting/Floating as they should with much, much less Rubbing/dragging. Rotor Cooler also

.ST1300 Rear Caliper 2.jpg
 
Last edited:
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John Heath, what is all that crud in your rear rotor holes (assuming photo was from your bike)?
 
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thanks for the explanation, I guess you hope its just mud coming off the farm vehicles. :D
 
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Oh the joys of the British countryside on a cold and muck covered salted road.
I was wondering why the question was asked, aren't all discs like that? They are in blummin Northern England. For those of you riding on pristine black top, enjoy. For us few, where's me drill bit.:mad:
 
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Well, yes, but it is more hope than experience, I'm afraid.

Like Upt'North, I was surprised by your question. It had never occurred to me that this wasn't the norm for bikes.
There's always been speculation on why those holes were there in the first place, as many disc brakes have no holes at all. Some say to allow an escape path for water from the surface, maybe its to dissipate British road crud. Maybe Honda should have put an entry in the service manual to ream the crud out of those holes every xxx miles for British owners.
 
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I guess that the holes do help with heat dissipation, but I've always assumed that they were there to provide somewhere for the water to go when the brakes were applied and the pads squeezed the water off the surface. I had a bike (Yamaha XS650E) which had twin front discs with no holes and stopping in the wet was an issue - especially since I had the extra weight of a sidecar. There was a noticeable delay between applying the brakes and getting any stopping effect. It felt as though the brakes had failed, and the more urgent the situation, the bigger the delay seemed to be! I developed the habit of keeping the brakes dry by lightly dragging the front brake for a second or so when the things going on around me were likely to present 'surprises'.

It was a revelation when 20 years later on my first ST1100 at how instantly available the braking was in the wet - but even now, just occasionally, I still catch myself drying the front brake if traffic ahead is getting interesting !
Pure speculation... but I wonder if the difference your Yamaha and the Honda might not be how far from the rotor the pads are at rest. On my ST1300, the pads seem to be always in direct contact so that wouldn't allow much water to accumulate between the pads and the rotor. Maybe the Yamaha had a bigger gap.
 

Blrfl

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There's always been speculation on why those holes were there in the first place, as many disc brakes have no holes at all.
The holes improve heat exchange, which means it takes less metal to hold and dissipate the heat from friction during braking. Less metal reduces unsprung weight, which is a good thing for other reasons.

Discs on most cars aren't drilled because they're a sandwich of two rotors with cooling vents and vanes in the middle that do the same job.

While looking for a picture, I found this answer on Quora from an engineering student that has some good simulation output: CLICKY

--Mark
 
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If you ever need to clean your disc of road grime to improve your braking, go out in pouring rain and use your brakes a lot. They are as sharp as anything after that. Your bike is filthy, but your brakes ? Wow !!
That is so true, I thought it was only me that noticed this after riding in the rain. When I thought about this, the heat generated from the friction increased the water temperature to kind of steam clean the rotor and pads from road grime which would include the oily substances that our on the roads.
 
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central NJ
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I have ridden 600 km this WE and no more noise.
Anyway I have checked my pads and they look ok.

Thanks !
After replacing my front pads, I had exactly the same experience. The bike was even a little hard to roll, not much, but noticeable.

I was able to get out for an extended ride today (almost 60?, very unusual for this time of year) and no more noise and back to an easier roll even though it's still a beast roll around.
 

Reginald

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A good check on your disks. Can you touch the front disks after coasting to a stop? When working correctly mine typically run 116 to 124 degrees F which I can easily palm. Now that rear brake runs hotter and is a bit painful to palm; it runs about 160 to 170 degrees F. I've learned the feel of the rear with my riding gloves. Following normal braking, I have found that just a mile or two will cool the brakes enough for a coasting to stop for a check. Doesn't matter if I hear disks rubbing or not, the heat on the disks will give you a better idea of the condition of your system. That's how I found a failing SMC.
 
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