Brake Pad Wear

[Ron_WI]

I was changing tires today and also changed the brake pads as long as I was doing things. These are the pads I removed with 31,000 miles on them. I've never been able to figure out how to check brake pad wear by trying to look at them on the bike. On the scale of worn out, how worn out are these?

 

[Tom Mac 04a]

heck... not too bad, you still have a tousand or two
There is a spec for min brake thickness ( tho I don't know it at this moment ). They look about 2/3 gone.

When doing tires, I always have a set on hand and if the're more than 2/3 of the original used, I'll swap them out... cheap insurance and easy at the time to do.

ps if you got 31k ,... your doing good!

 

[Scooter]

If you look at the side of the pad you will see a small notch (or groove) in the pad material next to the backing plate. When you get down to this level then its time to change pads.

Note: this is for Honda pads. I'm not sure if aftermarket pads have this feature.

 

[Ron_WI]

The only thing I see on the pads that looks like a notch or groove are the two spots the arrows point to in the photo below. Is that what you're talking about?

 

[Blrfl]

Yup, that's them. You have plenty of wear left on those pads.

--Mark

 

[Ron_WI]

Hey, thanks! I always wanted to know what to look for on the brake pads. They would be pretty thin by the time they get down to the groove!

 

[hondaholic]

Look what I found when doing my brakes. Had a guy install a new tire and let him pull and re-install the wheel. The little clip above the pads evidentally dislodged as he was re-installing got a bit mangled and caused the pad to touch on one end only. From now on they only get the wheel.

 

[Silver Bullet]

They look pretty worn to me , and I would also have replaced them ! One thing to remember, the thinner the pads get ,the caliper pucks are out a lot farther and can collect more dirt and crud ,and possible future problems ! IMHO .Why take a chance ?

MIKE

 

[Firstpeke]

Anyone got a new pad they can post a picture of to get a comparison?

I would no the hesitate to put those pads back in as there looks plenty on them, that uneven one though just shows what can happen when someone else spanners on your bike....

 

[Blrfl]

They look pretty worn to me , and I would also have replaced them ! One thing to remember, the thinner the pads get ,the caliper pucks are out a lot farther and can collect more dirt and crud ,and possible future problems ! IMHO .Why take a chance ?

The potential for damage is pretty much the same no matter how far out the pistons are, because they're going to accumulate crud no matter what. The real key to preventing it is making sure they're clean before forcibly pushing them past the seals when installing new pads.

If the pads and rotors aren't contaminated, how much material is left on the pad doesn't really matter because it's all about how much contact surface area there is between the pad and the rotor. The service limit (see below) is there to prevent reaching the point where the last bits of the pad material start to crumble and detach from the backing.

Anyone got a new pad they can post a picture of to get a comparison?

As it happens, I have a full set of brand new pads. This is a rear, which is thicker than the fronts:


The pad material is 4.9mm thick measured at the bottom of the bed-in scallops. The manual lists the service limit for the pads as "down to the wear limit indicator" and I don't have an accurate way to measure the height of the notch without destroying the pads. Measurements from the picture put it at about 0.75mm.

Ron's pads are worn, but there's three or four times the service limit left on them. I run mine right down to the notch.

--Mark

 

[Tom Mac 04a]

Mark..
I agree he still has time left on the pads...prob 1/3 the life. But I see it as an ease of time / effort.

If I get a pad like his when changing the tire (which he was doing), The new pads would be going right on. Why do double the work esp now that alot of the tireshops also sell pads!