Front Brake Sound

[JLamb]

91 ST-1100 non-ABS (obviously). First bike I've had w/ drilled disks. Front brakes sound like industrial cheese graters going at the pads. PO had just done a pad replacement when I bought it. Stops ok. Normal?

 

[Digger1]

No, not on mine (see signature block) anyway!

 

[JLamb]

Particularly bad in light to moderate pressure - when rolling up to a stop. ZZZZZZZHHHHHHH! Really does sound like its gratting the pads away...

 

[dwalby]

From your description it sounds like quite a bit of noise, which is not normal. Take the calipers off and see if there's any visible debris on the pad surfaces. Then get the front wheel off the ground and apply the brakes gently with the front wheel spinning to try to localize the cause of the noise. Look for any rubbing of surfaces that should otherwise have clearance between the calipers and rotors. Perhaps the PO put something back together improperly when the pads were changed.

 

[Slasher]

I don't know if its possible on the 1100 but I did a brake job on a car once and it made that sound cuz I got in a hurry and put one of the pads in backwards! (DAMHIK!) it tore up the rotor pretty bad on that car so I imagine it would be obvious on your ST if that was the case. Like was already said, take off the caliper and inspect everything, bad grinding noises usually leave obvious evidence.

 

[BuddingGeezer]

This is just a thought. The OEM pads are sintered metal, I'm running EBC sintered pads and they are quiet on my '91. Now the thought, reckon the PO installed Kevlar or organic pads???? They would not be as hard as sintered. Just thinkin'.

 

[RONST1300]

My first thought is the pads put in backwards, but then I was thinking it would be possible to get the brakes together and not properly seated in the groves. I would take it all apart and look at it, and start over again. You really can not fool with the brakes.
Ron

 

[Basic]

This is just a thought. The OEM pads are sintered metal, I'm running EBC sintered pads and they are quiet on my '91. Now the thought, reckon the PO installed Kevlar or organic pads???? They would not be as hard as sintered. Just thinkin'.

Thought it was just the other way round: The OEM being the soft ones and aftermarked the hard sintered. If I recall correctly, the St1100 expensive brake disks are soft metal and they can be wearing fast when hardened pads are used. That's why I just placed originals on my '92 Pan.
Also to considder is whether a small amount of copper grease was used on the back side of the pads, since this is said to prevent vibration noises.

Regards, Rob

 

[Brant]

Thought it was just the other way round: The OEM being the soft ones and aftermarked the hard sintered. If I recall correctly, the St1100 expensive brake disks are soft metal and they can be wearing fast when hardened pads are used. That's why I just placed originals on my '92 Pan.
Also to considder is whether a small amount of copper grease was used on the back side of the pads, since this is said to prevent vibration noises.

Regards, Rob

Actually just the opposite. If OEM pads, or the TT series EBC pads are NOT used, expect the rotors to eat up the pads in a VERY short time. These rotors make a very good cheese grater on any pad except above mentioned.

 

[Basic]

There is a great variety of available breakpads for the St1100. The clear advise is to use the OEM (= Honda or Nissin marked)
I am however surprised to learn about the experiences with other than OEM. I was told that newer ones (sintered?) were stronger and would thus eat away the disks rapidly. Here, we learn to expect the opposite.
Cheap pads, that wear faster, would not be much of a problem I think, but pads that hold longer and cause rapid wear of the expensive disks would be more of a concern.
What worries me is that someone wanting the best for his bike might obtain expensive high quality pads, that will eventually destroy his disks.
Anyway, as long as there is no oversight regarding quality, OEM is the safe way to go.

Regards, Rob

 

[Al Gully]

Do you know what brand of pads the PO put on. If not, you can take a picture of them on post on here. We might be able to tell by the size of the brake pads embedded on the steel plate. Also, check and make sure the front tabs of the brake pads are in the caliper holder. I have put the pads in twice, missed the front tab and was still able to put the rear holding pin in. Checked the next day and found the I missed the front tab by one of those front fingers and every thing seemed kind of normal.

I find the EBC pads bite real hard. OEM are not so aggressive. To each is own, some like EBC and some like Mother Honda pads.
I switched over to EBC and I don't think I'll go back to Honda pads. I just like how the EBC bites when I want to stop. Also, EBC has started to make a thicker rear pad for the ST1300. Before, the rear was the same thickness as the front pads.
32,000 Km's on the front pads and they are a little over half worn. Just replaced the rears with 32,000 Km's on it. I also mic'd the rotors and they might get down to the minimum thickness around 400,000 Km's. Just coming up to 100,000 Km's on my bike.

 

[Basic]

A Google search for sintered versus organic brake pads will show you the differences between them and to some the sintered ones may seem the better.
However, looking a bit further, one may also encounter this: "Most sintered metal pads are designed specifically for use on stainless steel rotors, which is typically a harder material in general than cast iron."
Don't know if there was a quality change on later bikes, but my '92 ST100N definitely has cast iron rotors.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the OEM ones are organic, though it is not specified on the package. That would be the best combination with the cast iron rotors. Modern sintered ones may, besides noise, cause excessive wear on the rotors.

Regards, Rob

 

[JLamb]

Thanks - I will do a tear down and see whats up. Just FYI I see no signs of unusual disk damage, wear etc. nor of excess pad wear - at least in the form of dust on the brake parts and wheel. Bike stops fine, and consistantly, but with cheese grater noise. I'll post what I find...

 

[dwalby]

There is a great variety of available breakpads for the St1100. The clear advise is to use the OEM (= Honda or Nissin marked)

The main consideration when choosing non-OEM pads is to make sure you get the HH friction rating, that's what the OEM pads are rated. Its been many years, so I'm not sure, but I think there are (were) pads available that were a mechanical fit for the ST calipers, but GG rated instead of HH. These will not provide the same stopping power as the HH pads, and you will likely be disappointed in them. This was one of the reasons the OEM pads were preferred by many ST riders in the early years. They tried some aftermarket GG pads not realizing they were different friction rated, found them inferior, and went back to OEM the next time.

I've used the HH rated EBC pads and found them to be equal to the OEM pads at half the price (haven't priced OEM lately, not sure what the price difference is today)

 

[Al Gully]

I've used the HH rated EBC pads and found them to be equal to the OEM pads at half the price (haven't priced OEM lately, not sure what the price difference is today)

$33.00 per set. FA261HH Front, EBC FA261/2HH Rear EBC sintered pads, ST1300 up to 2007
$30.00 per set. FA142HH Front, FA196HH REAR EBC sintered pads. Fits Honda ST1100.
Prices are from Keel brothers below
http://www.twobrotherstires.com/

 

[Basic]

Don't know about current US prices, but I recently bought the originals from David Silver in the UK. Total price for all three sets was about 78 € = 66 ? = 103 $

Regards, Rob