Disk Brake Pad Material

[xszgrider]

I need to replace the brake pads on my 1980 XS1100G. When I look in the catalogue, I see pads made from kevlar, ceramic, sintered metal, and carbon fiber.

Is there a preferred material for the XS1100? The rear brake stops well but I need to really squeeze the front brake to get it to stop quickly.

I would appreciate your input.

Thanks

[ejoy1220]

Does the front brake lever have a lot of travel in it? Sounds like you should check the pad depth, replace if necessary, and then bleed the front brakes very well. Air in the lines can cause what you are experiencing as well, you might not even need new pads.

[jetmechmarty]

Replacement of brake fluid helped mine.

For professional help with pads call Vintage Brake. They have a lot of options for the XS650 and your "G" wears the same pads.

[trbig]

If you have the old rubber brake lines, you might consider going to stainless. You can order all the banjo fittings and line for less than $100. This will GREATLY improve your stopping power.


Tod

[TopCatGr58]

Hey John,

What catalogue are you looking in??

I can tell you that you don't want Sintered! They are designed more for racing type applications, and actually require a fair amount of friction/heat to get them to grab better, but since they are also made with metal, they will wear down the rotors much faster than the regular type pads!
T.C.

[skids]

Sorry I can't much help you, but to tell you my experiences...
I bought a pair of off-brand fronts from ebay and they are real crummy. You would have to really squeeze hard to get the front tire to skid.

I don't know of EBC makes all types, but I have non-sintered (kevlar/organics I think) and they do great.

Try a search on the subject and see other's comments.

[xszgrider]

Disk Brake Pad Material

TopCat,

I was looking in the Dennis Kirk Catalog.

I was considering the kevlar or the ceramic pads.

The application chart for the ceramic pads calls for a different part number for the front and rear. All the other application charts for the other materials, call for the same pad for both front and rear.

Thanks

[03mach1]

I just put Kevlar/Organic on the front and rear and seems to work really well. The originals? (said Made in Denmark on the back?) they were completed shot, 2 of the pads completed fell off the back plates.

You don't have to squeeze more than half to get it to stop nice.

My '78 took the same pads front/rear.

[Bamper]

My personal prefrence is ceramic because when ceramic is heated it becomes stronger. So the harder you hit the brake the stronger they get. I've herd of heat problem but I don't ride the brake so I have never had an issue. Edited because I forgot to add crossed drilled rotars would help if you run into heat issues.

[TopCatGr58]

Re: Disk Brake Pad Material

Originally posted by xszgrider
TopCat,

I was looking in the Dennis Kirk Catalog.

I was considering the kevlar or the ceramic pads.

The application chart for the ceramic pads calls for a different part number for the front and rear. All the other application charts for the other materials, call for the same pad for both front and rear.

Thanks

The OEMs for standards were allegedly made from different materials for the rears vs. the front pads even though they were the same shape. Later on, many of the aftermarket makers just used the same material for both front and rears.

Just make sure you aren't looking at pads for SPECIALS by mistake, they ARE different, angled/slanted for the funky front design, but the rears are the same for them as the standards!

But if you are sure you were looking at standards, then perhaps the makers of the pads made them more like the OEMs with a different compound for the rears than the fronts??
T.C.