Rear Break Pads again, already?

[mrdigitech]

So at the beginning of the season I had a rear tire put on and new rear break pads at a local shop. Simply because I hate wrestling with tires/wheels.

About a week ago I can tell my rear breaks are warn as I am hearing a rub/grind.

Today, finally get around to swapping the pads. First off this is very difficult to work around the original hard bag setup to get to the breaks, specially on a lunch hour. Note to self: next time remove hard bag to do breaks. Anyways, the pads are totally gone I mean completely gone all the way down to the metal.

I have a feeling they didn't change my pads. Could this be possible? I think I have put on nearly 4k miles so far this season. Should I burn through a set of pads that quick?

Putting on a set of 4" dog-bones tonight! Finally got my hands on a free 20" break hose.

[WMarshy]

No way man, they last longer than that! I would question if they put new ones on. Maybe use the front breaks more? lol Any idea what material they were? I used copper sintered pads on the rear and have about 3K miles on them and they are still like new.

[cywelchjr]

Yeah, I've got almost 10k on my rear, and there is still plenty pad left. Unless you use just the rear brake a lot, and really overuse it, you should go through at LEAST 2 sets of front pads to a set of rear pads, maybe even 3.

[mrdigitech]

Not sure what material they were or are. I still have the packaging at home I will look later tonight.

I have a feeling they didn't change the pads. Bought these new pads at the same place and the part numbers are different from the ones I took off.

I'm pretty easy on the breaking and almost always use both breaks together. My front breaks were changed maybe a month after the rear were supposedly changed at the beginning of the season and they still have much life on them yet.

[crazy steve]

...I have a feeling they didn't change my pads. Could this be possible? I think I have put on nearly 4k miles so far this season. Should I burn through a set of pads that quick?

Not unless you're using the brake pedal as a footpeg...

They should last 10K at least (20-30k I would consider 'normal' wear), so either they didn't change them, or they found a really crummy set made from tissue paper. Probably no point in going back and bitching, just avoid those guys in the future. It is possible that your caliper needs rebuilding though; if the piston isn't retracting when you release the brake, the pads will drag and wear out pretty quickly. If there's crap behind the piston, when installing new pads it gets pushed in the gunk and that can hang up the piston. To be safe, I'd check that out while you're in there putting in pads. A rebuild kit is only about $20, and disassembling/cleaning/reassembling the caliper usually isn't that big a deal. Bleeding the brakes are usually the hardest part...

If you got all the way to metal on both pads, I'd look for a replacement rotor also. Front/rear are the same (unless yours are slotted, then you need the correct 'side'), so they're not hard to find; check the 'parts for sale' forum, and there's alway some on EBay...

'78E original owner

[cywelchjr]

Not sure what material they were or are. I still have the packaging at home I will look later tonight.

I have a feeling they didn't change the pads. Bought these new pads at the same place and the part numbers are different from the ones I took off.

I'm pretty easy on the breaking and almost always use both breaks together. My front breaks were changed maybe a month after the rear were supposedly changed at the beginning of the season and they still have much life on them yet.

Ideally the front and rear brakes are supposed to be different materials. I'm running sintered copper on the rear, and organic on the fronts which from what I have been able to determine, pretty closely matches what came on them, as the originals had different material on the rear, and sintered copper does not provide as much braking forces as organic, and this is supposed to be a good thing (it's really easy to provide more pressure on the rear with your foot and lock the wheel).

[nutwister]

So at the beginning of the season I had a rear tire put on and new rear break pads at a local shop. Simply because I hate wrestling with tires/wheels.

About a week ago I can tell my rear breaks are warn as I am hearing a rub/grind.

Today, finally get around to swapping the pads. First off this is very difficult to work around the original hard bag setup to get to the breaks, specially on a lunch hour. Note to self: next time remove hard bag to do breaks. Anyways, the pads are totally gone I mean completely gone all the way down to the metal.

I have a feeling they didn't change my pads. Could this be possible? I think I have put on nearly 4k miles so far this season. Should I burn through a set of pads that quick?

Putting on a set of 4" dog-bones tonight! Finally got my hands on a free 20" break hose.

mrdigitech,

It could be you are using WAY too much rear brake. There is a reason the fronts have dual calipers and rotors. the majority of your braking should be done with the front brake with the rear as a suppliment. Just like a car.

The split with a car is 70/30 on a rear wheel drive and 80/20 on a front wheel drive. The larger percentage being the front brake. It is the same with a bike. You have twice the front brake on the XS as you do in the rear which is much more than a car and they don't have to work very hard at all to stop your bike.

Save that rear brake for only when it is nessesary ( i.e. slick conditions, emergency stops, ect.) and the pads will last a lot longer.

If you use mostly rear brake for stopping it won't last long at all.

JAT

[malber]

Another thing to check is the pivot point for the brake pedal. Make sure the pedal isn't sticky. I unknowingly burned through a set of rear brake pads because the rear pedal wasn't coming up all the way. Since the pivot point is on the lowest part of the bike, gunk can tend to build up in there. It's a real easy fix to take it off and grease it up and should probably be checked every season.

And it also almost goes without saying to check the dreaded "spooge hole" issue in the tech tips.

[planedick]

Bad service

Most service guys will push the fluid back into the resevoir by pushing the piston back to install the thicker pads and it will make the pedal actuate much earlier. They usually forget to adjust the pedal to compensate making the new brakes drag all the time.

[cywelchjr]

Most service guys will push the fluid back into the resevoir by pushing the piston back to install the thicker pads and it will make the pedal actuate much earlier. They usually forget to adjust the pedal to compensate making the new brakes drag all the time.

Ok, I don't get it. The MC when the brake is released is up against a stop, how can pushing the fluid back through the system move the pedal? It will push fluid back into the reservoir and it should almost for sure be flushed out, but I've never in all my years working on brake systems (been doing them in conjunction with professionals on and off since high school (7 years in the army using the auto shop overseen by professional mechanics and having several friends and co-workers who work in the trade). I can't see any way this could happen mechanically, unless something is bad wrong with the system, and then pushing the fluid back up to the MC is the least of your worries.

[natemoen]

I have a feeling they didn't change my pads.

If you took it to the Hitching Post I would not be surprised if they "forgot" to change them and still charged you for it!

[planedick]

Low level

Sometimes when the brakes wear so much the fluid level gets low and it takes a long travel to actuate the brakes and the pedal has sometimes been adjusted to compensate, but when the fluid level is suddenly topped or even overfilled the pedal actuates much earlier and doesn't release far enough to release all the pressure...

[cywelchjr]

Sometimes when the brakes wear so much the fluid level gets low and it takes a long travel to actuate the brakes and the pedal has sometimes been adjusted to compensate, but when the fluid level is suddenly topped or even overfilled the pedal actuates much earlier and doesn't release far enough to release all the pressure...

Ummm, that would be possibly true of drum brakes, as they have to be adjusted, but disk brakes by design self adjust. I still have to call incorrect information on that one. If you adjusted the brake pedal like you describe, the brake would never release, and the wheel would eventually lock up (as a matter of fact there was a thread about a problem like that, caused by exactly that issue). The only adjustment on these brake systems is to remove the free play, and if you push the MC cylinder in even a little with the adjustment the wheel will almost surely lock up on you, requiring opening the bleeder to release it, as the spooge hole in that MC will be covered.

Also fluid level is either go or no go, there is either enough to keep the feed holes covered in which case the system works normally, or there is not, in which case the system gets air in it and they get spongy and don't work well, and no amount of adjusting of the pedal will fix that, you have to add fluid to the MC to fix it.

[WMarshy]

Think about what you guys are saying... a dragging back break, enough to wear a brand new pair of pads (correct material or not) all the way down to metal in 4000 miles... Seems likely he woulda noticed that kind of drag! I would think he woulda smelled break at the least. My money is on them not replacing them. If you can prove the messed up I would be tempted to go back and give them an ear full! Not acceptable in my book.

[XS1100_OEM4ME]

Breaks

Ok, I don't get it. The MC when the brake is released is up against a stop, how can pushing the fluid back through the system move the pedal? It will push fluid back into the reservoir and it should almost for sure be flushed out, but I've never in all my years working on brake systems (been doing them in conjunction with professionals on and off since high school (7 years in the army using the auto shop overseen by professional mechanics and having several friends and co-workers who work in the trade). I can't see any way this could happen mechanically, unless something is bad wrong with the system, and then pushing the fluid back up to the MC is the least of your worries.

I agree, the system is designed to re-adjust the fluid when pistons are pushed back, so much so, if fluid had been added due to worn pads, you can have an over fill condition in th MC. Next, if the caliper were froze enough to cause the pad to ware out in 1/4 the time they should, it would have shown up when you tried to move the bike I a parking lot, forward or backward and the drag/heat would have shown up in other ways also. They most liky didn't change them and inless you "only" use your back brake to stop, over use is not the prob. You could be doing the "wife" thing (ie, driving on the gas and break at the same time, but I doubt it. Change the rotor and pads, bleed the breaks till you see clear fluid (one way bleeders are cheep and on ebay and others) Adj to spec. and RIDE