Brake Pad question

[kflyboy]

Saw a listing for Volar Kevlar-Carbon brake pads for the standards. Set of 3 for less than $20. Seems like a great deal. Anyone know anything about them? Do they work as well in the rain as the EBC's?

[Radioguylogs]

I Like Them

I put the Kevlar-Carbon on both of my XS750s.

One of them came with sintered brakes, and they made so much noise people stared at me as I approached stop lights, and I hated that squealing noise.

I studied around, and read that 'semi-metallic' means 'steel wool in resin', and generally not recommended for all reasons.

So, I decided to try the Kevlar-Carbon, which I guess would be considered a subset of Organic brakes because the are "hard stuff in resin".

The Kevlar-Carbon are almost completely quiet, except I ended up putting even softer shoes on the back to completely get rid of the noise. The Kevlar-Carbon do not stop as well as sintered, but I actually prefer the softer force vs. stopping power because there is more range in the brake handle travel. The Kevlar-Carbon do have more fading in a panic stop, but you can still get them to go all the way to a lock-up whenever you want. They do have big chunks of copper in the resin to help with heat dissipation.

I never ride in the rain unless I make a misjudgment or get surprised, so I'll let other members weigh in on that. I suspect they would be fine.

Conclusion: I would buy them again at any reasonable price. Since they are cheap- it's a slam-dunk for me.

Hope it helps...

[kflyboy]

Thanks for the info. At 17.99 for a set of 3, I will buy a set. Saw the listing on e-bay btw. Someplace out of Cal. I had a set of the Pyramind brand on my '80 G, all kinds of noise on the front rotors-totally quiet on the rear rotor. Go figure.

[bikerphil]

I'm using those Ebay carbon kevlar pads on my Standard and my Special, they are just fine and seem to be equivalent to the EBC of the same composition. The EBC makes more brake dust it seems like, YMMV. Haven't ridden them in heavy rain yet so can't help there. Can't beat the price.

[Courtney]

I've had them on for a year now, and so far they have worked just fine. Just be aware though, mine showed up smelling like they'd been put in with some fish fertilizier or something. MAN they stunk!!!! I literally had to take them out of the their cardboard and wash them down with detergent to help kill the stench. It took my wife and myself about half a day to figure out where the smell was coming from. Weird.

[Prothec]

I bought a set for my XJ a year ago and they are still going strong, though I pretty much just ride a 6-mile commute these days. To install, I did need to file the fronts a bit to fit the caliper pins. I realized this after some frustration and comparing them closely to my existing pads.

I just ordered a set for a Honda Nighthawk I'm going to get on the road pretty soon and was just thinking about ordering another set for my XJ while it's on my mind.

For those who don't like E-Bay or are cheap and want to save about $0.10, it looks that the same pads are selling on Amazon. Just search XS1100 Carbon Kevlar or XJ110 Carbon Kevlar under the seller D2Moto. They have the full sets, fronts, or just rears for all the bikes.

I'll know pretty soon if they're the same...

[mharrington]

Im using them. They work great! Beats $27 per set x 3!!!!

[jetmechmarty]

Upon recommendations received on this forum, I installed SBS ceramic brake pads on my Special. Compared to the EBC organic pads they replaced, I am very pleased. They are less messy and quiet. Most importantly, I feel they improved my stopping. When the time comes to replace them, the same pads are going back on! .....If I can still get them.

[Prothec]

To go back to the question in the OP about wet performance, I have ridden in plenty of rain without any discernable difference to dry performance.

Note that my only previous experience was oil soaked OEM pads. They are MUCH better than that!