Brake pads: some questions

Now I think it is a bit early to discuss brake pads, but I thought I would park my questions here first. (bear in mind I am a clueless mechanic type of rider).

1. Single disc brake: how long (km) can we expect the brake-pads (front) to last, with mostly spirited riding and braking?
2. What other brake pads can we expect to use instead of the Honda OEM one? (I personally would not recommend Ferrrodo because they eat up the disc like crazy)
3. Disc thickness tolerance (can someone with service manual please comment / advise or upload scanned pages?) Edit: Ignore my stupid and illegal request about scanned pages....

Thanks!

Power is nothing without control ( braking)...
Now, who said that?

I will not upload copyrighted materials, however, the front disc thickness is 4.8 - 5.2 mm. The rear is the same. My most common aftermarket source for pads is Galfer. I believe that Honda have intentionally made the rear brake weak - at least on the non-ABS version that I have. I will be looking for ways to strengthen it. How long pads last is wildly variable. I usually get about 20,000 miles out of a set of fronts and twice that on the rears. Non-linked, non-ABS.

beemerphile said:

I will not upload copyrighted materials, however, the front disc thickness is 4.8 - 5.2 mm. The rear is the same. My most common aftermarket source for pads is Galfer. I believe that Honda have intentionally made the rear brake weak - at least on the non-ABS version that I have. I will be looking for ways to strengthen it. How long pads last is wildly variable. I usually get about 20,000 miles out of a set of fronts and twice that on the rears. Non-linked, non-ABS.

Click to expand...

You clever dude....


Thanks for the info though....

beemerphile said:

I usually get about 20,000 miles out of a set of fronts

Click to expand...

Very probably you will not get that mileage with the single front disk of the NC700X.

A couple of guys in the spanish forums reported they need to change the front pads with very low mileage, about 5,000 km. It sounds strange to me, I have more kilometers than that and my pads are ok. May be they got a bad batch

I prefer Honda OEM pads from past experience. A good blend of pad mileage, stopping power, and rotor life. With good braking coming from basically one rotor I would not expect the same life as past Hondas.

dduelin, when I replaced the original brakes on my buddies ST1300, he had close to 20,000 miles on the bike, and there was STILL a good deal of pad left! We only replaced them (with oe) because he said it made him feel better

I put out some feelers on braded lines to replace the rubber hoses, my experience is that its one of the best ways to beef up stock brakes. Although as of yesterday I can say without a doubt that I can lock the front wheel quicker than I thought it would. I had a Snowbird (northener who comes to Fl. for the winter) from New Jersey cut in front of me then slam the brakes. I grabbed a fist full and the front locked, old training kicked in and I released enough to get grip back but had the tire (tyre for our friends accross the big pond) howling, got a little help from the rear, just not much, good thing there was no traffic behind me or I might have been a SUV sandwich.

Cutter J. Duke said:

I had a Snowbird (northener who comes to Fl. for the winter) from New Jersey cut in front of me then slam the brakes.

Click to expand...

While I'm not from NJ I (probably along with the rest of the US member) will make you a deal. You keep all the blue hairs down in sunny FL year round and in exchange I'll buy all the pads you could ever use on your NC

gpd211, LOL, where I'm at a 50 year old is a young stud and I kid you not 20/60 vision will pass the eye test for a drivers license. I'm surrounded by 70 and 80 year olds who can't see the road, much less the motorcycles on it...it make me miss the good old days of riding in Los Angles traffic.

gpd211 said:

While I'm not from NJ I (probably along with the rest of the US member) will make you a deal. You keep all the blue hairs down in sunny FL year round and in exchange I'll buy all the pads you could ever use on your NC

Click to expand...

The ones that live in western North Carolina are called "halfbacks" because they moved from New Jersey to Florida and missed the change of seasons so they moved halfway back. Even though they drive slowly, they are deadlier than a doctor in a Beech Bonanza or a redneck in a logging truck. They think anything they do slowly is safe.

Beemerphile said:

My most common aftermarket source for pads is Galfer

Click to expand...

Lee, I'm guessing you placed a pair of Galfer pads in your ABS front caliper. It's time for me to change the front pads. I'm browsing the Galfer catalogue, but can't find the reference, it's not indexed by bike model. Please, could you provide the reference you used?

duk2n said:

Lee, I'm guessing you placed a pair of Galfer pads in your ABS front caliper. It's time for me to change the front pads. I'm browsing the Galfer catalogue, but can't find the reference, it's not indexed by bike model. Please, could you provide the reference you used?

Click to expand...

No, I used the Honda OEM parts.

Beemerphile said:

No, I used the Honda OEM parts.

Click to expand...

Ok, thanks anyway. I have emailed them, will share the reference if I got it

Beemerphile said:

No, I used the Honda OEM parts.

Click to expand...

I got the Galfer references for the front 3 piston caliper pads, seems to be a very common pad, shared with the CB600 and Deauvilles:

Standard: FD344-G1054
Sintered: FD344-G1375
Scooter: FD344-G1380

I don't understand why there is a specific "scooter" pads if they measure the same sizes

duk2n said:

I got the Galfer references for the front 3 piston caliper pads, seems to be a very common pad, shared with the CB600 and Deauvilles:

Standard: FD344-G1054
Sintered: FD344-G1375
Scooter: FD344-G1380

I don't understand why there is a specific "scooter" pads if they measure the same sizes

Click to expand...

Recently had difficulty finding pads for the bike. I have the DCT, and Honda wants $50 for the OEM parking pads. No one stocks them. That may be the "scooter' refgerence above. Not many vendors have pads named by bike, which means you have to know the specific Manufacturer number to order?? I just don't see the cross refferences that are easy on other bikes.
Here is the OEM information, posted so others might have a better starting point:

Front 002 PAD SET, FR.
Part Number: 06455-MGS-D32Required per assembly: 1 $40.35$38.30

rear 001 PAD SET,RR.
Part Number: 06435-MGS-D32Required per assembly: 1 $53.76$43.17

parking 001 PAD SET
Part Number: 06436-MCT-016Required per assembly: 1 $47.20$37.90