what grade front brake pads are people using and which give better feel on the lever? I have fitted the Blue spot 4 piston calipers from a Fazer600 but not sure on pad grading . HH or GG

sta-lor wrote:
what grade front brake pads are people using and which give better feel on the lever? I have fitted the Blue spot 4 piston calipers from a Fazer600 but not sure on pad grading . HH or GG WOW, been here 9 years and never introduced yourself? I have to change mine out this spring before Celina so I,ll be watching this thread also, Mort

IMHO the biggest change in the feel,stopping ability and feathering of the front brakes came when I changed the brake fluid out to fresh fluid. As far as I know they are the original on the front after 50,000. I have changed the rears with oem from the stealership and changed the fluid in the back when I changed the pads. They feather/stop with control well also.The PO must have been heavy on the backs(being only one set of pads) and light on the fronts. I put more on the front and a bit lighter on the back at the same time.

HH pads on both ends. My stock fronts had over 50 K when I changed them. The backs go quicker because they are being used against a powered wheel most of the time and also have less surface area. I have EBC pads front and rear on mine, and yes, completely flushing and bleeding your system with fresh DOT4 fluid does help the lever considerably.

Interesting, my RS has 21,000 and has the original pads....they do sound kind of crumby when I hit the brakes, but give great feel and are very progressive. I wish they would hit a little sooner and stronger, so I think I will replace the fluid.

I'm thinking that since the bike is 15 years old I probably should rebuild the master cylinder and the calipers. Any thoughts?

HH pads provide a better initial bite than the stock pads. Rebuild? I have not. Keep the fluid clean (twice a year flushing for me) and solids don't get a chance to build up. If you think they could be working better for you, disassemble and clean them. If you don't have any leaks and don't find any major flat spots, you don't really need to re-seal, unless you just want to. Most of what goes to pot in older bikes that don't have a lot of miles is congealed solids in the fluid build up in the low flow areas, especially behind the caliper seals. This leads to a "wooden" feel in the brake lever or pedal. This is my front caliper from my at the time 34 year old XS650. Note all the trash in the seal groove. This prevents the chevron style seal from being able to flex and relax the puck when pressure is relieved. The lever feels all or nothing, with no progression.





(Yes, I cleaned them in the sink!)