Word58
New Member
Did you stick with the OEM rotor when you switched to the EBC pads? I run EBC's on my other bike with great results, but nothing in the aftermarket rotor department is looking promising...Tony99 said:
OEM vs Aftermaket Brake Pads and Rotor
- Thread starter Word58
- Start date
wfopete
Suffer Fools; Gladly!
Another +1 for OEM and hobdayd's statement***
OEM is designed for YOUR bike!
*** However The OEM braking system is designed to meet a wide range of requirements and the manufacture takes these all into consideration and then makes a decision as to design of the pad, rotor, entire motorcycle and it's intended use. If the rider has specific demands on the motorcycle that take it out of what the manufacture considers "normal use" then a specific pad or rotor may be a better option for that particular use. With respect to off road M/C racing, conditions (mud/sand/length of race/etc) may dictate the use of a different pad compound or rotor style.
I don't believe the majority of Tenere' riders require anything other than OEM parts when it comes to brakes.
OEM is designed for YOUR bike!
*** However The OEM braking system is designed to meet a wide range of requirements and the manufacture takes these all into consideration and then makes a decision as to design of the pad, rotor, entire motorcycle and it's intended use. If the rider has specific demands on the motorcycle that take it out of what the manufacture considers "normal use" then a specific pad or rotor may be a better option for that particular use. With respect to off road M/C racing, conditions (mud/sand/length of race/etc) may dictate the use of a different pad compound or rotor style.
I don't believe the majority of Tenere' riders require anything other than OEM parts when it comes to brakes.
Spoken like a true commuter.wfopete said:
Tenerester
Member
Rear brake pads on my S10 were totally shot after 30,000 kms while the front pads had 90% meat left (no I don't use the rear brakes much). As mentioned by several here, its the linked brakes mechanism that tends to overuse rear brakes especially when the bike is fully loaded.
I am firm believer of OEM replacement parts and called up my local Yamaha dealership to order a set . Strangely, the dealership was trying their best to sell EBC pads to me quoting that it was a better pad and they use them on all bikes brought into their shop and also that it was cheaper than Yamaha pads. It took a bit of effort to convince the guy that I was only interested in Yamaha pads. Anyway, it was not a comfortable conversation and so I decided to hang up and order Yamaha pads online instead, which I found was way cheaper than what the dealer quoted.
I am firm believer of OEM replacement parts and called up my local Yamaha dealership to order a set . Strangely, the dealership was trying their best to sell EBC pads to me quoting that it was a better pad and they use them on all bikes brought into their shop and also that it was cheaper than Yamaha pads. It took a bit of effort to convince the guy that I was only interested in Yamaha pads. Anyway, it was not a comfortable conversation and so I decided to hang up and order Yamaha pads online instead, which I found was way cheaper than what the dealer quoted.
You know this is a question of how do you like your brakes to feel! In the old day, yes I'm old, I used to bleed in a little air in the rear brakes to make them soft. My 2012 Tenere went through rear brakes in 20,000 miles religiously. It's ok I got stock or organic pads and lived with it. This bike has its ways. I loved both my 2012 Tenere and I really love this 2014ES Tenere. The brakes are all about feel.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Keep in mind that Yamaha doesn't make brake pads, they are made by ASK Automotive who makes pads for Denso, Brembo, Honda, Kawasaki and a bunch or others. I don't have anything against any OEM pads, but EBC's quality is great and their part numbering system and their reference charts are the best.
Kurgan
Well-Known Member
I've run many different combinations of rotors, pads and even calipers and master cylinders on bikes over the years.
When I first became aware of EBC HH pads back around 1999, I put those on every bike I owned. More bite, stronger braking, and in some cases, faster wearing rotors which was not a surprise. I then tried Galfer's HH pads and was happier. Stronger braking performance compared to stock pads of the day, but longer pad life and almost no wear to my rotors. I then found myself needing all 3 brake rotors on one of my Hayabusa. I went with Galfer standard wave rotors and HH pads up front, and their black (or was it green?) organic pads out back. That bike had the best overall braking performance of anything I have owned, to this day.
When the factory pads on the S10 need replacing, I'll go to Galfer without any hesitation.
When I first became aware of EBC HH pads back around 1999, I put those on every bike I owned. More bite, stronger braking, and in some cases, faster wearing rotors which was not a surprise. I then tried Galfer's HH pads and was happier. Stronger braking performance compared to stock pads of the day, but longer pad life and almost no wear to my rotors. I then found myself needing all 3 brake rotors on one of my Hayabusa. I went with Galfer standard wave rotors and HH pads up front, and their black (or was it green?) organic pads out back. That bike had the best overall braking performance of anything I have owned, to this day.
When the factory pads on the S10 need replacing, I'll go to Galfer without any hesitation.
WJBertrand
Ventura Highway
If I fitted aftermarket rotors I would then use the matching aftermarket pads too, but my experience (not with the Tenere) but with other bikes using non-OEM pads with OEM rotors was mixed. I tried a couple of different compounds from Galfer on my old ST1100 and they both felt great in the dry and then went almost totally away in the wet. In one case it was raining and I was on the freeway when the traffic all stopped suddenly. I eased on some front brake - nothing, squeezed a little harder - still nothing, now semi panicking, I squeezed harder and harder until suddenly the front brake grabbed quite hard. I was squeezing so hard that when the brakes dried out and finally grabbed the front went straight into ABS started cycling. To this day I shudder to think what might have happened without the ABS! Went back to the OEMs and had no further wet weather problems. On other bikes I've had loud squeaking from aftermarket pads under light braking.
Personal opinion....It depends on the bike/rider as to how long the pads rotors last. The Tenere's habit of wearing a lip on the rear rotor could be that as long as the rear brake is activated first, you only get the rear brake. Professional opinion....I know for a fact that Honda OE pads for the ST1300 are the best pads for the bike. Without my knowledge, a set of EBC pads were installed on the Honda. Worked fine at "normal" speeds. Under hard braking, they felt glazed. They were not. As it turned out the EBC pad composition was not compatible with OE rotors. Nothing against EBC. Just have to match pad/rotor compositions. Also, remember that linked braking was developed and deployed because research showed many riders activated brakes improperly. The research showed that natural tendencies of riders was to stomp on the back brake and ride it all the way to the scene of the crash.
This is a big giant huge heavy dirtbike designed to be even heavier when loaded 2-up or in RTW trim.
Yet, it has magnificent stopping prowess considering what it is. And top that off with it has what was the best of class ABS when it hit the market 6 years ago.
It appears the price for that prowess is to consume rear pads at a faster pace than most bikes.
I'd rather pony up the paltry cash than forfeit the performance in any way.
So yea, this Yamaha requires little more than gas, oil, filters, and tires to carry you across continents. And it appears, rear brake pads.
My trusted Yami-tech decides what mine gets. I'm pretty sure it's Yamalube products and oem pads. But I'd ride it just the same if he preferred Motul and EBC.
Yet, it has magnificent stopping prowess considering what it is. And top that off with it has what was the best of class ABS when it hit the market 6 years ago.
It appears the price for that prowess is to consume rear pads at a faster pace than most bikes.
I'd rather pony up the paltry cash than forfeit the performance in any way.
So yea, this Yamaha requires little more than gas, oil, filters, and tires to carry you across continents. And it appears, rear brake pads.
My trusted Yami-tech decides what mine gets. I'm pretty sure it's Yamalube products and oem pads. But I'd ride it just the same if he preferred Motul and EBC.
jimmy z
Member
I wear rear brake pads out at 10 to 12k.Mostly street driving but im heavy and very hard on brakes. A lot of night driving with plenty of panic stops(read whitetail dear).Im ok with that. Its easy to replace pads and relatively inexpensive.Want longer pad life?Go get harder pads.The money you save will be spent on your rear rotor.JM2CENTS
It is so hard to advise people how long their brake pads are going to last; too many variables. The Honda ST1300 I rode would go through pads, front & back, every 5k miles. Great brakes. The Beemer RT-P, back pads every 10k miles; front pads every 28k miles. Also great brakes. Similar bikes, ridden exactly the same way by the same rider, with different results. IMO, back-in-the-day, I think all manufacturers, car & bike, used similar/generic pads and rotors. As technology advanced, the manufacturers attempting to "build a better mousetrap" started taking different routes in their attempts surpass the competition. And the main reason I will stick to OE parts for routine maintenance. As Snake stated, his tech uses Yamaparts & lube, and that's good enough for him. Me too.
dietDrThunder
Why so serious, son?
Whoever said "good enough is the enemy of great" may have been talking about S10 OEM brake pads. Not to put too fine a point on it, but they suck when compared to options we have available to us. They don't last very long, but they make up for it with poor wet performance and an easily heat-faded compound. I changed mine out for EBC HH sintered pads and the improvement was dramatic in every area. The one area they might be worse than OEM is that they probably wear the rotors faster, but 25,000 miles in my rotors are still fine.
Regarding only using OEM rotors: it's not 1974. We have computers, making things like finite element analysis and CAD modeling available to all...not just the Big Boys. Companies like EBC and Brembo (OEM supplier to the stars I might add) make excellent time and race tested brake components. If you eschew them in favor of an OEM component that is also not actually manufactured by the actual OEM, but has no name on it, you're doing yourself a disservice.
Regarding only using OEM rotors: it's not 1974. We have computers, making things like finite element analysis and CAD modeling available to all...not just the Big Boys. Companies like EBC and Brembo (OEM supplier to the stars I might add) make excellent time and race tested brake components. If you eschew them in favor of an OEM component that is also not actually manufactured by the actual OEM, but has no name on it, you're doing yourself a disservice.
I still stand by my original post. EBC makes fine products....BUT, when my maintenance division changed from OE Honda pads to EBC, the results were almost tragic. The pads felt fine at normal speeds/conditions. The first time I tried to stop from speed, the pads failed to function. They felt glazed, but were not. Put the OE pads back in, and the world was right again. You are right, it is no longer the '70s. There are better products available. But they do have to be compatible. Power Stop Brakes make packages of pads and rotors, for cars, that work well because they were engineered to work together. Of course this is all just my opinion based on my experiences. Different folks, on different bikes, with different riding styles....
RCinNC
Well-Known Member
I put EBC HH sintered pads on the rear not too long ago, when I needed pads quickly and couldn't get a set of OEM pads in time. To be honest, I haven't noticed any significant change, either good or bad, from the OEM pads that were previously installed.
dietDrThunder
Why so serious, son?
The only way there were universally tragic results by going to EBC brake pads over Honda (side note: Honda OEM pads are _way_ better than most other bike OEM pads), it was because proper bed-in procedures were not followed for the EBC replacements. Your description of having the brakes feel glazed when they weren't is a textbook symptom of that. This was operator error, not evidence of inferior components.Sierra1 said:
dietDrThunder said:
Yeah....because I've never broken in a set of pads before! My point was that not all pads are compatible with all rotors. And, I never even intimated that EBC products are inferior. I actually stated the opposite.
RCinNC
Well-Known Member
This isn't a scientific analysis, because I didn't take measurements of my rotor while using OEM and EBC pads and then compare the rates of wear, but the attached photos show what my rear rotor looked like after six months and 8700 miles of using EBC HH pads. At the point those photos were taken, the rotor was in the .15 range (I think it was .1529, if I recall correctly). The bike had approximately 32,000 miles on it when I swapped the OEM pads for EBC. At the time of the swap I didn't feel any indication of a lip forming on the rotor, though I didn't take any actual thickness measurements with a micrometer.
I had read other accounts of people who said that the EBC pads were hard on OEM rotors, and I guess I fall into that camp now. I switched back to OEM.
I had read other accounts of people who said that the EBC pads were hard on OEM rotors, and I guess I fall into that camp now. I switched back to OEM.
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Kurgan
Well-Known Member
Sierra1, the problem you're describing does sound like glazed brake pads and it could have been a matter of the maintenance division not prepping the old rotors correctly for new brand / compound pads. And yes, the bedding in process might have contributed to it as well. Just like discussions on how to properly break in a new engine, brake pad bedding in processes vary greatly.