Rear brake pads short life.

[Bendy toy]

I have sintered on the front and don't brake heavily but rear pads have just been totally trashed in under 4000 miles. I've been totally caught by surprise and may well have also trashed a brand new rear disc.
Q1. What brake pads do folks suggest to get a half decent service life.
Q2 has anyone fitted a restrictive snubber into the ABS unit to rear brake line to reduce linked braking pressure at the brake.
I'm thinking about something similar to those on the original Austin Mini rear brakes.

 

[Alan R]

I'm unable to comment on your proposed modification, but that wear rate seems excessive. My rear pads (Original set) are at about 30% worn (70%) remaining and have covered 20000 miles. The calliper is cleaned and stripped annually and the bike (2011 twincam) doesn't go out when the roads are salted. I've never considered that the back brake is the strongest I've ever had on a bike but it works as well as the one on my previous GS.
Alan R

 

[BigRedUn]

In a moment of boredom I read the handbook that came with my bike. It says that the rear pads are made from 'organic material'. So should we be surprised at the fast wear rate if BMW fit cardboard pads to the rear?

 

[autogs]

on my 2013 gsa the rear pads lasted to 18000 miles

 

[spm0912]

Every beemer I've had with linked brakes I've been lucky to get more than 6k miles out of em, sometimes a lot less. I've used oem, Brembo (same I think) and currently using ferodo. I clean and grease the rear slide at least 4x a year and clean up the pin and calliper.

I do ride a lot in London and often use the back brake (out of habit rather than it being of any use!). I did read somewhere that hard breaking on the front (or vice versa) utilises more back brake so riding style/traffic conditions may explain the difference in mileage peeps get from the pads.

My front are original on 36k with loads of meat left on them though.

 

[Slipperyeel]

I bought some BMW rear pads off here early late June/early August for the summer trip. Like yours, they lasted only just 4k. I really didn't expect it and only spotted them when cleaning one day.

I rode through hell of a lot of rain on the trip (it was summer after all ) so I blamed it on that, but reading your post i now blame the pads themselves. I've fitted some Brembo (red) pads now. They creak a lot when cold and going very slow (I have to negotiate a flight of steps on the bike each morning) but breaking is good and in 2k miles, they look OK... So I won't be buying the BMW OEM pads any more...


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[BlueBird]

Quote Originally Posted by Bendy toy View Post
Looked in dismay at my back disc.
After less than 4000 miles the rear pads have gone to the metal and fooked the disc. They must be made of cheese.
For someone who hardly touches the brake pedal it's a shock to say the least.

they eat rears,ive done a set in as little as 2k, bmw sintered at £50 a pop give the best life but give disc a slightly harder life ive gone over to ferodo platinum sintered, best life v cost compromise. get them hot and they grip like a virgins cnut.

 

[PeeBee]

2005 bike (with the servo) - still got the original front pads in at 52000 miles; rears changed at 32000 for ferodo platinum; still loads of life left.

 

[Pukmeister]

Another vote for Ferodo from me, I bought mine from Steptoe. Cheap as chips, stop well and seem to last.

FWIW I found my bike was wearing one rear pad more than the other due to the calliper sliders having a little wear in them thus causing the calliper to jam a bit instead of releasing. A good clean up and grease of the slider pins on a regular basis seems to help prevent this.

 

[Bendy toy]

The rear caliper was rebuilt less than 2 years ago with new seals. The pistons moved as they should when the BMW pads went in (sept 2014). I avoided sintered because it's said they will over-brake the rear if the fronts are not also sintered. Clearly not a good idea with such a ridiculously poor wear rate.
I now have new sintered pads for the fronts just waiting for the brakes need them. But judging by the (low) wear rates they must already have sintered pads.
I normally do about 12K per year. This year has seen barely 1/3 of that. The majority is short runs though included 4 return trips to London with motorway and city traffic (220 each way). I guess that all adds up to brake (ab)use.

 

[UpgradeAl]

Unless you do major amounts of commuting/filtering, sounds like a riding style issue to me............

 

[Alan R]

It seem to me that your use of the bike - commuting? Probably involves a greater percentage of stop/start/braking than mine which I would characterise as pleasure riding, seeking empty roads where I rarely need to touch the brakes. Even so, the variance seen here seems extraordinary for similar bikes.
Alan R

 

[Zx9man]

Would this not be a manufacturing defect that the breaks are shot in 4K

 

[Greenman14]

I don't think it's unusual to fit sintered pads, like EBC HH, on the front but use an organic material on the back. The rear disc doesn't see hard use and a softer material might be more appropriate. It should last more than 4000 miles though. Mine needed changing at about 8000, on a TC without linked brakes.

Is it too difficult to de-link the brakes? otherwise I would suggest an adjustable "snubber" so you can play around until you get the F/R balance you like.

 

[UpgradeAl]

Would this not be a manufacturing defect that the breaks are shot in 4K

Doubt it - what sort of manufacturing defect, unless you are DEAD unlucky? Seized pistons? Look at acceleration and fuel consumption changes. Organics are fine, generally, unless you are a purist or extreme.

 

[BlueBird]

WTF!

2005 bike (with the servo) - still got the original front pads in at 52000 miles; rears changed at 32000 for ferodo platinum; still loads of life left.

How

I bet you get 10k out of a rear tyre aswell

 

[Sgt Bilco]

I've been using Steptoe's Ferodo's on my GS's for years and get great brake pad life despite them having a tougher life than most. Highy recommended.

I hate those bloody linked brakes and would never have a bike with them. I'll stick with my non abs non liked thankyou very much.

 

[alex_rsa]

I do laugh at these "how long my brake pads last" topics without every mentioning how the bike is ridden.

If you commute, and do nothing else, I think you will be lucky to get 6000 miles with linked brakes. They seem to use the rear brake more than the front one. I have tried OEM, Brembo and Ferodo normal and sintered (I have been through a lots of rear pads in 60 000 miles) and the normal Ferodo ones do the job just fine.

My commute has changed in the last few years and I get about 8 miles of A-round every day along with a grind through London, gues what, my pads now last 10 00 miles.

I have recently switched to a 800GS without linked brakes, as I never use the rear I confidently predict I will get a 1 000 000 miles out of the rear pads

For reference I did get a seized caliper, pads lasted 80 miles!!! Beat that

 

[Packer]

My first taste of linked brakes was my 1150GS. The rear pads wore very fast. After fitting new pads I stopped using the rear brake lever except to hold the bike on hills when stationery and let the linked brakes do the work. Rear pad life was vastly improved and the rear ABS stopped cutting in on bumpy wet roads.

 

[Ted]

Double check the rear caliper slide. 1200GS noted for sticking. Have had this problem on both my GS and silly low miles pads. Changed to a stainless pin and good clean last lot of pads still plenty of life at 15000k and that's mostly loaded touring on some nice twisty roads

Pic of old and new pins. The old one was almost solid on one bike and took some shifting. This was just starting to stick but notice how rusty it is.