Uneven rear breakpad wear

[jaak]

Just checked the 1500 miles "old" rear break pads and the piston side is like new but the other almost gone

Pistons are moving fine and everything seems to be A+. WTF?

Any ideas are very welcome!

Oh, and the bike is a 2001 R1150GS non-ABS.

 

[cookie]

they always seem to do that.

i think it's the way the springy rubber bellows always drags that pad against the disc.

 

[(RIP) DitchWater]

Tis standard on all sliding calipers and in fact opposed piston calipers can do it as well but to a lesser degree.

Polishing the caliper pins and greasing them, or replacing them for slippery stainless steel parts might help, but don't charge me for the bling if it does cure the problem.

1500 miles is sh1te though.

 

[hank]

I find the inners always wear out quicker on my R1150R, but 1500 miles is a bit excessive. Are you using cheap pads? How long have you had the bike? How much do you use the front brake? The reason I ask is, I was very heavy on the rear brake when I first got mine. That was down to lack of confidence on my part, and lack of faith in the over powerful servo/abs system that was fitted by BMW.

I have since removed the servo/abs unit and gone back to a much simpler braking system that lets me feel what is happening when I apply the brakes. I now use my front brakes more than ever, as they are the ones with real stopping power. As a result my rear pads last longer. But guess what? The inner pads on my front brakes wear quicker than the outer ones.

 

[MattW]

Could be worth stripping and cleaning your rear caliper - might be that the sliding pins are binding slightly. There's a (long winded but detailed) howto in the hall of wisdom on ADV. I did a full strip and clean of mine last year using red rubber grease on the pins / rubber boots. It improved the rear brake a lot - my pad wear is pretty even.

 

[jaak]

I'm using Ferodo pads not some cheap crap.

It's comforting (or not) to know that the caliper is OK and not in need of a repair.

I'll grease the sliding pins and see what happens.
Next winter will probably polish the pistons and change the seals.

Thanks to all!

 

[Timolgra]

1500 miles is sh1te though.

We mentioned this at the time.
In 2005 20+ GS's rode around the Baltic States from Norway in very wet, grimy conditions. When we arrived in Warsaw at least 2/3 of the 1150s had worn through the rear pads.

All bikes started with new pads and many including mine had cleaned and lightly lubed the pins beforehand.

The excessive wear wasn't a result of continuous heavy braking and we concluded perhaps road dirt was a factor. But I've done other trips where it's been wetter and road grime was much worse yet the pads were ok

I clean the crap out of the holes in my rear disc with a drill bit every so often which may help.

 

[Grizzly]

OEM Pads

Genuine BMW pads from Brembo are supplied with one pad thicker than the other so that ( in theory anyway! ) both pads would wear out at the same thickness - but It's the moving pad which starts out thicker so that's the one which should be wearing quicker - opposite way to your pads!
I'd be tempted to check/lube the sliding pins. Also check the moving pad is free to slide on the locating pin and where it sits in the s/steel locating guide at the other end and where it rubs on the top spring. Also lube these points sparingly with copperslip. This moving pad has to move easily to release pressure on your thin pad.

Cheers...........Grizzly

 

[HarryMcGuinness]

Changed my rear pads out recently (together with the disc) and noticed the same. Pads have been wearing unevenly. Approx. 1mm difference between them but by far not as much as shown on the above picture
I have used the opportunity to clean and re-grease all moving pins and slides and got still a comment on the MOT check sheet that rear caliper is slightly sticky? No idea why, all moves smoothly now...

 

[Cook1e]

Dismantle the sliders, (lightly) emery & silicone grease the pins, turn the bellows inside out, clean & silicone grease DON'T use mineral grease it swells the rubber.

Worked for me...

 

[Bigyin]

Just popped this one up on a search as i am now on my second new set of rear pads in 12,000 miles and in both cases the inner pad has no sign of wear on it at all yet the outer pad (pushed by the piston) has gone right down to metal within less than 6,000 miles.

Reason i question it is that i rarely ever use the rear brake and its not my foot resting on the pedal as i ride with the balls of my feet on the pegs so any use of the rear brake means me having to make a concious move of my foot. I checked the pistons and both are moving fine and not sticking.

Reading the rough the posts i did notice the holes on the disc seemed to have some crap so will see if cleaning that out helps ........... all pads have been EBC so not cheap shitty Goldfrens. On my sports bike the rear pads lasted about 30,000 miles through barely using the caliper so 6,000 out of a non linked brake 1150 seems unsusual with not much change to the riding style

The wear on mine is exactly opposite to the pic posted in the first post

 

[Steptoe]

Genuine BMW pads from Brembo are supplied with one pad thicker than the other so that ( in theory anyway! ) both pads would wear out at the same thickness - :

So are ferodo pads and most of the other alternatives specified for that type of rear pad.

 

[Pykie]

Slider pins

I had similar problems.

Went through several sets of pads and (very stupidly) ran both sets down to the metal and shafted the disk.

When i fitted brand new slider pins the problem was cured.

I guess the pads start catching in wear groves in the pin and so tend to rest against the disk rather than pulling very slightly clear like they are supposed to.

Olly

 

[Deleted account 230818001]

Yup, had the same issue on my '05 K1200S, the brake was sticking on one side.

Had brake completely stripped, cleaned and re-assembled and that sorted it.

 

[davegs]

Pads

Make sure you foot is not resting on the brake pedal.
Dave GS