Brake pad decisions

[jviss]

Carbone Lorraine v. EBC? Other brands?

Sintered v. 'organic?'

 

Note: I value low rotor wear.

 

Don't really need pads yet, but thinking that while I'm at it, what with new brake lines, tires, plugs, filters, fluids, etc., etc., this winter, maybe I will renew them all.

 

Thanks!

[Selden]

I ordered Carbone Lorraine pads from Beemer Boneyard 3 years ago; no complaints. They seem to be neither more nor less dusty than OEM pads, and the rotors are holding up fine. Consensus here seems to be that HH pads are unnecessary for R-bikes. Note that Max BMW sells OEM brake pads for essentially the same price; I have no opinion as to which is "better".

 

I believe that standard practice when fitting new pads (especially if a different brand) is to deglaze the rotors with garnet paper, then clean thoroughly with brake cleaner and something like a 3M cleaning pad to remove any residue.

 

PS: Just got off the phone with Phil at sportbiketrackgear.com. Very nice to deal with, and I now have a set of Spiegler lines on order. Same deal.

[jviss]

I ordered Carbone Lorraine pads from Beemer Boneyard 3 years ago; no complaints. They seem to be neither more nor less dusty than OEM pads, and the rotors are holding up fine. Consensus here seems to be that HH pads are unnecessary for R-bikes. Note that Max BMW sells OEM brake pads for essentially the same price; I have no opinion as to which is "better".

 

I believe that standard practice when fitting new pads (especially if a different brand) is to deglaze the rotors with garnet paper, then clean thoroughly with brake cleaner and something like a 3M cleaning pad to remove any residue.

 

PS: Just got off the phone with Phil at sportbiketrackgear.com. Very nice to deal with, and I now have a set of Spiegler lines on order. Same deal.

I've never deglazed the rotors when replacing the pads. Maybe I should. It's tempting to cut them, but I don't think there's a lot of extra thickness there, anyway.

 

I should have my Spiegler lines tomorrow - can't wait!

 

jv

 

[Skywagon]

Had EBC Organic's put on the rear by the Dealer about a year ago. Strangely it was dealer choice. They stop fine. Smooth. No noise....but man are they dirty. At first I thought final drive was leaking. A year later after every ride, rear wheel is covered in dust... Comes right off, but sure is dirty. Will go back to factory next time and hope for a differnet result.

[philbytx]

John,

Remember folks, that your R1100RT system (ABSII) was designed using sintered pads. I recently replaced my front stock pads on my R1150RT (iABS, also using sintered pads) with EBC HH Sintered and noticed an immediate difference for the better in both initial bite and stopping! I also replaced the stock rear pads (see my tale of woe!) on my R1100R and, again, noticed an immediate difference in stopping power just on the rear brake alone!

 

Before each installation, I did clean the rotors using a green 3m pad and non-chlorinated brake cleaner.

 

I've also used EBC pads on my cages for years and found them to be excellent products.

[Norm 88]

EBC H H Sintered Pads on R1200RT Front and Rear. Clean rotors with brake clean they work great no Brake Dust..

[Guest Kakugo]

Carbone Lorraine (now CL Brakes) are the only brake pads that will give the OE Brembo (excellent but impossibly priced) a run for their money. Now, the two pads behave differently: I like to joke the Brembo are very much like the A compound of HRC race pads (lot of initial bite) while the CL are very much like the B compound (very progressive stopping power).

It may seem the more progressive compound "brakes less" but it's really not the case. Braking distance is the same: it's just a different design for different riders.

Frankly I have never been satisfied with EBC brake pads: I've tried different compounds on different bikes over the years and they just don't fit the bill for me. One of the issues we've noticed over the year is they seem to be designed to work with their own rotors: in fact EBC rotors won't last long when used with other brake pads.

[wbrissette]

One of the best I've used on any of my bikes is Lyndall Racing Brakes Gold Plus. Unfortunately they don't seem to make any that fit the BMW bikes, which is too bad.

 

Wayne