I bought my bike second-hand in the fall of 2007 and if I was a betting man, I could swear that the dual front brakes used to have a decent bite but by 2009, I felt like the front pads were slipping a bit and not really grabbing like they should.

It was especially noticeable when I had a passenger on-board. So, I rode it like that for the rest of that riding season, it wasn't dangerously bad but noticeable and a bit of a pain because at times, I would slightly over-shoot were I wanted to stop at an intersection.

I mentioned this to my mechanic at the end of that riding season and asked him to check it out while he had it in his shop over the winter, I said to him that maybe it needed new front pads and that he should change out the hydraulic brake fluid while he was at it.

The following year, 2010, according to this invoice that I have, he replaced both front pads (EBC brand) but didn't indicate that he replaced the brake fluid. On the invoice, he did write that I "wanted the brakes to work 100%".

On my first ride of the year, I automatically noticed that the braking power hadn't been improved one iota but he re-assured me that everything checked out fine. Frustrated with this, I just sucked it up and rode it like that for 2010 and 2011.

Well, the 2012 riding season is fast approaching and I'd like to get this fixed. I've dropped my mechanic because of his last shenanigan at the end of last summer where he over-charged me extra hours on a front steering head bearing job and gave me back my bike with the lightbar no longer working, and tried to convince me that they couldn't have worked before hand(they absolutely did work 100%, I have them on all of the time), oh but it turns out that he's never wrong. I was there when he started to tear apart my front end and I had seen how he disconnected all of the wiring in the headlight bucket and that he didn't tag any of the wires, so he ended up plugging the wires back together wrong and popped a fuse. I had to fix that myself on my own time. Never again dude! Bye bye.

My question is this, what happens if I replace the front pads myself but still don't get the proper gripping power? Are the OEM pads that much better then the EBC brand? Maybe the rotors themselves are too smooth or have a film on them? Should they be cleaned with some special cleaner?

I'll probably have to look into changing the brake fluid too maybe that will make a world of difference. But I tend to think that it's mostly related to either the pads or the rotors or both.

Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated. I've got to get this sorted out if I'm going to keep this bike. Thanks in advance!

 

3 things to consider. Something like dirt blocking the fluid path. Open up the top cover and take a peek. Slime on the discs. Clean CAREFULLY with BrakeKleen or methyl alcohol (not isopropyl). Take your new pads off and rough them up with some sand paper on a flat surface. Also, run your fingers over both sides of the discs. If they are badly scored, replace them, and the pads. I like Lyndall pads.

 

My first comment is that you don't know when the fluid was last changed. So I suggest you do that, or get it done. Fluid absorbs water over time and should be changed every two years at most. You may find that alone improves things. If the pads have plenty of life in them, other things to check are that the pistons move freely and the pads are not binding on imbedded dirt trapped around them.

 

Thanks for your help guys!

I will definately replace the brake fluid, front and back. Actually, I'm going to replace the fluid for the hydraulic clutch too. And while I'm at it, I'll replace the gear oil in the shaft final drive and replace the engine coolant as well.

I'm really lucky in that I got a nice fat service manual with this bike when I bought it from the original owner, and while I'm not very mechanically inclined, this book helps walk you through a lot of these basic maintenance items quite well. In the past, I was just as happy to leave it to a professional but I've had a few too many screw ups from some of these so called mechanics.

Plus, money is kind of tight right now, so anything that I can do myself is a bonus. I did manage to replace the rear pads late year and it worked like a charm, I was quite proud of myself. LOL

I'm also going to take those front calipers and clean them up, and really check the condition of the pads, also make sure that the caliper holder shafts get a thin coat of silicone or PBC grease as directed by my service manual. I'm going to pick up some of that "BrakeKleen or methyl alcohol (not isopropyl)" too and clean up the front and back rotors. I will be VERY careful to not spill anything on my paint.

Thanks a bunch guys!!!