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/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> PSA - Front brake pads /cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1376149294 Message started by Pine on 08/10/13 at 08:41:34 |
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Title: PSA - Front brake pads Post by Pine on 08/10/13 at 08:41:34 I just swapped out the front brake pads today. I have less than 5900 miles on the bike. When I got a new front tire the shop said the front pads were well worn. Good folks... Check those pads! I am what I consider a very mild rider... I ride to work ... I ride home. No horse play.. no zoom zoom. Not only that, but I tend to favor the rear brakes such that I am dragged to a stop.. with just a nice even brake to both during the last few feet. Swapping front brake pads was about 30 minutes including hunting up and putting away all the tools. Socket wrench and socket two hex wrench large C-clamp I had just done a fluid change about 18 months ago, so I was not going to re-do that. I did just remove the cap fix the rubber gasket ( make sure forks are leaned over for flat level. I used the c-clamp and old pad to return the piston (not over doing it). Replace pads, and button her up. EBC pads made in the UK... from Bikebandit... not sure I got the best deal... but I got them fast. Per WD .. rear pads were fine. Most of our braking power is from the front.... take care of what takes care of you! |
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Title: Re: PSA - Front brake pads Post by Serowbot on 08/10/13 at 09:37:59 635A5D56475C41330 wrote:
Quit that.... ;D... (I know you know better)... ;)... Seriously,... consider this... In an emergency,.. your reactions work on muscle memory... Train them to react with maximum braking technique,... by using about 80% front brake... all the time... It will pay off in an emergency... Secondly,.. front pads are so much easier to replace,.. if you do majority front brake all the time... It'll save you a lot of work... PS,.. not meaning to be scoldy... just putting it out there, for everyone to consider... Especially good for older returning riders to consider... ;).... Serow |
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Title: Re: PSA - Front brake pads Post by Pine on 08/10/13 at 10:24:58 3224332E36232E35410 wrote:
Quit that.... ;D... (I know you know better)... ;)... Seriously,... consider this... In an emergency,.. your reactions work on muscle memory... Train them to react with maximum braking technique,... by using about 80% front brake... all the time... It will pay off in an emergency... Secondly,.. front pads are so much easier to replace,.. if you do majority front brake all the time... It'll save you a lot of work... PS,.. not meaning to be scoldy... just putting it out there, for everyone to consider... Especially good for older returning riders to consider... ;).... Serow [/quote] Actually.. I have been told that before.. and I am trying to "up" the front brake usage... Unfortunately... the roads I travel are so bad... that comming to some stops you cant even down shift (which I dont do often anyway). We aren't talking a bump or a few bumps.. we are talking jolt your teeth out your head bumps... with the loss of traction to the front tire its very easy to get too aggressive and they you really have issues. The rear tire hits these bumps last and even if you do over apply the consequences are just a skid. When I can .. I like to see just how balanced I can brake using the front fork dip as guage. Sadly.. very few nice roads to do that on. (bumps- ashalt placed over concrete.. instead of ripping up 50year old concrete) Seems to be worse at intersections. MOST times what lane I am in depend NOT on the traffic... but knowing what lane has the least bumps.) Ahhh - the joys of using a bike as transportation. |
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Title: Re: PSA - Front brake pads Post by Serowbot on 08/10/13 at 10:49:36 Roads are the same here... It's become like a 3rd world country... they're worse than dirt... ;D... They just "repaired" a 6 lane near my house... This entails pouring sandy gravel in the holes... (which gets thrown out, and spread all over the road in a matter of hours... Now it's a sandy 6 lane, with holes hidden by gravel, and no visible lane divisions... ...(large grain sand thrown in a mist hitting your helmet by all the traffic),,, Ahhh,.. the joys of the road... :-?... |
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Title: Re: PSA - Front brake pads Post by Gyrobob on 08/10/13 at 11:32:32 So if you can't use the front brake like you are supposed to, then find some smooth road somewhere and once a month or so, practice panic stops,... meaning using the front brake just short of locking it up. Serowbot is correct. Should the unthinkable happen you have to do an I'm-really-going-to-die-this-time panic stop, you have well less than a second to apply the front brake perfectly. Folks that don't practice this stiff end up hitting something or someone because they didn't apply enough brake,.......or,......... they lock up the brake and get all horizontal and sparky in a hurry. |
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Title: Re: PSA - Front brake pads Post by HondaLavis on 08/10/13 at 22:10:00 +1 on everything said! Practice every potential emergency maneuver you get a chance to! Quick stops, swerves, etc. My situation was pretty much identical to yours: 5885 miles, brought it in to get the tires replaced and the shop told me my front brake pads were worn out. I didn't believe them, so I came to check them out... sure enough! $30 later, I swapped on some EBC organic pads when I got to the house. |
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Title: Re: PSA - Front brake pads Post by justin_o_guy2 on 08/11/13 at 07:30:59 bumps- ashalt placed over concrete.. Ive seen rodas that did what youre saying, we call that Washboarding.. its shaped like corrugated metal layin in the road, with humps of asphalt stacked up, & those stupid humps can get 3 inches tall,, Considering the hazard they create, you should whine to the city or county & explain it to them froma safety position, The power of petition can move mountains,, tiny mountains of asphalt, |
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Title: Re: PSA - Front brake pads Post by Pine on 08/11/13 at 09:42:43 352A2C2B3631003000382A266D5F0 wrote:
never heard that term.. but yeah that would definately fit. one or two ripples are ok... be we are talking feet of the stuff... bike become a bucking bronco. Much woe to the ones not ready for it. Makes me a very cautious rider. |
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Title: Re: PSA - Front brake pads Post by justin_o_guy2 on 08/11/13 at 09:53:56 Heck, Ive seen it so bad that my car dang near went sideways coming to a stop sign in Oklahoma.. I cant imagine how Ida managed on a bike, Remember when doin pads, that caliper floats on pins that need cleaned & lubed occasionally, |
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Title: Re: PSA - Front brake pads Post by Serowbot on 08/11/13 at 10:18:39 Since we're in PSA mode here... Another thing I do, that will help train you to use front brake, is... In routine riding in traffic,.. use the front brake lever to flash the guy behind you... (much like the headlight passing switch)... Without actually pulling enough to engage the brake,.. flick the lever 3 times to flash your brakelight,.. then increase pressure to slow... This is a good attention getter... If people don't see the transition from running light to brakelight,.. they may not notice that the brake is applied...... I do this routinely... |
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Title: Re: PSA - Front brake pads Post by justin_o_guy2 on 08/11/13 at 10:46:05 I do this routinely... As do I Also, ride with low beam in daytime & use the high-low flash button if yours is so equipped any time you see someone setting up to turm left across you. Changing lane position makes us more visible, too. Be aware that if youre in front of a long line of cars, that person may "hurry" across instead of waiting, focused on the CAR behind you, also, being the caboose on a long line may get you mashed, since theyve been sitting, looking at CARS &, seeing the last CAR, they go,, & run Smooth over yer butt,, |
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Title: Re: PSA - Front brake pads Post by Pine on 08/11/13 at 17:38:53 7563746971646972060 wrote:
YES!!! I do that often.... |
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Title: Re: PSA - Front brake pads Post by greenmonster on 08/13/13 at 10:08:16 I wonder what's wrong with my brake light, I have tried doing the flash thing but my brakes are applied long before my light comes on. |
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Title: Re: PSA - Front brake pads Post by Dave on 08/13/13 at 10:34:43 2B3E2929222123223F38293E4C0 wrote:
I am not sure if the switch can be adjusted - but I believe the plunger comes out as the brake is applied. If you want the light to come on sooner - you need to adjust the plunger so it comes out sooner either by adjusting it......or sanding or filing a bit of the plunger off if you can. |
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Title: Re: PSA - Front brake pads Post by greenmonster on 08/13/13 at 13:25:25 I'm going to have to check and take a closer look at what I can adjust. |
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Title: Re: PSA - Front brake pads Post by terpfan1980 on 08/14/13 at 14:00:48 heh, I'm thinking you nice folks must be riding in the areas where I am riding :P :D ;D One of the little backroads that I can take to get to my home has a couple of serious bumps on it. Enough to send my bike and overweight self airborne each time I hit 'em, even if I'm riding along in the slower speed range (approx. 35 MPH) It's shameful how badly the infrastructure in my area has been ignored. The political types have complained that they weren't taking in enough revenue via gasoline taxes to cover the costs of upkeep, etc. They've raised the gasoline taxes pretty significantly, and are promising that they'll put the $$ into the roads, but I'm not counting any chickens in this area as the funds should have been there previously but seemed to have gotten reallocated into general funds when there were shortages there. Anyway, I definitely know the difference between the roads of the late 80's and 90's and the roads of today. The last 5 - 10 years just haven't seem the upkeep on the roads that they should have had, and riding those roads on a bike reminds you of just how bad the surface really is. :( |
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Title: Re: PSA - Front brake pads Post by Boofer on 08/14/13 at 19:43:02 Pine and friends, Another reason to use the front brake is that the steering geometry is changed to make a quicker turning bike. In an emergency, you may need to drive around an accident rather than being in the middle of it. More weight on the front wheel gives more traction (Everything else being equal--such as correct tire pressure). Also, compressing the forks changes the rake and trail relationship, thus quicker steering. There are many good articles written on this relationship, and you can look up these terms and see why it is important to use that front brake when it is safe without losing traction on the front wheel. :) |
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Title: Re: PSA - Front brake pads Post by justin_o_guy2 on 08/14/13 at 20:02:32 Always be aware that traction is a given quantity. YOu can only spend it once,,the more you are using in braking, the less there is available for steering, |
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