SuzukiSavage.com - what is the best brand of front brake pads?

braveteacher Full Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 154	what is the best brand of front brake pads? 02/16/13 at 19:22:06 Any suggestions on what kind of front brake pads to purchase?
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Digger Serious Thumper 2005 No Login Offline Ya gotta be tough to ride singles! Posts: 1604 Colorado Springs, CO Gender:	Re: what is the best brand of front brake pads? Reply #1 - 02/16/13 at 20:39:41 FWIW..... I've tried OEM, Ferodo Platinum, and EBC Organic. I like the EBC Organic pads the best of the ones I've tried.
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ZAR Serious Thumper Offline Rock this town! Rock it inside out! Posts: 961 Kentucky, USA Gender:	Re: what is the best brand of front brake pads? Reply #2 - 02/17/13 at 08:02:01 Digger wrote on 02/16/13 at 20:39:41: FWIW..... I've tried OEM, Ferodo Platinum, and EBC Organic. I like the EBC Organic pads the best of the ones I've tried. Another vote for the EBC Organic. Mine are organic/Kelvar and work fine,including a 4-5"/hour downpour I got caught out in last spring!
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braveteacher Full Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 154	Re: what is the best brand of front brake pads? Reply #3 - 02/17/13 at 11:34:57 purchased today...EBC organic on ebay for $27 free shipping...
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Gyrobob

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Re: what is the best brand of front brake pads?
Reply #4 - 02/18/13 at 06:22:10

Digger wrote on 02/16/13 at 20:39:41:

FWIW.....

I've tried OEM, Ferodo Platinum, and EBC Organic.

I like the EBC Organic pads the best of the ones I've tried.

Of those three, which gave you the greatest coefficient of friction? IOW, which pads slowed you down the quickest for a given amount of pull on the front brake lever?

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wambr Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 610 Russia, Samara Gender:	Re: what is the best brand of front brake pads? Reply #5 - 02/18/13 at 06:50:12 my vote for the EBC Organic.first on my Savage were installed Ferrodo FDB 404. not to say that they are better or worse slowed down, but EBC it seems to me more predictable when braking..and with such brake pads brake disc less wear out.
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Oldfeller--FSO

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Re: what is the best brand of front brake pads?
Reply #6 - 02/18/13 at 07:24:58

If you want to find comparisons of various front brake pad brands, search for "rotor wear" discussions from a long time ago. Be aware these are OLD discussions and the pads may well be different now.

My difficulty with the old high friction ceramic SBS pads is that they ate up your rotor life far too quickly. We have limited rotor life if you pay attention to the service life thickness specs, and some pads are hard on the rotors.

I have used stock pads, SBS and EBC and am staying with the "softer" EBC Kevlar pads from about 4 years ago (bought 2 sets on sale). I don't think these are necessarily the same pads as the EBC organic pads sold today as the spec ratings on pads and stuff evolve over time (and with goverment spec changes too).

BTW, the rotor itself is expensive to replace.

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Digger

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Re: what is the best brand of front brake pads?
Reply #7 - 02/18/13 at 19:32:12

Gyrobob wrote on 02/18/13 at 06:22:10:

Digger wrote on 02/16/13 at 20:39:41:

FWIW.....

I've tried OEM, Ferodo Platinum, and EBC Organic.

I like the EBC Organic pads the best of the ones I've tried.

Of those three, which gave you the greatest coefficient of friction? IOW, which pads slowed you down the quickest for a given amount of pull on the front brake lever?

Gy,

Really did not notice any differences between any of them....

Having said that, I don't ride my Savage very aggressively. My main criteria for brake pads on this bike is their longevity.

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Digger
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Jiggyfly

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Re: what is the best brand of front brake pads?
Reply #8 - 02/23/13 at 06:20:12

Having never even ridden my Savage......but having logged 1000's of race track laps from Road America to Daytona..... The EBC HH pads are great, as are Vesrah pads. As previously mentioned, these will decrease rotor life. It's a "wear item", though......& shouldn't be expected to last forever.
Another way to increase braking power is a different master cylinder with a larger piston diameter. Watch it.....you can create too powerful of a ratio!

(I built a CF150r supermoto bike with 6 piston GSXR caliper & 5/8" Brembo radial mc......it was overkill. If you could've modulated your pinkey on the brake lever.....you could've braked with your pinkey!)

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Re: what is the best brand of front brake pads?
Reply #9 - 02/23/13 at 07:41:19

Who said EBC's were hard on rotors?

EBC's are the ones that are "better" on rotor wear, SBS and some other ceramic pads were noted as hard on rotors.

Huh

Guys, we generally only talk about brake pads you can actually buy for a Savage, as all other bikes, brake compounds, etc are just confusion to a newbie asking what he should buy.

If you are going to recommend a grade/brand, state where you can get them (post a link) and say why you think they are better.

Example: "I love SBS ceramic pads (I don't btw, but I listened to someone who loved them but didn't have any specifics at all behind his love) but I have to admit they are expensive and they can chew .006" off your rotor thickness in only 4 months after being installed."

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« Last Edit: 02/23/13 at 17:12:17 by Oldfeller--FSO »

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Jiggyfly Full Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 144	Re: what is the best brand of front brake pads? Reply #10 - 02/23/13 at 09:32:07 Ever run EBC HH compounds??? Yeah.....they're hard on rotors. Again.....it's expected. The age-old "you can have 2 out of 3" Pick 2: good, long lasting, cheap You can never have all 3.
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Digger Serious Thumper 2005 No Login Offline Ya gotta be tough to ride singles! Posts: 1604 Colorado Springs, CO Gender:	Re: what is the best brand of front brake pads? Reply #11 - 02/23/13 at 18:02:44 Digger wrote on 02/18/13 at 19:32:12: ....My main criteria for brake pads on this bike is their longevity. I should have added that I limit my brake pad choices to those that are easy on rotors. Of those, I like the longest lasting ones the best.....
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Jiggyfly Full Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 144	Re: what is the best brand of front brake pads? Reply #12 - 02/24/13 at 20:47:33 Oldfeller--FSO wrote on 02/23/13 at 07:41:19: Guys, we generally only talk about brake pads you can actually buy for a Savage, as all other bikes, brake compounds, etc are just confusion to a newbie asking what he should buy. EBC shows the HH compound as available.
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Re: what is the best brand of front brake pads?
Reply #13 - 02/25/13 at 09:09:49

Jiggy, having made the statement, kindly show us where we can buy some HH EBC pads for the Savage on line. Just drop us a link if you would be so kind.

We are familiar with EBC offering Kevlar pads and organic pads for the Savage but we are unfamiliar with HH grade pads for the Savage.

Even if you could buy it, why would you? If it truly is is a rotor eating "racing grade" the Savage isn't a racing bike and some extra braking power at the cost of breaking the front tire free accidentally or eating up your rotor even quicker sounds like it might not be the most practical idea for a Savage.

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Jiggyfly

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Re: what is the best brand of front brake pads?
Reply #14 - 02/25/13 at 14:02:45

ok.

to me..... but obviously, not to all...... "what is the best brake pad" means, "what will stop my bike the fastest?"

while generally considered a "racing" pad, i use them on street bikes without issues. they dont require a warm up lap, if you will!? lol
Rotors are a wear item..... one shouldnt expect them to last forever. while the HH compound is more abrasive than the original 1987 wooden pads on my savage, they certainly wont eat your rotor up on a trip to the local Starbucks.
in the future, I'll try to consider the Savage user population.
Wink

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