SuzukiSavage.com - Can you say "Paper Thin"?

springman

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Can you say "Paper Thin"?
02/20/16 at 10:38:05

Hey there everyone. I've been riding the Savage for about four years now and still consider myself a newbie. So, from one newbie to all others, check your front brake pads regularly, they do not last as long as car pads. Visual inspection can be misleading. I do an overall visual inspection about once a month. Last weekend after inspecting the bike it looked like the front brake pads were getting low. I went for a good long ride ordered the pads when I got home and they arrived yesterday.

Today I thought do I go for a ride first or change the pads first? I decided to change the pads. The friction material was paper thin on one pad and though slightly thicker on the other, it was separating from the metal. These were EBC pads that I changed about 13,000 miles ago. Now I know that at 10k miles I better do an extra careful inspection, and what the heck, for the 10-15 bucks that the pads cost, just go ahead and replace them.

Now I will be stopping somewhere to get some brake fluid and bleed the brakes. This was a good educational experience for me, just like when Versy found that my handle bars were loose and he tightened them up for me. Actually since then is when I do my visual inspection every four weeks or so.

Ride safe my friends. Thump on!

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06 S40 seat mod, airhawk, HD muffler, Shinko 712 140-90-15 rear tire, Shinko 230 front tire, versy cam chain tensioner, Rotella oil, Volar brake pads, EBC clutch & springs

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Rambler YaBB Newbies Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 16	Re: Can you say "Paper Thin"? Reply #1 - 02/20/16 at 11:59:21 Good to know
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Tocsik Serious Thumper Offline the singularity Posts: 1176 Denver, CO Gender:	Re: Can you say "Paper Thin"? Reply #2 - 02/20/16 at 14:58:10 Yeah. Had to replace mine after 6800 miles. EBC organics.
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cheapnewb24

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Re: Can you say "Paper Thin"?
Reply #3 - 02/20/16 at 18:21:16

I wonder... It's been said around here to upgrade to the Kevlar, aka "organic" pads for safety. Are they grabbier compared to the stock pads? I don't know much about brakes, but I remember that Kevlar can be grabby in clutches, compared to the rubber-impregnated cork (not brakes, I know). Which is worse safety-wise, an increased tendency for lockup from grabbier pads, or the weak performance of the stock pads? Undecided

Better pads would be cool. I could use better brakes. But then, the increased risk of lockup could be a bad thing. Undecided

What do I do?

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2004 Suzuki Savage, Riding since fall 2015.

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cheapnewb24 Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 1373 Virginia Gender:	Re: Can you say "Paper Thin"? Reply #4 - 02/20/16 at 18:28:17 Are the organics same as stock? I don't know much about this yet.
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Kris01 Serious Thumper Offline Eat, sleep, RIDE! Posts: 3767 Tennessee Gender:	Re: Can you say "Paper Thin"? Reply #5 - 02/20/16 at 19:32:20 Organic pads don't chew up the rotors as bad as metallic pads.
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springman

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Re: Can you say "Paper Thin"?
Reply #6 - 02/20/16 at 21:37:50

The EBC organic pads actually have kevlar in them. I do not know what was stock on my S40 but the organic EBC pads that I just replaced did a great job.

Having said that, the ebay vendor this week sent me EBC FA106R which is a copper sintered pad which is not what I ordered. I put them on the bike however as the other pads were totally worn out. I do not like these sintered pads, they are very noisy (they groan) and I feel they do not stop the bike as well as the organic pads. I actually removed them, cleaned the disk with steel wool and put them back on. Tomorrow I will ride some more to see how they feel.

I have asked the ebay vendor to replace with the correct one or to refund me. We'll see what happens. Angry

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06 S40 seat mod, airhawk, HD muffler, Shinko 712 140-90-15 rear tire, Shinko 230 front tire, versy cam chain tensioner, Rotella oil, Volar brake pads, EBC clutch & springs

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Art Webb Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 3007 columbus, Texas Gender:	Re: Can you say "Paper Thin"? Reply #7 - 02/21/16 at 08:33:49 pads on my S40 were gone at 4000, and i mean the sound of the great barrier reef every time you hit the brakes Savages eat brake pads, do you ride the curvy roads a lot (unless you're MM and never touch the fool brakes)
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cheapnewb24 Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 1373 Virginia Gender:	Re: Can you say "Paper Thin"? Reply #8 - 02/21/16 at 10:50:28 How do you compare the EBC pads to the Volar Kevlar-carbon pads? I was going to order some. For less than 8 bucks, it seems like a good deal for what you get. From what I've read, they work alright for basic stuff. Paying 20-30 bucks for something that's not much better doesn't seem to be a good deal.
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cheapnewb24

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Re: Can you say "Paper Thin"?
Reply #9 - 02/21/16 at 12:52:07

Art Webb wrote on 02/21/16 at 08:33:49:

pads on my S40 were gone at 4000, and i mean the sound of the great barrier reef every time you hit the brakes
Savages eat brake pads, do you ride the curvy roads a lot (unless you're MM and never touch the fool brakes)

Yes, a reasonable portion of my commute includes twisty back roads.

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2004 Suzuki Savage, Riding since fall 2015.

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cheapnewb24 Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 1373 Virginia Gender:	Re: Can you say "Paper Thin"? Reply #10 - 02/21/16 at 13:21:59 Does anyone have experience with the $6 brake pads on Ebay? How cheap can you get before the product gets so trashy that it disintegrates in your hands? What's the limit to a trustworthy set of brakes for an unbelievably cheap price?
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MMRanch Serious Thumper Offline Evil flourishes if Good Men do Nothing. Posts: 5864 LYNCHBURG TN Gender:	Re: Can you say "Paper Thin"? Reply #11 - 02/21/16 at 13:40:03 Savages eat brake pads, do you ride the curvy roads a lot (unless you're MM and never touch the fool brakes) The front only lasted 22,000 miles and they started making an awful racket on our late summer Dragon trip. . I never want to replace the rear drum so I don't use it except for maneuvering at low speeds.
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Dave

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Re: Can you say "Paper Thin"?
Reply #12 - 02/21/16 at 15:29:03

With brake pads....you generally get what you pay for. Cheap pads generally are noisy, and often don't have a good coefficient of friction and aren't good at slowing the bike down.

The EBC Organics have proven to be very good pads for the Savage....and they don't make noise and do as good of a job as any pads we have tried, and they don't beat up the rotor in the process. I put a set of Bikemaster Organics on the Rescue bike.....they seem to be similar to the EBC pads. Don't try the EBC Carbon X or anybody's sintered pads....they are too hard and don't work well on the Savage.

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Someday I will be old......But not today!

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springman

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Re: Can you say "Paper Thin"?
Reply #13 - 02/21/16 at 20:16:11

I rode my bike some more today to see if I could get used to the EBC FA106R pads the ebay vendor sent me when I actually ordered the FA106 (organic pads). The R pads still seem like they do not stop as well as the organics and they are definitely not as smooth in the stopping action and they continue to groan incredibly loud.

I also did some research on EBC pads and found that the R pads are intended for off road use, they are motocross pads. If the vendor had wanted to send me sintered pads for street use it would have been EBC FA106V.

I hope to get a response from the vendor tomorrow and depending on how he intends to remedy this I may just try a carbon/kevlar set from Volar or Sixity for $8.00 while I wait for my replacement EBC organic pads. I see that the Bikemaster are a bit cheaper than EBC but only by about 4 bucks. I am guessing these (8 dollar pads) will work properly though may not last as long as the EBC.

Well, let's see what happens tomorrow.

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06 S40 seat mod, airhawk, HD muffler, Shinko 712 140-90-15 rear tire, Shinko 230 front tire, versy cam chain tensioner, Rotella oil, Volar brake pads, EBC clutch & springs

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hotprops Full Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 180 fort myers fl	Re: Can you say "Paper Thin"? Reply #14 - 02/21/16 at 20:38:07 should you buy the 106 not the 106r or 106v?
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