Triumphrat

04-08-2006

I have a 2004 Bonneville T100. The rear brake pads have completely worn out after 7,500kms. I've ridden the bike from new, mostly around city and suburbs and i regard myself as a very careful rider. Is that fairly normal for brakes pads to wear like that? Any advice most welcome!

dazco · 04-09-2006

Sounds awful low. But i keep hearing things about these bikes like this.....tires wearing out at 6 or 7k miles, chains at the same, now brake pads. I don't get it because i have 5.5k and everything seems to be as new. My tires are like new as is my chain. brake pads i haven't checked, but i'd be willing to bet they're also like new. And i can't see another couple K miles making any huge difference. Some people just seem to have short life issues with the wearing parts on these bikes and i don't understand why some do and some don't. It really baffles me. I have no idea why your pads would be worn out at such a low mielage, but i would take it to the dealer and ask them if they can replace them under warranty,. I know wearing parts like that are usually not warranteed, but thats just way too low to be user error. Even cars which weigh quadruple or more the weight usually go 3-5 times as long.

04-09-2006

Thanks dazco- That's what I was hoping to hear. I have the bike booked in for its 2 yr service (ka ching, ka ching $$!!) and i thought I might try to get the pads replaced under the 2 yr warranty which expires at the end of this month. Of course I'll be pissing in the wind with that, because they'll say I rode the bike hard.
Anyway, thanks again for the reply. Cheers from downunder

vol245 · 04-09-2006

Get the EBC HH pads. My rear pads lasted about 6300 miles. Compared to the front they are about half the size to begin with.

I bought new rear pads from
Motorcycle Pro Shop

I looked up the size on the EBC site

EBC brakes

and paid around $26 for the pads. The previous owner of my bike had already put those pads on the front as he didn't like the feel of the stock ones. They still have a lot of life on them at 8400 miles. I got the bike with 4300 miles and I'm not sure when he put them on.

I just looked up the pads and for a 790 Bonneville 01 through 06 the front pads are FA196HH. The America and Speedmaster use the same although the Speedmaster requires two sets. The rear pads are FA214/2HH and again they ae the same for the America and Speedmaster.

The prices for those of us in the US are here:

Brake Pad price list

I bought these for the rear:

Rear pads price

and they have been installed for over 2000 miles and they are fine.

Here are the fronts:

Front pads price

Here is a link to the EBC catalog and it takes a while to load:

EBC brake pad catalog

Christov · 04-09-2006

I would recommend the EBC HH pads also. I have just over 20,000 miles on my Bonneville and I am on my 3rd set of pads front and rear. I DO ride very hard, so your mileage may vary.

ChuckT120 · 04-09-2006

One thing that most folks don't do is break in new pads. Right after you put them on one wheel. Ride, without using that brake, to an area where you can get up to speed and then do a panic stop with that brake without locking up the wheel. Do that three to four times. That will allow the pads to get a good surface from the heat generated during the breaking. Mine went out at 9K along with the rear tire. I used this break in method and now at 12K, I have nominal rear tire wear and no measurable break wear.

One not of caution, don't even think about touching the rotor immediatly after the break in stops. :flam:

Chuck

FattRat · 04-09-2006

I had yet ANOTHER chance to replace my rear pads a couple days ago..... and flaked. I better put my order in for some EBC's so I have them handy.

I guess my complaint about ONE OF my rear brake pads wearing faster and needing to be replaced, is definitely a concern...... but does not qualify me to complain of pre-mature wear when compared to others here.

I'm a hundred miles from 12,000 and I have plenty of meat on my much used & abused, front pads. One of the rear pads has plenty of meat, but the other will soon be illegalimmigrant-line too thin. So if I address the problem with the rear brake (sticking pad), I have little to complain about.

With regard to the chain....... howinGod's name do these modern chains last as long as they do with seemingly never needing any adjustment after the initial stretch???? I spray some synthetic chain wax on my chain ever 300 miles, and I see no wear to my sprockets & have adjusted the chain only twice in it's 12,000 mile life! Amazing.

Tires..... daaaaaahmn, bald at 5,000 miles ain't cutting it!

I got a chance to speak to somebody in the street motorcycle tire business over the phone recently. He said it's becoming increasingly more popular for motorcycle manufacturers to contract with and demand tires be built to their specifications. In many instances, the manufacturer would have manufactured the tire differently were it up to them (thickness of rubber, choice of compound, etc.) When I asked about the rumored "new tire" that was scheduled to be released last February, he avoided the question and said that a number of manufacturers have something new on the drawing board right now.....

All that aside,
I've ridden behind quite a few individuals who ride their rear brake (they're almost always in denial about it though); THAT'LL wear out some pads rather quickly!
Jack rabbit starts, late braking, and extended runs over 80 mph will quickly wear down a hard compound touring tire, let alone these softer compounds readily available for the Bonnie (I hear the Metzler 880 seems to stand up well).
Sloppy shifting, hard starts from a stop, lugging, inadequate lubrication, and a poorly adjusted rear chain will be short lived, even in this day of (my opinion) miracle chains.

Best to rule out operator error before assuming it must be the equipment.

04-09-2006

Thanks guys for all the comments and advice.
If anything I've tended to favour the front brake (75%), and I use the engine for braking too.. so I'm a little surprised. with the wear. Anyway the upshot is I need new brake pads before I can ride off into the sunset. Yeeeehaaaa!

04-09-2006

a lot of riders report of Bonnies only getting 5000 miles out of rear pads. I replaced mine at 9000 but they were GONE! Front pads are still going strong at 12,000.

I suggest to start checking your rear pads at 5,000 and every 1,000 after that.

meatwagon · 04-09-2006

At 6k miles I'm getting new tires and I'm gonna have them do the rear pads while the wheels off.Front pads are still going strong.The dealer told me that any front tire will cup like the battleax after 5/6 k miles ;true?Checked out the Daytona 675 and dealer said the tires on that would only last 1500-2000 miles.That's crazy..and expensive!Are sportbike tires really that soft?I know grip is paramount but jeez!