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proper brake pad bedding

tonedeaf

tonedeaf

have tires will ride
Joined
Dec 10, 2010
Location
Concord, CA
Moto(s)
'09 ZX6R, kdx200, '05 SV1000s
Name
Jack
just installed a set of new galfer waves and new 1375 HH pads yeaaahhhbuddy!!!

i follow Jim Davis and Dave Moss's advice on bedding pads in, it's worked fine twice, but when i look around the internet i see these two completely opposite schools of thought and so many people on both sides....so what do YOU think?

SCHOOL #1 (Jim and Dave's side): take the bike up to 30-40mph and NAIL the brakes down to 0. repeat that 5 or so times without letting the bike sit there, ride it back to your garage and park it and let it cool off for about an hour. pads are bedded.

their thoughts on glazing: if you use the brakes lightly and skim them on the rotors, it will glaze them because it cooks the surface without grinding any of the pad off.

SCHOOL #2: use the brakes really lightly for 100 miles, do not stop hard!

their thoughts on glazing: do not nail the brakes at first!!! THIS will glaze the pads! (at this point i'm going :wtf who is right?) they say that will overheat the pads too soon and that is what causes glazing.


* * *

now i followed Jim and Dave's advice, and this is what my rotors look like one day and 20 miles after the new rotor/pads:

20120629_135452.jpg


the brakes are really strong, they bite hard and the rear wheel will come up easy, but since i've only rode a few full-on sportbikes i don't have much to compare them to....i don't know if i'm only getting them to part of their potential. those rotors look ok to you?
 
I went through 5-10 sets of pads in a year. Generally, apply the brakes in the pit lane until I get braking power out of them. Take them out on the track. Pads are bedded in by the end of the first lap.
 
First, do ya really think the pad makers, don't know how to break in Pads? And they give instructions on how to do it...they want happy customers of their product. (and no problems coming back to them).

Your rotors look like they are in the early stage, of a short life.
 
louemc said:
First, do ya really think the pad makers, don't know how to break in Pads? And they give instructions on how to do it...they want happy customers of their product. (and no problems coming back to them).

Your rotors look like they are in the early stage, of a short life.
Click to expand...

curious ... is the mfr recommended method the option #2?
 
SCHOOL #1 (Jim and Dave's side): take the bike up to 30-40mph and NAIL the brakes down to 0. repeat that 5 or so times without letting the bike sit there, ride it back to your garage and park it and let it cool off for about an hour. pads are bedded.

Pretty much been that since the inception of Disc Brakes on Bikes. At least that is what I learned.
 
I'm on School #1 too.

I've bedded in lot's of new pads. Both on track and street.

I love that feeling once they are bedded correctly. The brakes just 'work'
 
Gawd, one more Thing to Get Wrong!

I've never once thought about bedding in brake pads. I just replace them. The brakes always seem to work fine, don't seem to wear out prematurely, and the rotors seem to be holding up ok.

So if the two schools of thought on this are at extreme opposites maybe my method (just use the brakes like I always do?) is just as good.
 
ok now that louemc has scared the sh** out of me, i'd really appreciate some more feedback on how my rotors look. i spent damn near $600 on these things and i want them to last!
 
dkcwenge said:
curious ... is the mfr recommended method the option #2?
Click to expand...

Never heard of #2...So I'm thinkin there is a #3 for public road break-in and bedding.

#1 sounds like track...and insuring the brakes work as soon as possible...and for racers that are willing to pay for new replacements...Cause the race is priority One.

Just pick up a pack of top brand pads off the rack ...and read the instructions..should be on the back side of the package...where you can read it.
 
tonedeaf said:
see?? SEE?? now which one of you is right, because you are saying the exact opposite thing, dammit

i hope you're being sarcastic louemc :(
Click to expand...

Not being sarcastic...I'm a huge fan of serious brakes..and people with them...staying happy, for a long time...

Just buying new tires is coughing up enough :laughing
 
One bad way to bed in new front brakes is to drag the front brake with the throttle on at about 40 mph. You find out that the pads are getting a bit more grip when the front wheel locks. I came very close to dumping my XR650L a few months back doing that. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
 
ScottRNelson said:
One bad way to bed in new front brakes is to drag the front brake with the throttle on at about 40 mph. You find out that the pads are getting a bit more grip when the front wheel locks. I came very close to dumping my XR650L a few months back doing that. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Click to expand...

Ha - this is how I bedded in the pads/rotors on my car - they were making all sorts of horrible grindy noises until they bedded in - I thought I had a pad in backwards and had to double check!

Thanks for pre-empting me using this method on my bike when I come to change out pads... :teeth
 
louemc said:
Not being sarcastic...I'm a huge fan of serious brakes..and people with them...staying happy, for a long time...

Just buying new tires is coughing up enough :laughing
Click to expand...

How does break-in procedure affect rotor life?

Pads can get glazed, yes, but rotor wear should be pretty independent of break-in method?

I am guessing OP has semi-metallic pads that are scoring the rotor a little. I would not expect that rotor to wear out for a good while. I do tend to replace rotors and pads together when the pads are semi-metallic though. This may be overkill but I don't like worn down rotors.
 
After you guys muck things up and glaze your new pads, you'll have to pay the shop again to remove and wet sand the pads and start the process all over.
 
limey said:
How does break-in procedure affect rotor life?

Pads can get glazed, yes, but rotor wear should be pretty independent of break-in method?

I am guessing OP has semi-metallic pads that are scoring the rotor a little. I would not expect that rotor to wear out for a good while. I do tend to replace rotors and pads together when the pads are semi-metallic though. This may be overkill but I don't like worn down rotors.
Click to expand...


Actually...I'd like to answer that question (or address those points)...
But, typing them is too much effort, because it's too complex to do in words (for me).

The cliff notes are...Ya dont want Glaze, and Ya don't want over heating, and Ya don't want scoring. So read the manufactures instructions...they don't want that shit either. :thumbup
 
Carlo said:
Gawd, one more Thing to Get Wrong!

I've never once thought about bedding in brake pads. I just replace them. The brakes always seem to work fine, don't seem to wear out prematurely, and the rotors seem to be holding up ok.

So if the two schools of thought on this are at extreme opposites maybe my method (just use the brakes like I always do?) is just as good.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that my method and hasn't failed me yet.
 
I normally just bung 'em in and start riding, but at a more restrained pace than normal. Here's what Galfer recommends on their site:

brake-pad-break-in.jpg
 
louemc said:
First, do ya really think the pad makers, don't know how to break in Pads? And they give instructions on how to do it...they want happy customers of their product. (and no problems coming back to them).

Your rotors look like they are in the early stage, of a short life.
Click to expand...

Actually, those rotors look to be in great shape. And #1 is the proper way for ANY braking system. You need to transfer pad material to the rotor and the only way to do that is to get them nice and hot doing repeated hard stops from a fairly high rate of speed.

The reason some manufacturers tell you to take it easy is liability issues. Their lawyers tell them it's better to maybe have a less than perfect bedding in than have someone sue them because they nailed the front brakes and crashed.

An excellent paper on the how's and why's of proper brake bedding:

http://www.stoptech.com/technical-s...y-definitions-and-procedures/brake-pad-bed-in

There's more great information here:

http://www.stoptech.com/technical-support/technical-white-papers
 
Install pads. Take bike for a ride. First half dozen stops, moderate to firm braking. You'll feel the change in behavior. I'm not NAILING the brakes. Progressive pressure. Once they feel like there's no increase in braking power, forget about it and ride.
 
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