If you race three event per weekend how often do you change your pads?
Do you use sand paper to clean the rotors each time you change the pads?
about 2 times a season, that was running 4 ccs events, plus a full WERA North East Schedule and 4 days of CRing with Nesba. I just use 400 grit sandpaper to clean off the rotors between pad changes...if I remember. Use Vesrah RJL's. With WERA I would do 3 sprints on Sunday and SOLO on Saturday, CCS was 3 or 4 sprints normally.
Wow, I went through a lot more brake pads than that! I would put on a new set pretty much every 3 weekends, and as anyone will tell you, I suck on the brakes!
what kind of pads? what kind of bike? How many races? All makes a difference.
All kinds of different one's. RJL's, Super RJL's, Carbon Lorraine, Galfer's, etc.
My SV used pads almost at the same rate as my 600 too. The bikes weighed about the same, but you are going faster on the 600, so I would get a little more life on the SV.
Oh, and to clean the rotors I used Scotch Brite, not sandpaper.
You guys have to remember that Edgar only had one brake caliper on the front of his stunter / race bike.
QuoteI would put on a new set pretty much every 3 weekends, and as anyone will tell you, I suck on the brakes!
I can verify that information ;), the sucking part that is
I went through 3.5 sets of pads running 3 sprint classes per weekend.
1st set - OEM Honda - done in 1 weekend
2nd set Carbone Lorraine super-duper whatever top-o-the-line. 4 weekends
3rd set - more of the carbone lorraine stuff 4 weekends plus a 200k team challenge (they were SHOT)
4th set - Vesra RJL's. worked fine for the last 2 weekends and will work for the 1st 1-2 weekends.
I don't scrub the rotors between changes, but I swap wheels/rotors enough to keep the pads guessing ;D
And yeah, I can vouch that nobody can park it in a corner like Edgar can...
I'm just telling you what I did. The Vesrah pads were great. I just replaced them when they were running thin..no stopping issues at all.
I have been using EBC HH with EBC Pro lite rotors on my zx6rr. When I saw Jeff's figures about the lease bike post made me wonder. Thanks for the replies I would like to try some other brands this year to see if I can find the right feel.
We put a ton of laps on Carbone Lorraine C43 pads. They have been the best so far for us. The Vesrah Super RJL's are good too. The best thing you can do to extend braking life is to glass bead your rotors.
I'll only clean my rotors if I change the pad type. If I were using a Vesrah RJL and going to a Super RJL, I'd clean it. I prefer not to glass bead a rotor as it can leave a slightly dimpled surface which can reduce some of your surface area.
Some pads last me two weekends. Super RJL's lasted longer than RJL's. Regardless, the Vesrah pads don't require as much lever pressure for me, which is important. Pads can be worn out before the material is gone. There are heat issues that can manifest themselves through a mushy feeling in the lever that is not related to air in the line.
Dave brings up a key point with "pads can be worn out before they are done".
When I saw the price of the Carbone Lorraine C43 pads I thought anyone was crazy to run them. However, in the 2 sets I've run now, I have yet to find a pad that is as consistent through the ENTIRE PAD.
I took 2 pads down to almost bare metal and they were stopping with almost the EXACT same feel as they had on day 1.
I use the SBS pads on the Buell. I went through 6 sets for last season. I ran 5 events per weekend and did the whole schedule plus a couple out of my region. I like them alot, and like Edgar, I only run a one calaper brake system. I have tried the EBC's but they just dont wear like the SBS's.
EBC vs. SBS... it's like 2 sets of EBC's to one set of the SBS's.
Rob, do you see the Vesrah's?
On my SV650 I only used Carbone Lorraine's, they felt good and lasted about two to three weekends. On my 600 this season I tried the Carbone's and the super RJL's. The Carbone's seemed to have more braking power, and had a consistant feel for the life of the pad(meaning that even if there wasn't much material left the pads still felt strong). I personaly felt that the carbone's started fading sooner towards the end of a race then the Super RJL's, also noteable was the fact that I had to replace the Carbone's more often then the Super's - about every weekend to a weekend and a half. Now the Super RJL's felt like you had to get them up to temp more so then the Carbone's and they also felt like there was a delay when I would apply pressure to the lever and when the pads would grab.The Super RJL's would last about a weekend and a half to two weekends depending on how many races I would compete in, the pads felt like they lasted longer during the duration of a race(more consistant lever feel over the course of a race)and also had a longer life... On the other hand the Carbone's felt like they had more initial bite, but also ate through the rotor's quicker then the SRJL's. We would bead blast the rotors between pad changes(as long as we were at the shop when we were changing pads),Pat (my mechanic) feels that everytime you put a new set of pads on they should have a new surface to mate to. If we were at the track and had to change pads we would use a fine grit sandpaper to remove the old pad material...
Scotty's two cents - so take it for what it's worth.....