Brake pads expert needed

[Tippie]

I have a bunch of bikes with Brembo 08 calipers so I keep a few spare sets of pads in a box of Brembo bits and pieces. If I need to replace a set of pads, I just rummage around in the box and the first ones that come to hand are what I use. No idea what they're made of or who made them. They could be Chinese knock-offs for all I know. As long as they stop the bike, I don't care. Who brakes hard in the wet anyway?

Cam, there is a big difference between braking hard and having no effect from your brake lever for interminable seconds and then the brakes suddenly grabbing. That is great if are in a controlled situation, but if you need to get your speed down in a hurry it isn't at all good.

 

[Vince]

So we leave Queenstown in pissing down rain, we were gearing up on the footpath and I ride off and attempt to slow for the T intersection applying the front brake with 4 fingers and the only retardation I feel is engine braking and my but puckering. Then we ride up the huge hill with the tight hairpins and I am tiptoeing bearly revving the bike as its hairy as hell with only engine braking. I try the drag the brakes to generate some heat and it does nothing. The brakes would work well in drizzle but anything heavier and they just wouldn't work, didn't happen often as we don't usually get heavy rain, once every few years or so. I am really happy it's finally sorted. THEY used to say drilled cast Iron discs were the bee's knees in the wet, now mine actually comply with that finally.

 

[breganzane]

The problem was braking at all cam, for around 4-5 seconds.

That was exactly my experience on the Corsa, also on my YB6 in Europe - absolutely nothing for a few seconds, then whammo! Cured with the aforementioned Piet pads, they are great.

 

[breganzane]

You realise that if you sort the wet weather braking it's not going to rain for five years right?

 

[Vince]

Bloody better, anyone remember the record Dought we had a few years back. I think it was just before the record Bushfires. Then the Pandemic and now record floods. Have we missed any records. No wonder I still have really old tyres on the bike.

 

[martymoose]

You forgot pestilence, oh no, hang on, we just had a mouse plague......

 

[piranha-bro2]

I rode on std 08s and then Goldline 08s for decades and used the pads that were in them and replaced them with whatever came in the red Brembo packages and cannot remember ever having a prob in the wet - if i had it would have freaked me out big time. I fitted race compound when i used to race it. Yes, Brembos cast discs were definitely renowned as brilliant in the wet and dry compared to the shiny stainless crap on Japanese bikes (and BMs from memory). Sounds like all the issues of the last 25 years is due to the broad selection of compounds now available - as evinced by Steve's OCT experience.

 

[Paul Marx]

I've always experienced a definite hope and pray moment in the wet with undrilled cast discs, whatever the pads.

Paul

 

[sfcpiet]

I was never really thrilled by the wet weather performance of the Brembo cast iron discs, in fact, I was wondering what all the hype was about, considering they were generally regarded as the best of all. Jap brakes of the time were seriously lacking, in both performance and feel, but I couldn't see that much going for the Brembos. Upgrading to 300mm iron discs, smaller M/C and reputedly unsuitable pads (to hell with premature wear, I wanna stop in time!) was a step in the right direction. Suzuki wheels finally allowed fitment of stainless discs and proper pads, I've not regretted it for a second.

The now available replacement stainless discs to the original Brembo pattern work well too.

piet

 

[Dellortoman]

I've never had a problem with the old 08 Brembo calipers on cast iron rotors (either drilled or undrilled) in the wet. Maybe I've been lucky with the pads I bought. There was no science or market research when I bought several sets of them about 15 years ago. Still got a couple of packets of pads left. That'll probably be enough to see my riding days out.

Only issues I've had with brake disks in wet weather have been stainless disks on Japanese bikes.

 

[bazzee]

Only issues I've had with brake disks in wet weather have been stainless disks on Japanese bikes.

In the 1970s Triumph were chrome plating the Lockheed discs, presumably for appearance. Braking using those in the wet was frighteningly absent. Caused me to turn around one Friday night (on the way to the pub) and return home.
cheers,
bazzee

 

[hooksey]

In the 1970s Triumph were chrome plating the Lockheed discs, presumably for appearance. Braking using those in the wet was frighteningly absent. Caused me to turn around one Friday night (on the way to the pub) and return home.
cheers,
bazzee

Soft..................nothin gets in the way of Friday nite froffies at the local

 

[breganzane]

Reporting on experiences from the good old days is pretty useless I'm afraid. What is available now is not what was available in the 70's (would you like asbestos with that sir?), fifty years have rolled under the wheels since the trusty 08's were released.

From an engineering standpoint I find it really interesting that one type of pad could be completely incapable of generating any friction at all for several seconds of even really heavy lever effort and hence very high pressure between pad and disk, while another pad will cut through the water and work perfectly straight off.
I don't recall what pads were in my Bimota, but they had exactly the same characteristics. It was even more alarming as with 320mm floating iron disks, 4-spot calipers, smaller front wheel and only 190kg to slow down, the transition from 'no brakes' to 'heaps of brakes' in the wet was more extreme.

 

[bazzee]

Soft..................nothin gets in the way of Friday nite froffies at the local

Yeah well...what convinced me was needing to stop at a red light. While waiting for the brakes to start retarding I had to start planning which gap between the lanes of cars to aim for. I was on a T160, single disc at both ends, similarly ineffectual! Eventually had the chrome skimmed off to reveal the cast iron underneath...

bazzee

 

[Andy]

This is an interesting thread. If there are pads available that work (even a little bit) when soaking wet then I want some.
In persistent rain I have developed a habit of dragging the brakes every so often, just until they start to work, so they’re (hopefully) there when I need them

 

[Vince]

I had changed to a right side gear lever as I was fully sick of the false neutrals with the warn out crossover linkage. That meant I had a way more direct linkage to the very very strong rear drum add the new at the time dual compound rear tyre that was very hard on the centre on a very wet ride I had front discs that don't work at all and a rear brake that would lock really easily on the extreme power it had and a very hard tyre. I was thinking what the hell have I done buying this death trip of a bike. The rear was fixed by adding stronger return springs on the brake shoes and softer tyres and the front was finally fixed 20 years later with the sanding and cleaning of the discs.

 

[martymoose]

HH pads on my commuter bandit wore out in under 10,000km. Have gone for HS (sintered) this time.

TC reckons he has sourced the good pads for the SF2. 73 days and counting.....

 

[Normski]

On my workhorse Guzzis used in all weathers I’ve always fitted Ferodo Platinum pads - I’ve not had a brake lag moment in 100k miles of using them wet or dry. They do wear the cast iron discs a little.

 

[martymoose]

Do you know what they are? Platinum sounds like a marketing name. The HH pads on the commuter bandit where Ferodo, but not called Platinum here in Oz.

 

[martymoose]

Green ones look oily.....
Blues ones useless on stainless steel, squeal like a bastard
Normal black ones shit in the wet on cast iron.