Brake pad changing - my tips and experience

[dazznutts 167]

Did my pads again last 2nd time since ive had bike from new (almost 2 years) 

both sets of pad have only lasted 8,000 miles the goldfern ones i put on lasted the same as the honda oem ones

this time ive put on EBC HH pads will these last longer ?

Edited August 19, 2016 by dazznutts

[TJW 44]

Hi folks,

 

Did my rear brake pads today and first had a bit of a problem with the inner pad scratching on the aluminium of the rim when turing the tyre (by hand) and with the tyre 'catching' on the mount when turning it backwards (again, by hand).

 

Afterwards I noticed that there was a bit of a wet spot on the rear hugger (near the shock absorber). I checked and noticed that the brake fluid container had fluid running down behind it and the bolt that holds it in place was wet with fluid too. However, the brake fluid was 'to the upper level' and the rear-brake works just fine.

 

Been wondering if I might have overdone it a bit when pushing the piston back when trying to get the new pads in/alligned? Any thoughts?

 

Also, having checked the paperwork it was not without surprise that I had them changed only pretty much 1 year (and only 3,700 miles) ago … which doesn't feel right even with me admitting that I rarely use the front brake.

[trisaki 2,029]

Still running on original fitment pads on my Nc700x 9600 in - front and rear

Edited August 31, 2016 by trisaki

[stephenmcg 869]

My first post in a long time. Busy with work. The only thing I would add, for people never changed pads before, remember to pump brakes before riding again. Smug in Glasgow. Ps sorry if someone already put this in

[stephenmcg 869]

Sorry again, should have put smcg in Glasgow. Spell check on new tablet.

[Guest Mac750]

Interested in you not using the front brake much.

I use the front brake first then the rear brake a split second afterwards so both brakes are used. This is how I was taught many years ago before assistive braking systems and multi disc brakes. Not so hard that the front brakes lock up ( front wheel skids are very bad news ) but you can "feel" the front brakes better and with modern rubber the grip is far far better than the old block tread rubber , plus your legs are stronger than your hands and in an emergency grabbing a boot full of rear brake would result in a back wheel lock up, ( non ABS machines ) Back end slides can be controlled by counter steering or avoided by "dabbing " the pedal like an ABS but in reality a rear end slide usually means it was a panic break and loss of control and possibly coming off. I have always favoured the front brake just before the rear and never had any problem even at warp speed when a car pulled out. Plus I always "cover" the front brake with my two fingers and my toe hovers near the rear brake lever when off the throttle. Defensive riding instruction many years ago from when plod use to run advanced courses. I maybe behind the times as modern bikes and brakes now work so much better than my old 750/4.

[TJW 44]

Having had a chat with a few guys in a shop the other day I found that it is taught these days to predominantly use the front brake and only use the rear brake for speeds up to 5 mph and to 'hold the bike' when stationary. Given that I've had my full licence for 20+ years I quite can't remember how I was taught in the old days.

 

It is, however, true that the front brake is much more effective as compared to the rear brake (a somewhat crazy friend of mine even took his rear brake off his track-bike to save weight and because he never uses it anyway). 

 

It has to do with how the centre of gravity shifts when braking. Braking makes the centre of gravity shift forwards, and this means that weight comes off the rear wheel (which means it locks up easier) whilst it also means that weight is put on the front wheel ...

[Guest eifionglyn]

Went out to do this today on my 2016 750X.

 

Front real easy, calliper off, pads out, squeeze the pistons out a bit, clean it all up and put it all back together.

 

Rear not so much. Damn exhaust in the way. I reckon I can undo the calliper mounting bolt with an open ended spanner with the exhaust can in place, but no way I can get a torque wrench in there with the can in place, so that will have to be removed, or at least loosened and rotated out of the way.

 

Any tips or gotchas on that? Gaskets I'm going to have to replace? I'm reluctant to start doing something I might not be able to finish as the bike is my daily transport.

[Guest aldmannie]

On 21/09/2016 at 17:36, TJW said:

Braking makes the centre of gravity shift forwards

 

 

AFAIK the CofG of any object is dependent on the distribution of its mass.

I don't think the brakes move mass around...?

[TJW 44]

3 hours ago, aldmannie said:

 

 

AFAIK the CofG of any object is dependent on the distribution of its mass.

I don't think the brakes move mass around...?

Actually they do move mass around -not literally - of course.

 

Take a picture of a motorbike. Now draw a horizontally levelled line along the length of the bike - let's say at the height of where the NC700 logo is. The centre of gravity then can be pictured as to go downwards (like an arrow leaving the horizontal line) in a 90 degree angle. If you brake the front o the bike 'dips' slightly as it sinks into the suspension. This dipping also alters the horizontal line by making it also dip. As a result of this the 90 degree angle of the downward arrow starts to point slightly to the back … hence indicating that the centre of gravity has shifted forwards, which takes weight of the rear wheel, which makes it more prone to blocking … At the same time the shifting centre of gravity puts more weight on the front wheel … and therefore makes the front brake more effective. This, btw, is the reason why I don't know anybody who has a bike for track-days which has a rear-brake.

[TJW 44]

3 hours ago, eifionglyn said:

Went out to do this today on my 2016 750X.

 

Front real easy, calliper off, pads out, squeeze the pistons out a bit, clean it all up and put it all back together.

 

Rear not so much. Damn exhaust in the way. I reckon I can undo the calliper mounting bolt with an open ended spanner with the exhaust can in place, but no way I can get a torque wrench in there with the can in place, so that will have to be removed, or at least loosened and rotated out of the way.

 

Any tips or gotchas on that? Gaskets I'm going to have to replace? I'm reluctant to start doing something I might not be able to finish as the bike is my daily transport.

 

I didn't find the rear pads, etc. a problem at all. Just remove the ABS sensor and take the rear bolt of the calliper out. You then will be able to lift the callipers up and forward … It says in the Workshop Manual one of the bolts (can't remember which one) needs to be replaced but I couldn't be bothered doing so and all has been fine since then despite it.

 

I didn't bother using a torque wrench either as very tricky to access, instead I tightened the bolt as good as possible with a wrench and a hammer and marked it with red nail varnish (from the Misses) so it becomes easy to spot should it start to loosen up ...

 

Be careful when you put the ABS sensor back. There is a plate with a little notch on it and the actual sensor itself. If you install the plate with the notch first and then the sensor (bending the notch in the process of doing so like I did) the distance between the sensor and the pulser ring is way too big and the ABS won't work. I had to bend the notch back out, install it the right way round and all was fine again ...

[Andy m 23,542]

4 hours ago, eifionglyn said:

Went out to do this today on my 2016 750X.

 

Front real easy, calliper off, pads out, squeeze the pistons out a bit, clean it all up and put it all back together.

 

Rear not so much. Damn exhaust in the way. I reckon I can undo the calliper mounting bolt with an open ended spanner with the exhaust can in place, but no way I can get a torque wrench in there with the can in place, so that will have to be removed, or at least loosened and rotated out of the way.

 

Any tips or gotchas on that? Gaskets I'm going to have to replace? I'm reluctant to start doing something I might not be able to finish as the bike is my daily transport.

 

Don't use a torque wrench. When was yours last callibrated? The one in the dealer? If it makes you feel happier, write 28Nm on the open spanner, but don't kid yourself anyone really torques anything except head gaskets. Tighten by feel and check it in 200 miles.

 

Andy

[Guest Hati]

Removing the exhaust can is a 30 second job. You have two (TWO) bolts to handle, the sleeve clamp and the foot peg support. That's it. Fitting it back might take 35 second because you want to line up the can with the pipe.

[setdetnet 77]

Can we get a video of the procedure

Please

[Skidt 1,306]

This guy is a long term owner and YouTuber. He has done lots of videos of him doing various maintenance jobs on his NC750X. 
Worth a search through his back catalogue. 

Just don’t take every word said as gospel. He (as do all of us) does make mistakes occasionally. You can always refer to the owners service manual, available at the top middle of this page, on the “Downloads” tab, for further reference.

 

 

Edited November 4, 2022 by Skidt

[setdetnet 77]

Thanks for that I've subbed to his channel