new brake pads thickness?

[etam]

how thick when new? what's minimum to replace? front and rear? or I should go home to read my owner manual? clymer manual?  I am surprise that it doesn't show up from search.. or my seach is not good...

[RVertigo]

There's a wear marker line on the pad...  That's about all I can tell ya :dunno:

[etam]

ok.. guess I should really go check how much pad is left..

I just can't believe that I finish a set of pads in around 6000km..
last owner changed them before I took ownership... must be soft
pads...  I don't brake hard.. learn to brake easy with the stock front
fork springs.

[Kerry]

Here's an example for the front pads:



On the left are my just-about-shot OEM pads.

On the bottom is a set of EBC Kevlar (or Organic) pads with a good bit of wear left.

On the right is a brand new set of Galfer pads.  Notice the lack of grooves.  (Thanks for asking the question - now I have to convince myself that I'll know when to replace them!  But that won't be for many thousands of miles yet....)

[scratch]

Best thing to do is to look at your pads to see how much material you have left.
For the front - kneel down in front of your front wheel, in-line with the brake rotor, pad thickness should be obviously more than 2mm.
The rear has the little wear-markers/grooves - to view, pop the plastic cover off - if they do not have the markers/grooves, make sure you have more than 2mm of pad left, and order a new set of pads. Same thing for the front.

[Frost]

usually how long does the stock pad last?

and what's the best brake pad out there??

[scratch]

Depends on how aggressive you are on the brakes. 6k-15k miles.

Depends on what you want out of a brake pad.
Do you want the least expensive?
Do you want the longest lasting (sacrificing grip and feel)?
Do you want to stop really, really fast?

Inexpensive pads are EBC.
Longest lasting - dunno :dunno: EBC?
Quickest stopping (but wear really, really fast and are $) - Ferodo

I think Galfer makes pads too, those are $.

[etam]

checked my pads this morning.. and I can still clearly see the grove on the pads.. should be good then!

Frost, if you need pads, local store like, cycle world and parker bros gave me good quote on EBC pads  FA 231 (front ~C$40) and FA63 (rear ~C$40).. comparable to order from US but skip shipping and don't need to wait.

[Kerry]

Inexpensive pads are EBC.
[...]
I think Galfer makes pads too, those are $.

Galfer offers a few different lines.  Some of them ARE fairly expensive.

But the OEM-style "Galfer Black" pads in the photo above are actually a bit cheaper than the inexpensive EBC pads (FA231) next to them.  The same price difference applies to the rear pads.  (At least from Chaparral - see my GS500 Brake Parts page.)