Replacing Rear Brake Pads

[sledge]

You have asked for advice, you have been given it by several people, and you are ignoring it.

Your bike, your life, your choice Pal.....get on with it 

[fred]

Hmm Out of curiousity...what happens if I don't get a new rotor?
So I would just open the caliper, get it unstuck, replace the pads, make sure the wheel is definitely straight........if the rotor is below recommended thickness, will it warp, or? whats the problem with it being under a certain thickness?....I'm thinking to just leave it since I rarely use the rear brake....

Will the current rough surface of the rotor (currently it is very rough on the inside of the rotor) ruin the new brake pads??

You probably don't want to do that. Of all the things on your bike, tires and brakes are the two things you absolutely cannot cut corners with. You need to guarantee that your brakes do what you need every time you go for them. With a below spec rotor, you will not get full braking and if it is in any way warped or grooved, you will quickly destroy new pads. On a motorcycle you have so little room for error you just can't afford to let things like this go unattended. If you want a concrete example of why you need your back brake working at all times, here's a personal experience from a couple of weeks ago: I pulled out of the parking lot on the way home from work a couple of weeks ago and when I grabbed the front brake, there was nothing. The lever went to the handlebars without even slowing the bike down. I had good back brakes, so I could stop, but if they weren't up to snuff I could have been in even worse trouble. Turns out the front caliper had corroded too much and the seals weren't effective anymore. This kind of random failure is exactly why you need to make sure you have a good backup. Also, if you never use your back brake, when you replace the rotor and pads and make sure everything is running right, you'll have a back brake and it wont' wear out. The $200 in parts you need to fix this right will be much much cheaper than the consequences of even the most minor brake failure. You have to make sure that your next panic stop ends with you stopped, not you finding out that your second set of brakes has failed and you cannot avoid hitting whatever it is that made you panic in the first place.

[vorBH]

Thanks for the info, that was very helpful. For sure, Tires and Brakes #1 at most.

I bleed out the rear brake fluid today, pushed back the pistons, put in the new pads...but theres no pressure in the system yet because I need to put brake fluid back in/refill.

Only the inner brak pad was severely worn in PAST the metal plate too!!!...almost as if the wheel was running angled or something...the previous owner did not tighten the chain...the chain was so loose when I got it...like if no 2inches or more of play

I just put in the new pads to go get the safety certificate and transfer the licence plate and get that over with so I can ride legally.....after I will re-open the caliper and lube it up and also go to the mechanic to figure out the deal with the rotor....keep you posted, and really appreciate the help, thanks guys!

[08GSSteve]

Pads in most cases will not wear even, 1 pad will wear more than the other one or at least that has been the case on all my bikes.

If the pad wears uneven EG the pad wears on an angle then this is a good indication that the piston needs a clean and lube up to make it move evenly and without effort.  OR the pad has not been fitted correctly.



Oh by the way....You may want to learn HOW to use your rear brake as well or one day you will end up down the road rag doll style.  M/cycles have a rear brake to help you pull up and stop.  The rear brake also keeps the rear end of the bike in line under heavy braking.  Not a smart idea to not use the rear brake.

[allaussiegrown]

....I'm thinking to just leave it since I rarely use the rear brake...

You have been given answers to this issue by several people but are ignoring them and instead looking for justification for not doing what is being recommended  With this in mind I am not too surprised to read the above comment...........If you dont use the rear brake why not take the whole thing off, junk it and solve the problem that way???!

Your pads are worn, there is no friction material left...replace them.

Your disc is worn and is below what Suzuki says is a safe limit, it could warp even shatter in use and the damaged surface will rapidly wear out new pads. If you carry on using it and you are putting yourself and more importantly OTHERS at unnecessary risk....replace it.

Something could be out of alignment or your caliper could be seized or the pads could be hung up on the pins, no-one knows for certain because no-one has actually seen it and from your description its impossible to say with certainty. Your pads could simply have had a hard life from new and died a natural death. It will become obvious if something is siezed when an attempt is made to replace them and at the same time alignments and chain tension can be setup and checked.

OR........you can carry on asking the same questions and ignoring the facts/advice until some Numpty comes along and gives you the answer you WANT to hear.

That is a bit harsh, i think he is asking very valid questions. I don't think he would be ignorant enough to leave the brake as it is. I like to know the repercussions of my actions before i actually do it. A smart man learns from his mistakes, a wise man learns from others.

[vorBH]

That is a bit harsh, i think he is asking very valid questions. I don't think he would be ignorant enough to leave the brake as it is. I like to know the repercussions of my actions before i actually do it. A smart man learns from his mistakes, a wise man learns from others.

Thanks man, thats what I was doing, just shooting at what-if situations to see it from every angle and to really know what I left with...

Just like the other day in class, the Tuturial leader for a class presented us with her own summary sheet of some info...we showed it to the Prof and he said whats this?..and why are you using it to guide urself's'?...we said "because the Tut leader gave it to us"....Prof says "so what, doesn't mean you just walk off with that, you have to make your own resource and approach the material differently etc"..........long enough example...but point im trying to make......the major and important brake component of the bike, I didn't want to post one time, get an answer and vwallah done with....nope, sorry, I had to ask some more questions and learn......and much thanks to those who helped in my brake problem
2nd riding season, and realized tires and brakes REALLY important in terms of maintenance!