Ok so Ive had my bike for around a year now. I got it with only 366miles. Now it has over 5000. But my question is how long are the brake pads supposed to last. My front brake pads have more that half left an them but my rear ones are gone. Is this the average wear for the rear brakes. I use both brakes pretty even but I tend to like my front brake more. but now that im not using my rear brake I know how useful it is. So is my rear brake wearn normal.
Depends on how much you use them.
Just replace them - no need to lament over it.
They run about $35.00 or so for a set and you can be done with the whole thing in about 15 minutes. Also a great time to buy a MityVac and replace the brake fluid - this adds another 10 minutes to the job.
I've gone thru several sets of front pads but no rears - I never use the rear brake.
Umm... Maybe you constantly apply slight pressure to the rear brake lever? It's not too uncommon.
The rear pads wearing out much before the front ones definitely is NOT common.
The more you use them, the faster the brakes will wear out. It is possible that your rear brake pad was dragging slightly on the rotor; that would accelerate the wear. What condition is the rotor in? Is it worn / scored / discolored? During braking, weight shifts to the front wheel (as the fork springs compress), which makes it easier to lock the rear wheel, so you SHOULD use the front brake more than the rear, which you claim to be doing.
As to whether your brake wear is normal, I can't really say; I don't use my rear brake nearly as much as new riders do. Right now, I have 17K miles on my rear brake pads, and I fully expect them to last more than twice that long. I changed the brake fluid back in November, and the rear pads hardly look broken-in.
FWIW, I went to look at a GS for sale last year (trying to help a friend find his first motorcycle), and I was amazed to see rear brakes worn down, while front brake pads looked healthy. We went to look at one GS which might have been a bargain; the owner was asking $3K "FIRM" for it, which was well above KBB retail. I hoped it had been well cared for at that price, but I was wrong. The slacker/owner had RUINED his rear brake rotor; he used the rear brakes MUCH more than the front. When I asked him about the MSF, he told me a friend taught him to ride; he didn't "need" any MSF classes. With less than 7K miles ridden (in four years, on an '01 model!), he said he was "moving up" to something more suited to his skill level, probably a 600, but maybe a liter-bike if he could get it financed! He told me he almost never used the front brake, because he didn't want to be "thrown over the front wheel"; now we know what happens when a moron gets a motorcycle license...
That GS was seriously neglected; I don't think he'd even had the first service done to it (no paperwork to prove it; in fact, no receipts to document service or repairs of any kind). The tires were unevenly worn, the chain was dry and rusted, no cotter pin in either castle-nut on the wheels, nothing lubed or adjusted, corrosion taking hold everywhere... I told my friend to keep looking. I ran into the seller a few months later; he said he'd sold that GS to "an old guy" who wanted to fix it for his grandson, then teach him how to ride. I asked him if he'd mind telling me how much he got for it; he told me the buyer offered him $2K in cash, and he took it, since no one else had made him an offer. Here's hoping it went to a good home, where it will get better treatment. He said the buyer told him his son-in-law, the father of the grandson, had promised to teach the grandson to ride, but he was killed in Iraq, which is a shame; they should have sent the slacker...