I was rolling slowly forwards at a stoplight yesterday, and heard a griding noise from the front wheel.  It turns out, I had worn-down the front pads completely in 6600 miles.  The smaller pad (the one without ears) was worn down into the shiny metal brake shoe for 1mm at the inside edge (edge nearest the wheel hub).  Yow!  I'm almost sure I inspected them maybe 2k miles ago, and they still had the indicator groove.

I think Kerry said he got 17k miles out of his.  90% of my miles are short trips on city streets (my daily commute is all streets), so that may have something to do with the difference.

Anyways, it was good to notice on a Friday afternoon.  Bike shops are open, I don't have to work, and $33 later (loctite was $3), I'm back and running.

Moral of story: don't always assume you can get 10k miles out of a set of pads.

Brake pad wear varies drastically.  It depends on how fast you go, how hard you brake, how often you brake, how heavy you are.  It's a regular before-you-get-on-the-bike daily inspection, IMO; easy to look at.

...
this reminds me,
is it normal for new brake pads to 'whine'?

i have a new gs500f 2005, and since I started riding it (from 6 miles to the present 1300 miles), rear brakes 'whine' whenever I apply a gentle pressure.

what's up with that.

Not unless you're being mean to them...

Rear brake squeal is another do-a-search.    If you've already applied antisqueal, use that as your "use more front brake" audio indicator.

The new pads seem to work fine, feel fine, and the mounting bolts are holding tight.  But I notice that when I pull on the brake lever, the whole brake caliper pivots a small amount (maybe 1mm).  That would seem to indicate that it's not perfectly aligned with the brake disc.  Can anyone else look and see if their caliper pivots when they apply brakes?

Quote from: Rema1000when I pull on the brake lever, the whole brake caliper pivots a small amount (maybe 1mm). [...] Can anyone else look and see if their caliper pivots when they apply brakes?

Around what "axis" does the caliper pivot?  Do you watch this happen while you're squatting beside the bike, or riding down the road, or ...?

Your brakes should NOT be moving except the pad squeezing and you shouldn't even notice that.

A friend grabbed my brake lever and squeezed hard, and after that, the brake caliper barely moves at all when pulling the lever.

I think I figured-out what happened: behind the brake shoes, there is a gold-colored tin plate.  It has a pair of tabs which go behind the back of the smaller brake pad.  I had bent these by accident.  When braking, this had no effect.  But when not braking, the pushed the outside edge of the smaller pad against the rotor.

I took everything apart to straighten the tabs.  The new pads had been worn around the edges, but interestingly, were only lightly worn in the very center.  Anyways, pad wear looked nice and even.  With everything back together, the caliper assembly only just barely moves when you pull the brake lever.

The previous owner of my bike said he replaced the brakes very rarely because he used mostly engine braking (by downshifting).  I tend to apply a little bit of brake to turn my rear light on and grab driver attention behind me, but I mostly use engine braking as well.