Recently I was planning to upgrade the brakes, as I promised to report my experiences,..

I wanted to start simply by changing the standars pads by the best I could get around here and they are fisher iron pads.
I would have been satisfied with an improvement of 25% and to me it seemed unlikely that only changing pads would achieve this.
(the standard pads had 5k kilometers on it ) but to my great surprise emediatly after taking off from the dealer the brakes where better much better I would say close to a 50%
with much less force and a prompter action.
instead of adding an extra disc and stainless lines, other pads do make a difference big difference.
so Ime happy with a simple and relatively cheap solution...

Anyway around here you have to take care with strong braking actions, because most of the crossings here are spilled with oil residue from leaking diesels and old cars while waiting for the traffic lights and when it starts raining I turn ito a real slowpoke,...

greeting you all take care!

Glad to hear about the braking improvement.  \\How much were they, where did you get them?  Have you replaced the brake lines already as well?  Did you just replace the front pads?  Thanks!

+1 on the pad replacement

I just installed HH pads and I can't believe what an improvement this is

I paid around $50, which is a standard price around here, how does that compare to USA?

I also just recently replaced my Pads. While I only replaced the ones in the front, it made a big difference. 
I used EBC Sintered HH pads (part# FA231HH). I purchased them from a local CycleGear store for about $34.

Just some info for those like me have no idea what HH means

Quote
Brake Pad Frictional Formulation

Brake work on the crude principle of friction between two surfaces. To give a uniform measure of the frictional characteristics of a Brake Pad the SAE J866A test procedure is used to give a two chracter code e.g EE FF GG HH.
HH or GG

    * HH Pads These have the highest coefficient of Friction and are ideal for High performance motorcycles and race track use. Some modern performance motorcycles specify HH as standard. HH Pads sometime can prove grabby, scary in the wet and infective in every day use when they fail to reach a good operating temperature.

    * GG Pads This grade of Pad is a great all rounder and will perform well in most conditions. GG are softer than HH pads and bed in quicker on worn discs.

    * Mixing HH and GG Pads Many manufacturer specify HH for the front of performance Motorcycles with GG in the rear. This is because GG pads can give you more feel and control of the back brake. It is not considered safe to use HH in the rear with GG pads in the front.

Obviously Pads are only as good as the condition of the whole braking system. When first used Pads can sometimes give poor braking as residual moisture from manufacture works it way out and the pads bed in. It is best to bed in pads with gentle use and very heavy initial use can result in glazing. A condition where the resins in the pad crystalize with resulting poor performance and squeal.

I had the EBC HH pads on the 02 front and rear and used them year round here in NE OH with no problems.  Didn't require any special warming up and provided additional stopping power similar to what toyopete describes.  They're just a little harder on the rotors than the organic pads.

I tried them after the front rotor turned blue in the mountains a couple times.  I would caution against using on the rear if you don't have 100k miles of rear brake usage experience on the GS.    

I replaced the fronts with conventional organic pads when I changed the front tire last fall and that's all I could get locally when I discovered the pads were worn out at the last moment.  Still have EBC HH rears though.

ditto on the HH pads, I got that upgrade on my 05 and its a night/day affair... very nice, very solid braking and seems a little more controllable from a grip point of view (not as much pressure required to get same braking)

Agreed that pads make a big difference, and stainless lines are definitely a worthwhile investment too.  I could outbrake all my friends at the last track day, I was running WOT all the way to the last brake marker and then hitting the binders, where most of them were rolling off before the first brake marker (probably 150ft between all of the markers first-last).

EBC HH have lasted quite a while on the street, plus 2 track days.

Quote from: EdChen on September 27, 2007, 10:48:19 PM
Glad to hear about the braking improvement.  \\How much were they, where did you get them?  Have you replaced the brake lines already as well?  Did you just replace the front pads?  Thanks!

I only replaced the front pads, since Ime using them often without the rearbrakes,  besides with the  panicstops I made the rear was functioning very well even better than I used to on my other bikes (  Yamaha 600 fazer and the SV 1000 ) and with more feel

I believe they are standard Ime not sure because first owner did'nt use the front brake at all ,....afraid he would turn over,.....so possibly he replaced it already using it that much, only using the rear brake to come to a stop takes a lot of force , but then he also stated he never had it above 80 kilometers p hour.....

steele brake lines are better than any pads

Quote from: OgGy on September 27, 2007, 11:24:39 PM

+1 on the pad replacement

I just installed HH pads and I can't believe what an improvement this is

I paid around $50, which is a standard price around here, how does that compare to USA?

I paid 100 reais for them wich should be around 45 dollars

Quote from: EdChen on September 27, 2007, 10:48:19 PM
Glad to hear about the braking improvement.  \\How much were they, where did you get them?  Have you replaced the brake lines already as well?  Did you just replace the front pads?  Thanks!

I got hem at Guimareas in Salvador Brasil paid about 45 usd for them if  the comming weeks are not after my satisfaction Ill add the stainless brake lines as follow-up.

Quote from: pbureau69 on September 28, 2007, 11:39:00 AM
ditto on the HH pads, I got that upgrade on my 05 and its a night/day affair... very nice, very solid braking and seems a little more controllable from a grip point of view (not as much pressure required to get same braking)

I would say much more feel but possibly the old brake pads where poluted with oil that was leaking from the front fork when I bought it...