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Uneven brake pad wear

4K views 16 replies 9 participants last post by  OveRReV 
#1 · (Edited)
I just flushed and bled the brakes after inspecting the pads. I bought new pads but after inspection, I didn't install them. Here is why:

On clutch side, the pads had about 3.9mm and 3.4mm left, while the throttle side had 3.7mm and 2.2mm of material left (alarming).


When I bought the bike almost two years ago, he said the front brakes had been sticking so he rebuilt the MC. Well they felt fine to me until now so I went ahead with the brake job.

Now I wonder, are the throttle side brake pad guide pins hanging up one pad? Or does the caliper need to be rebuilt? Has this ruined my throttle side rotor?

Thanks for reading.


Bike is a 2005 600rr
 
#4 ·
Hey thanks for the response, yeah the only one that seemed like a red flag was 2.2mm but if it's not indication of anything drastic or dangerous then that makes me feel better.


found uneven pad wear on OE pads and changed at about 20K miles. (now @ 50K miles on EBC HH)

cleaned pistons gently and well, used lots of brake cleaner, cycled in/out 2x3 times while cleaning, had flushed lines already.

since, with every front tire change, I clean brakes as best I can with a good flushing and wipedown of pistons.....

pad wear still slightly uneven, but fairly equal.

(i don't brake hard, all street miles)
Thanks for this first hand. I don't mind a little uneven wear as long as I'm getting all the braking I can. Maybe I can do a little distance test.

I'll clean them up and go ahead with the pad install.
 
#3 ·
found uneven pad wear on OE pads and changed at about 20K miles. (now @ 50K miles on EBC HH)

cleaned pistons gently and well, used lots of brake cleaner, cycled in/out 2x3 times while cleaning, had flushed lines already.

since, with every front tire change, I clean brakes as best I can with a good flushing and wipedown of pistons.....

pad wear still slightly uneven, but fairly equal.

(i don't brake hard, all street miles)
 
#7 ·
You can see sometimes it evens wear unevenly front to back.. Completely normal.

Most of the guys here even rotate their pads around to get even wear.
Thanks I'll have to check that out too.
2 tips i have for cleaning your calipers and pistons.

1. never user brake cleaner. It swells seals. Use Simple green industrial cleaner. Easier on everything and cleans amazing.
2. after expanding your pistons out for cleaning, dry, and then put a bit of brake fluid around the piston and push back in. It lubricates the surface and allows them to slide easier. you can use a q-tip or i use a syringe to drop it on to the piston.

All my pads have even wear.

my .02 anyhow.
Thanks for the tips. Do you know approximately how far the piston can come out before it falls out? I found this rebuild kit from BrakeCrafters of Arizona: 2005 2006 Honda CBR600RR CBR 600 RR Brakecrafter Front Brake Caliper Seal Kit | eBay

I think I'll clean and then inspect the seals/piston movement and then make the rebuild decision. bike has 34,500 miles.
 
#6 ·
2 tips i have for cleaning your calipers and pistons.

1. never user brake cleaner. It swells seals. Use Simple green industrial cleaner. Easier on everything and cleans amazing.
2. after expanding your pistons out for cleaning, dry, and then put a bit of brake fluid around the piston and push back in. It lubricates the surface and allows them to slide easier. you can use a q-tip or i use a syringe to drop it on to the piston.

All my pads have even wear.

my .02 anyhow.
 
#10 ·
I've never cleaned my pistons very well. I've never lubed the pins. I brake like a madman every chance I get. My pads wear even for the most part, but not perfectly. I'm ok with it.
 
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#12 ·
I would like that! I prefer even wear even if it's not a problem.
Check and lube your pins (replace or polish them if they look real rough). Make sure you grease the guides that the tabs on the pads sit in. I use white lithium grease from the tube (not spray can) to lube all the friction points for the pads. Are the lines all OEM? When was the last time you flushed the old fluid out?

Also, I just bought all the seals to rebuild 2 calipers for an 03 and it was 50$ for everything. I'd go with OEM over ebay aftermarket any day. I get my dealership to match HondaEastToledo's prices because I bought a lot of OEM parts fixing up my bike.
All lines are OEM yeah. This was the first time flushing them out in the 22 months I've had the bike :tard: Not too much air really, few bubbles at first but it was a mild rusty orange color.
The guy I bought the bike from said he rebuilt the MC within the last 1000 miles (when I bought it. I've put about 13k on it since) so I assume the lines were flushed then too. Front at least. I'll look into the dealer for the seals, that's a fine price for quality peace of mind, thanks.
 
#11 ·
Check and lube your pins (replace or polish them if they look real rough). Make sure you grease the guides that the tabs on the pads sit in. I use white lithium grease from the tube (not spray can) to lube all the friction points for the pads. Are the lines all OEM? When was the last time you flushed the old fluid out?

Also, I just bought all the seals to rebuild 2 calipers for an 03 and it was 50$ for everything. I'd go with OEM over ebay aftermarket any day. I get my dealership to match HondaEastToledo's prices because I bought a lot of OEM parts fixing up my bike.
 
#13 · (Edited)
When I bought the bike almost two years ago, he said the front brakes had been sticking so he rebuilt the MC.
Sounds like a poor diagnosis to me.

There's two things I do religiously on a bike. Every year I flush the fluid front and rear with sealed DOT 4 - this makes a HUGE difference in braking power due to the removal of moisture. The difference between old fluid with moisture contamination and new fresh fluid is very close to the difference between steel braided brake lines and rubber lines. It's that big of a deal.

The other thing is that whenever the bike gets pads, it gets calipers overhauled. It doesn't cost a lot for OE seals and it doesn't take much to overhaul them. I have an ultrasonic cleaner so it's even easier. Uneven pad wear is usually caused by a sticky piston or rusty caliper pin. If you just overhaul the calipers you can wire-wheel the pins (or replace) and when done you know it's perfect. I like having perfect brakes, especially on a bike that's as fast as these things are.

After that, if you flush the fluid every year, you should be able to keep the system perfect. When it's a used bike, with an unknown history, I like to start fresh with OE spec performance as the foundation.

I've done a hell of a lot of work to my '06 with respect to maintenance and it only had 40K on it and it did not look beat at all. I am really shocked how much work it needed and how well it's come together. It's almost at the point where I would call it 'as new' with respect to performance. With the amount and scope of maintenance mine required, I'm thinking most of these bikes that I see on the road probably need a fair amount of work if they have time/miles on them. That's not to say they are not reliable, it's a Honda, but mine needed practically everything. I wonder sometimes if it's due to the fact that it's a very high-end/high performance machine and so it's harder on everything.
 
#14 ·
That's not to say they are not reliable, it's a Honda, but mine needed practically everything. I wonder sometimes if it's due to the fact that it's a very high-end/high performance machine and so it's harder on everything.
Going by your signature, thats not normal. But by having to do the clutch already it would seem the bike was a bit abused and probably not maintained well before you got it. I've beated on my F4i for over 79,000 miles and have never done starter or clutch work. Everything else is maintainence.
 
#17 ·
When i change pads i clean the calipers too by splitting it & popping the pistons out, clean the seals & o-rings then lube the o-rings with silicone grease before putting the pistons back in. I change the seals maybe every 10K kms or 2yrs of track use. Also polish the pins & wet them with grease to prevent it from rusting, thinking of getting titanium pins are they never rust, they make your calipers lighter too. ?
 
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