Ducati Monster Forum

It's time for me to put on new front brake pads on my M695. Does anyone have any recommendations?

EBC Sintered?
Ferodo Platinum?
Ferodo XR Array Cooling?

Thanks for your input.

I'm in the same boat.  Hopefully someone will make some good recommendations

Don't get sintered unless you're planning on getting new rotors more often than you'd like.  Great for race applications, but sintered pads eat up rotors faster than you'd like

The Platinums have gotten universally good reviews

Some details on pads
http://www.sportbikesolutions.com/sintered_vs_organic.htm

Great info! Thanks a ton.

It sounds like high quality sintered pads (that have better cooling) might actually be the way to go for me. I ride streets mostly (commute/tour) with only occasional track days. Can anyone back this up, or am I way off in my analysis? Would the Platinum organic pads work better for my application?

I have been using ebc sintered for street/track days. I'm on my second set of those and OEM rotors @ 19K mi... But I replace brake parts more often than I really need to ( I still had a good 6K on my first pads/ rotors).

they are great pads for aggressive street and occasional track.

just my FHE, may not apply for everyone.

Q

CARBONE LORRAINE Brake Pads: 2 Pin  (http://www.motowheels.com/italian/myproducts.cfm?parentcategoryid=116%7CDucati&productID=2794&showDetail=1&categoryID=122|Brake%20Pads&vendoridtodisplay=0&filterFor=&collection=168%7CEuropean%20Motorcycle%20Parts)

I just put the Ferodo Sintered on the front and the Ferodo Platinum on the Rear of my S2R 800, I ordered some Platinums for the front from Ca Cycleworks, but Chris from Cycleworks sent me an Email advising against the Platinums for the front, He did say the Platinums would work but he is not a big fan of the OEM Brembo's on the front of the S2R800/695 so he suggested put on the Sintered.

I put them on on Sunday, The braking experience is a lot better than the OEM pads, The front is now just Awesome, It might be a bit harder on the disc, But such is life.
I've always hated the rear brake, it now has a lot more feel and stopping power, it's not as good as I would like, but a lot better than OEM.

Overall the braking power and feel is much better, I can highly recommend the Ferodo's

Thanks for all the input, everyone. I figure I'll get EBC for the front and down the line when I need to I'll get the Platinum's for the rear.   [beer]

Is it easy to replace the brake pads yourself?  Need any special tools?  Any how-to guides?

EBC HH sintered pads....though it may wear the rotor faster, I really haven't noticed  and have used them on my last three bikes.  Wear and tear on brake parts is fine with me as long as I can stop well.   As far as skill level, if you can change your oil, you can easily change your pads...and it is not as messy imo.

The fronts were very easy, did them in 5 mins per side, the rear was a pregnant dog! Access is not easy if you can't the wheel off, but I got the caliper off towards the swing arm side, removing the pin was also a pregnant dog, slip off the little E clip and tap the pin out from what I read.

2 hours later and I'm going insane, I checked the caliper for any extra clips because that pin would not budge, but after reading here there is a little pressure clip that makes the pin very hard to remove, I assume to stop the pin sliding out if the E clip falls off, I got the pin about 3 mm out and then used a flat blade screwdriver under the lip of the pin to remove/slide it out (being very gentle so as to not damage the caliper or the pin)
Pads dropped out with the small metal piece, popped in new pads and metal tab piece, reinstalled pin and reinstalled caliper.

Took them out and bedded the pads in, crowd goes wild!  [thumbsup]

Just to inject some pessimism: I had the EBCs last time, and my rotors wore out pretty fast. I had them professionally replaced with brand new galfer wave rotors and ferodo platinum pads about a year ago, and now I already have some pulsing/warping.  I hate brakes.

I guess the lesson is that it matters more how carefully you wear them in and use them than it does which compound you choose.

Bedding in the brakes is very important as it causes a thin layer of pad material to be deposited on the rotor rotor surface so that braking is pad wearing on pad material, not pad abrasively contacting rotor.

Lot's of "how-to's" on the interweb machine.

edit: here's one I stole from a thread over in tech.
http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_bedintheory.shtml

.... so i tried searching for a write up on how to remove the rear pads and there were too many unrelated posts to sort through.  I figured eh, it should be fairly straight forward.

I go out to my garage and start by removing the c clip on the inner side of the caliper.  Then i push... nothing... i push harder.. still nothing.  Finally i end up taking the caliper off, take a look and to my amazement.. i see nothing.  (i guess i didnt look hard enough) i try wiggling the pads while pushing on the pins and still nothing.  I figure its just corroded on there so i end up rebolting the caliper back on and take a  hammer with a punch and force it through.  After several hits, it barely budges.  After more persistent "tapping" it slides through and i find bits of a metal ring around the other end of the pin  [bang] [bang] 

Now my question is... do i need to replace that retainer that i completely destroyed or will i be ok only using the one on the outside of the caliper?  Obviously having that extra clip on the inside is good to have but i feel its unnecessary.

Other question, how do you force the pistons back without removing the caliper?? I tried before i removed the caliper and it was nearly impossible. 

Lastly, sorry for bumping such an old thread but this forum search is horrible. 

CA CycleWorks has said that our undersized brakes should have the Ferodo XR Racing pads for any real improvement.
Are there any concerns I didn't know about?

You could probably get away with just the clip, but, hey, we are talking brakes here!  Yeah, I know, most of us don't use the rear brake much, but still.  The pin is available from Ducati as a spare part.  In the meantime, I would use safete wire as well as the clip to ride temporarily.  When you get the new pin a little touch of copper anti sieze will keep this from happening in the future.  In the rear I use whatever brand HH pad is available since I'm one of the most of us.

One point that hasn't been touched on here. The difference in heat transfer/retention between metal(sintered) and organic pads. Organics act as an insulator and will keep the majority of the heat in the ROTORS. Sintered on the other hand acts as a heatsink and draws heat away from the rotors and will trasnfer some into the system(calipers/fluid). Good and bad on both counts as different parts of the brake system take the stress. I for one go with what the ROTOR is designed to use. Putting an organic on when a sintered is called for will reduce overall power in harder applications and increase the likelihood of warpage. On the flipside, sintered's can be hard on rotors....

The carbon/ceramic composite pads are a great in between. Even tho they are techinically an organic, the ceramic component still acts as a heatsink to some degree as it actually needs heat to work and they are more friendly to the rotor. They have less initial bite than sintered's and can usually require a little more heat in them to become wicked-powerful but I am diggin em so far....

When you mention "Ferodo sintered" - do you mean the XR Racing version?
If so, what is the downside with them, if any? Wear, heat, initial bite too strong ... ? ....?

When I ordered the pads they were listed as a Ferodo Sintered on Chris's website, A couple of weeks later Chris relaunched/redesigned the page and they changed the name, I assume the XR is the same (Sintered)

Overall the OEM package is OK for commuting but when I was out pushing hard in the local ranges the OEM pads just lacked feel.

I put the Sintered on and although they are not as good when cold (Still more than safe though), as soon as they get warm they are very impressive, the heat does not bother them any where near as much as the OEM pads (Handy when you live in hot and humid tropical Australia)
But when they are hot and working hard out in the mountain ranges they are worth every cent, amazing stopping power and very consistent, It's only when approaching the the bottom of the mountain range that the Pads start to get to to hot (160 tight turns connected by 2nd and 3rd gear Straights, very tough on brakes, but lottsa fun!  ;D )
 
But I intend to do the 320mm DP kit soon anyway, so this has been a good stop gap measure.

Might I suggest:

http://www.braketech.com/sportbikes/AXIS-Iron-Rotors.php (http://www.braketech.com/sportbikes/AXIS-Iron-Rotors.php)

These coupled with their Carbon/Ceramic CP2.11 pads are nothing short of phenominal! Initial bite is toned down a bit (my preference) and they want a little heat in them. But they are stunningly powerful after that and I haven't been able to get them to fade. Even on the track!  [thumbsup]

One thing tho. They are full floaters, so they rattle a bit at low speed and when you are pushing it around the garage/driveway. So if that kind of thing bothers ya....

Here they are on my RS:

(http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff38/hypurone/Monster%20S4RS/Yoydyne%20Slipper%20Clutch/Newestw_Clutch_Cover4.jpg)

Notice the patented load bearing surfaces near the buttons. These take ALL the load. Allowing the buttons to handle movement only and avoid warping.

I have the same rotors in stainless and they work quite well. Zero fade, although not quite as much 'bite' as iron rotors I've tried.

On the plus side, no rust  ;D

You just need to ride it more! Seriously tho, no rust on mine so far and we hang out at the coast an aweful lot too.They come with an anti-rust coating on them that you have to spend a fair amount of time getting off the rotor faces (use your old pads for this part!). The rest stays coated nicely and is obviously doing the job well...

I use to cp211 carbon ceramic pads too.  When really getting on the brakes hard, I too like the less sever "hit" upon initial application of the brakes.  From the point of initial bite the brakes then get extremely powerful and easy to modulate - good feel and VERY powerful, with no fade.  I wonder how the monoblocks could possibly be any better.

I also use the iron rotors and you can literally watch them rust once they get wet.  I don't think anyone who keeps their bike outside could use them. Not if it ever rains where you live anyway.  make the beast with two backsing good brakes though. [thumbsup] [moto]

LA

Ya know, I always forget about that part. I never leave my bikes outside, plus I never use water to clean the bike so I'm an oddity...  ;D

On the S*R, the clip is on the outside of the caliper see pic.

(http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm143/Tarugo996/P1000132.jpg)

The pad pin is a loose fit in the caliper, a wire retaining ring fits into a slot on the pin, the diameter of the retaining ring is such that it is an interference fit in the caliper, driving the pin into the caliper causes the ring to contract exerting pressure on both the pin and caliper thus securing the pin in position. This is the primary means of retention, the E clip is the safety.
The pin is headed and can only be fitted from one direction.
To remove the pin, remove the E clip and using a punch, lightly tap the pin out of the caliper until the retaining ring is clear.

Before removing the pads, check and note the orientation of the pad anti rattle clip as it can be a bit of a puzzle when reinstalling.

The sloppy fit between the pin and caliper, draws in and holds moisture, this can lead to corrosion and subsequent difficulty in removal, grease well with anti seize or my favourite Corrosion Block from Lear Chemicals.

(http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm143/Tarugo996/P1000852.jpg)

[thumbsup]
finally at home.
Never let me down, wears rotors abit but the bite is there!
Def worth a try IMHO.