How oftern do you change your rear brake pad

[gkdozer]

My rear brake pad lasted for about 4 months with about 4500km of riding. I'm kind of a person who apply the rear brake often. of course no wheel lock. However, isn it strange for brake pad to be replace every 4500km?

Workshop told me that my rear rotor may be the cause of it. Rotor was found to be quite worn. Besides a worn rotor, what could have cause the short lifespan of my brake pad?

My ride is an 2009 non-ABS fz6.

 

[nivag]

I use my rear brake a lot mainly from a lot of town riding, helps balance the bike at slow speeds and to me this sounds too short between changes.

What pads are you using? Are you resting your foot on the lever while riding?
A badly worn disc would affect the longevity of a pad.

 

[Carlos840]

My bike is a 2009 FZ6 with 12000 km and the rear pads are still like new.

I mostly use the rear brake when i am a a red light to keep the brake light on.

I would say that 95% of my braking is done with the front, i will sometimes use the rear brake if i really need to, but that doesn't happen often.

 

[fb40dash5]

I don't use mine much at all. A little bit at speed, but mostly while stopped. I put Galfers on it at about 12k miles and the stockers (assuming, anyway) still had plenty of life. About 7k miles on those and they're still very meaty.

Does the piston retract smoothly? Slide pins smooth?

 

[Nelly]

I use about two sets of rear pads to one set of fronts. A worn disc might be the cause of premature pad wear. The rear pads do wear unevenly with the pad being pushed by the piston showing the greatest amount of wear.

Nelly:thumbup:

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

I'm on the original rears at 17,000 miles, maybe half worn but I use both the fronts and rear fairly equally. Second set on the front.

If the rear disc is torn up/rough, yes it'll eat pads faster.

More often what happens (usually the fronts), the caliper seals get old, the caliper piston sticks and doesn't release the pads fully (excessive dragging/wear). Yamaha recommends seal replacement every TWO YEARS. IME, in real life you can easily get twice that.

I would give the calpiers/brake pads a good cleaning with brake cleaner (some air if an air compressor is available too).
Then, pull the chain off the rear sprocket and set it aside(over the swingarm). Tighten everything back down, pump up the brakes and spin the rear tire. If the brakes are dragging excessively, the wheel won't rotate much and stop well within one rotation.

An easy, on the road way to check for excessive drag(applies to fronts and back brakes):

Go for a ride, say 50 MPH for 10-15 minutes then stop fairly quickly with the FRONT BRAKES ONLY. Carefully feel the rear rotor. It should be cool to cold. If its hot, there's an issue there with them dragging too much.

You can check the fronts doing the same procedure but stopping of course with the rear wheel only..


And Neil, if your pads are wearing unevenly, the caliper should be centering itself causing even wear to both pads. Cleaning and re-greasing (with brake specific grease) to the bolts/pins that the caliper slides on (and should center) should help with the un-even wear.

 

[dpaul007]

^^What he said. Saved me a bunch of typing I just replaced my caliper seals this past weekend and the pads don't drag as much. Definitely worth doing.

 

[tejkowskit]

Got 22000 miles on my current pads. Still plenty of pad left. I apply front and rear brakes evenly.

 

[redoliander]

I've got over 40000 miles on the bike and I'm on the original rear pads. I hardly ever use the rear brake. Only for panic stops and if I go off-roading. Lol!


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[Nelly]

I replaced the rear disc, pads and seals last year. Calipers and pistons are cleaned every four months due to the amount of rain we get. Also rear spins freely.
Nelly

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[regder]

115k km and still lots of life left on it. Don't really use it too much for braking, but do use it frequently at low speeds. For reference, I'll normally go through a set of fronts every 40k km.

Only way a set of pads will wear out every 4500km is if the caliper is seized (you can tell by putting it on the centre stand and spinning the rear tire, should spin with only a little resistance). It will not wear out that quickly from a worn rotor unless the rotor is made out of 100grit sandpaper.

I suspect you may be inadvertently applying the back brake by accident while riding. I've seen a few people do it without realizing.

 

[FIZZER6]

I'm on my original rear AND front pads with 20,000 miles on my 2006! 95% of my riding is on country roads with no traffic and few stops and in the mountains and I engine brake with only light braking (to turn the brake light on). My brakes are loving life!:thumbup:

 

[FinalImpact]

At this rate I'll replace them when I replace the bike! Upwards of 18,000 miles and no appreciable wear.

How dirty/dusty are your conditions? Also, air in the lines will prevent the caliper from properly retracting AND WILL ALSO expand when heated (more so than brake fluid) forcing the piston into the rotor. Thus accellerating the pad wear.

Another factor could include an improperly adjusted master cyclinder (MC). Between the lever and MC, there should be a small amount of free play or the MC may be partially depressed and holding the brake on.
Do you have a Factory Service Manual (FSM)?

 

[justaguy]

Why not replace them when they wear out? Get the factory service manual and change them when they reach the factory minimum thickness.

Problem solved

 

[Andz]

My bike is ten years old, 52,000 odd km and still has the originals. I only use the back brake if I need to stop really fast.

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Why not replace them when they wear out? Get the factory service manual and change them when they reach the factory minimum thickness.

Problem solved

I think everyone IS posting when they replace them as needed (as requested by the the OP). Some folks get longer mileage than others depending on conditions, how they ride, etc.