Why are my brake pads shot after 2K miles?

[Cheese]

I had warped front rotors so replaced them and the pads at the same time. ~2000 miles later my pads are completely gone. WTF? Are my brakes not releasing? That might explain why my stock rotors warped (overheated). What would cause such a problem and how do I go about diagnosing/fixing it? I'm at a complete loss on this one ...

2006 GSXR 750
EBC - Pro-Lite Contour Front Brake Rotors
Galfer - Brake Pads

[CitizenFrye]

Do you ride covering the brake handle? You might just be putting just enough pressure on it to have them rub.

[wookie]

bad - dirty calipers. You might need to replace the seals (rebuild) and clean the pots (are they junked up).

BTW - that is my best guess. Could be a damaged MC (crashed lately?)

[Cheese]

Do you ride covering the brake handle? You might just be putting just enough pressure on it to have them rub.

I don't think so. Keep in mind the first set of pads lasted ~20K miles, the second set ~2K.

[nerijusj]

Cheese, I'd start with lifting the front of the ground and rolling front wheel. See how it is turning around. Normally you should have some resistance/brake pad touching just a bit on rotors, but you should still be able to turn the wheel around a couple times with one good roll. If the pads are catching on rotors too much, the wheel should stop spinning much sooner.That would mean the calipers need some cleaning or rebuild as they're not pushing back enough when you let of brakes. Who did your brakes? Is there a spring/ clip in between pads pushing them apart?

[Evil_Weasel]

what type of galfer pads are they? race compound pads tend to go away fairly fast. though 2K seems a bit silly.

other than that i would agree with everyone else that your calipers may just need a good cleaning.

[Jim]

or stop doing stoppies

[Paul_E_D]

You don't have something wrapped around the fluid resevoir, do you? There's a pinhole there that needs to be clear to let air out as your brakes heat up...

[The Snowman]

or stop doing stoppies

Always the comedian.

I would definitely check the rotation as suggested above to see if your calipers are releasing properly.



But I think the 2-up ride with my fat ass is what did them in.

[Cheese]

The front wheel spins a few rotations and there's the expected whining of the pads touching the rotors. Everything sure seems fine on the stand, but damn these pads chewed up quick. I'll take a better look at the calipers. Can I use something like engine degreaser on them or will that be too harsh on the seals?

My only crash was a low side 6-8K miles ago. The front end never contacted anything to my knowledge. Just slipped down the road on it's side.

I'm not positive the cause is from rubbing. I've just never gone through pads this fast before and that was my uneducated guess.

I replaced the pads myself. No springs that I remember, just two bolts to hold the caliper on and two bolts that loosely hold the pads in place.

Thanks to all that have helped so far and please keep the suggestions coming ...

[Paul_E_D]

If your doing trackdays, that can speed up the wear...

[Cheese]

Track Day was the end of the last set of pads. That was ~4 Track Days on the stock pads and about 20K miles. This set only saw ~2K of street miles. They're ready to be replaced so won't see the September and October Track Days.

[Kham]

oh nvm... read it wrong.

[Billy]

What if you prop up the front wheel on stands, squeeze the front brake lever, release, then spin the wheel. It should spin freely once the front brake is released. If there's some resistance and then frees up, then that might be a sign the pistons are dirty.

[Sheppo]

You also could be chasing your tail. I had a set of brake pads wear out way under what I thought they should have for mileage. I checked EVERYTHING and found NOTHING. Replaced them and the next set lasted what I thought they should have. I chocked it up to bad pads.

[richw]

Do the test when brakes are hot not cold

Usually dragging stuff would just wear out 1 pad a lot or 1 side.

Chance there is air in the system. WHen you pushed the
pistons back in sometime there is corrosion. Also the retraction is only
the distortion of the seal (o ring) not much force...

clean polish replace seals... Note life easier if pistons are put in
with a fluid in the caliper 1st.

[Cheese]

Do the test when brakes are hot not cold

Usually dragging stuff would just wear out 1 pad a lot or 1 side.

Chance there is air in the system. WHen you pushed the
pistons back in sometime there is corrosion. Also the retraction is only
the distortion of the seal (o ring) not much force...

clean polish replace seals... Note life easier if pistons are put in
with a fluid in the caliper 1st.

Oops, this reminded me that I forgot to mention that all 4 pads were worn out evenly.

[Paul_E_D]

Well, they're supposed to wear, so I wouldn't sweat it. Throw in another set and smile.

[Cheese]

Well, they're supposed to wear, so I wouldn't sweat it. Throw in another set and smile.

They're in the mail ...

[Brit-Triple]

You also could be chasing your tail. I had a set of brake pads wear out way under what I thought they should have for mileage. I checked EVERYTHING and found NOTHING. Replaced them and the next set lasted what I thought they should have. I chocked it up to bad pads.

I have seen that happen before on cars, just random and weird, good to always check these things daily.

[kamikaze]

The front wheel spins a few rotations and there's the expected whining of the pads touching the rotors. Everything sure seems fine on the stand, but damn these pads chewed up quick. I'll take a better look at the calipers. Can I use something like engine degreaser on them or will that be too harsh on the seals?

My only crash was a low side 6-8K miles ago. The front end never contacted anything to my knowledge. Just slipped down the road on it's side.

I'm not positive the cause is from rubbing. I've just never gone through pads this fast before and that was my uneducated guess.

I replaced the pads myself. No springs that I remember, just two bolts to hold the caliper on and two bolts that loosely hold the pads in place.

Thanks to all that have helped so far and please keep the suggestions coming ...

I would still check the disc. Maybe when the bike went down something hit the disc brakes.

Which pads did you get?

[snowborder]

too much brake fluid in reservoir upon replacment