Wilsons Sandbox

My rear brake pads are right at the end of their life (About 17,000 miles on a '99 model). The Rotor does not look real smooth. I was wondering what the consensus was on the rotor situation when installing new pads. Opinions needed on: Do you just change pads? Do you change pads and have the rotors turned. If so, what is the min. spec. Do you change pads and install a new rotor. New rotors are $153 from Ron Ayers (Ouch) ____________________________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! oneSearch: Finally, mobile search that gives answers, not web links. http://mobile.yahoo.com/mobileweb/onesearch?refer=1ONXIC

On Thu, Sep 27, 2007 at 01:44:58PM -0700, David Farrell wrote:

> Do you just change pads?

If the rotor is good, yes. But I would also clean and inspect the caliper.

> Do you change pads and have the rotors turned. If so, > what is the min. spec.

No, never. Motorcycle rotors are way too thin to allow that. The min thickness is stamped on the rotor somewhere near the hub. It's usually something like 4mm.

> Do you change pads and install a new rotor. New > rotors are $153 from Ron Ayers (Ouch)

That entirely depends on the condition of the rotor. It's a judgement call, as long as the minimum thickness is observed. Michael PS: If any doubt, replace the rotor. -- "It's not what I don't understand about religion that bothers me, it's what I do understand." -- Mark Twain San Francisco, CA

On Thu, 27 Sep 2007 13:44:58 -0700 (PDT), "David Farrell" said:

> My rear brake pads are right at the end of their life > (About 17,000 miles on a '99 model). The Rotor does > not look real smooth. I was wondering what the > consensus was on the rotor situation when installing > new pads.

Just change the pads. The factory sintered pads will score-up the rotors a bit and it's harmless. Ignore it. As long as the rotor is undamaged, unwarped, and not past the wear-limit, keep it. RM

Mark Not quite true, my front disk was toast at 81,000kms.(~$400aus in '97) I'm almost due for another one at 145,000kms. My rear is also due for its first swap out. I'm definitely going for an oversized front. griffo -----Original Message----- From: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com [mailto:DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Tengai Mark Van Horn Sent: Friday, 28 September 2007 07:42 To: David Farrell Cc: KLR group Subject: Re: [DSN_KLR650] Changing Brake pads - Do you turn rotors? The rotors should last you almost forever. I've never changed one yet on three bikes with over 50K miles each. If you do need one, you can probably get an almost new one from one of the guys who went oversized for like $40-$50 Mark [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

81,000 Km (~50,000 miles) falls under the "almost forever" classification relative to the OP's 17,000 miles. Why go oversized front at this stage of the game? You've lived with the stock size this long, and your bike is approaching the end of its useful life. Mark At 9:22 AM +1000 9/28/07, trekbikeboy wrote:

>Mark > >Not quite true, my front disk was toast at 81,000kms.(~$400aus in '97) I'm >almost due for another one at 145,000kms. My rear is also due for its first >swap out. I'm definitely going for an oversized front. > >griffo > > >-----Original Message----- >From: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com [mailto:DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com] On >Behalf Of Tengai Mark Van Horn > >The rotors should last you almost forever. I've never changed one yet >on three bikes with over 50K miles each. >If you do need one, you can probably get an almost new one from one >of the guys who went oversized for like $40-$50 > >Mark

Price, EBC 320mm disk off ebay US$200, OEM AU$400 -----Original Message----- From: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com [mailto:DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Tengai Mark Van Horn Sent: Friday, 28 September 2007 11:24 To: trekbikeboy Cc: 'KLR group' Subject: RE: [DSN_KLR650] Changing Brake pads - Do you turn rotors? 81,000 Km (~50,000 miles) falls under the "almost forever" classification relative to the OP's 17,000 miles. Why go oversized front at this stage of the game? You've lived with the stock size this long, and your bike is approaching the end of its useful life. Mark At 9:22 AM +1000 9/28/07, trekbikeboy wrote:

>Mark > >Not quite true, my front disk was toast at 81,000kms.(~$400aus in '97) I'm >almost due for another one at 145,000kms. My rear is also due for its first >swap out. I'm definitely going for an oversized front. > >griffo > > >-----Original Message----- >From: DSN_KLR650@yahoogro ups.com

[mailto:DSN_KLR650@yahoogro ups.com] On

>Behalf Of Tengai Mark Van Horn > >The rotors should last you almost forever. I've never changed one yet >on three bikes with over 50K miles each. >If you do need one, you can probably get an almost new one from one >of the guys who went oversized for like $40-$50 > >Mark

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

If you're really talking price, you can get a low-milage used stock rotor for $40-$50. I once picked one up for $20. Offer the seller $35 for this one and see if he goes for it: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/KAWASAKI-KLR-650-FRONT-BRAKE-ROTOR_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ35592QQihZ014QQitemZ330145821215QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWD1V> Or try one of these: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/KAWASAKI-FRONT-Brake-Disc-Rotor-KLR-650-KLR650-87-06_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ35592QQihZ010QQitemZ200121982558QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWD1V> Mark At 11:49 AM +1000 9/28/07, trekbikeboy wrote:

>Price, EBC 320mm disk off ebay US$200, OEM AU$400 > > > >-----Original Message----- >From: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com [mailto:DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com] On >Behalf Of Tengai Mark Van Horn > >81,000 Km (~50,000 miles) falls under the "almost forever" >classification relative to the OP's 17,000 miles. >Why go oversized front at this stage of the game? You've lived with >the stock size this long, and your bike is approaching the end of its >useful life. > >Mark

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Michael Nelson wrote:

> On Thu, Sep 27, 2007 at 01:44:58PM -0700, David Farrell wrote: > > Do you change pads and install a new rotor. New > > rotors are $153 from Ron Ayers (Ouch) > > That entirely depends on the condition of the rotor. It's a judgement call, > as long as the minimum thickness is observed.

One thing I will suggest is that you go with an EBC rotor if you need to replace the rotor. It's about $40 cheaper than the OEM rotor with new pads and works just as well. Fred at Arrowhead can get you one. If you're not satisfied with the OEM braking strength, you can get the EBC oversized rotor kit from Fred for around $200. Two-fingered braking becomes a reality with the EBC oversized rotor and a stainless steel front line. Personally, I use the depth of the grooves in the rotor to decide whether to replace it. If the grooves will result in the brake pads using up a significant portion of their depth to bed in, it's time for a new rotor. If the grooves are fairly shallow and evenly distributed and will use up less than 10% of the brake pad to get it bedded in, they actually will help you stop faster than a "clean" rotor once the new pads are bedded in due to creating more friction surface. My old grooved OEM rotor was almost as good at stopping my KLR as the new smooth oversized rotor. Now that my oversized rotor has gotten its own groove on, it stops wickedly quick. The other factor to use is how fast the brake pads wear out. If brake pads wear out in a very short amount of time, it's time for a new rotor, your rotor has gotten too rough and is chewing up your brake pads. And finally, there is the thickness measurement that others have mentioned. In the end, unless the thickness measure is out, it's a judgement call, perhaps with the opportunity to add new farkle tipping the balance of judgement (that's why I added the oversized EBC rotor .

False, sorry. Friction = (coefficient of friction) x (normal force). There may be more surface area, but there is no greater normal force applied. --John Kokola E.L. Green wrote:

> If the grooves are fairly shallow and evenly distributed > and will use up less than 10% of the brake pad to get it bedded in, they actually will help > you stop faster than a "clean" rotor once the new pads are bedded in due to creating more > friction surface. >