Rear brake pads

[davef]

The rear brake on my 2010 650 has never felt very powerful, though it passes mots so does work. Today I had a look at the pads, and to my surprise they looked almost like bright copper, not the usual black/grey. Will these be Goldfrein pads or what? Are they sintered or organic? Would fitting different pads improve the braking?
Had a ride on my sons RE Himalayan recently and surprised how much more powerful its rear brake was, more like my memories of riding old British bikes. The front brake on mine was more powerful as you'd expect and I have no problems with it.

[Joe Rocket]

Hope I'm not going to embarass myself but the rear brake is not a bike stopper. It is best used to balance fork dive or stop the bike from slow speeds at a junction or roundabout for example. Don't expect the rear brake to seriously slow you down, just assist. It is more usable with greater load like 2-up or luggage on board. Otherwise you'll be too heavy at the front to really be able to guage.

As for pads well I'd only be worried if they didn't work and maybe the colour tells you a bit of their construction. It's an expensive experiment to simply try out different pad types just to find out the difference if indeed you could tell, I don't think I could. 

I'm sure the RE Himalayan is quite different, light bike, low cog and more evenly balanced weight.

[crump]

I agree with Joe rocket re rear brakes.
My Vstrom is excellent, it's got a decent 'bite' but not too fierce.
Front brake is a different matter, always feels a bit spongey to me. I ride accordingly and have never had any 'moments' and it stops me, the wife and all our luggage without any dramas but will be putting ebc pads in when the current one's are toast. If that doesn't improve then I'll try braided hoses.

[nigel s]

I tend to use the rear brake a lot and like the 650s rear brake. I find the extra bite of EBC HH over the std fitment suits me.I go through rears quicker than fronts (10k rear, 15k front..ish )I tend to leave the rear on all through a short corner (it helps settle all that travel in the suspension) till I open the throttle and like to play wobblies in traffic ,seeing how far I can go with the feet up , and getting lost quite a bit , do a lot of U turns
Some prefer the organics because they don,t have that initial bite. Not tried those on the Strom, but did on my Fazer and wasn't a fan, it made the brake "wooly" . On my ABS equipped bike the odd rear activation does happen over bumpy ground  when the back goes light, but that is normal.
Some say the EBC HHs will wear the discs quicker ?.... not seen that myself after 100s of 1000s of miles of using them on various bikes, and even if they did would still prefer them, discs are a service item , like tyres.

[davef]

I did wonder if the EBC HH pads would be better, but still wondering what kind of pads I have that look like copper -would they be original fitment to 2010 650 with ABS?

[nigel s]

Recently changed mine, the metal plate  is copper, but quickly discoloured.
For the price of a set of EBCs I would be  tempted to give them a go.
The old ones can be kept  as a backup.
Good excuse to service  the caliper too.

[MilozFolly]

Maybe they were a bit skweaky and some loon put a bit of copper grease on them 

[crump]

I had some Ferodo pads once that were copper coloured, they were really good but tbf it was a long, long time ago.

[Jim13_Wee_Strom]

 
... I can still remember how the music made me smile, and I knew if I had my chance ...

[nigel s]

Ho Hum