Brake pads for Suzuki GS 650 Katana

[craik]

Anyone know any good brands which are currently available?
Ebay turned up these cheap Goldfren brand ones for £13 a pair. Anyone used them?
I remember on my old Suzuki GS 125, the particular brand used made a big difference. EBC gave poor performance, but the genuine Suzuki ones were very good.
Thanks in advance.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Suzuki-GS-65 ... 0846934033

[fossie]

The best performance ones for a 650 were Vesrah ( OEM under a different name) SBS (Scandinavian brake services..) EBC ones were made in 3 compounds , the backing colour denotes different compounds ..I used black because they were a touring one and gave more miles ..and left your discs intact longer ...green more Kevlar better braking but less miles ..Gold .more metal sintering .same braking because that's the limit of the actual brakes But ate the discs.
The ones advertised are generally what is available now as everything is sintered. People expect to replace discs as a service item nowadays . So brake pad manufacturers make less compounds.
Ideally what do you need the brakes to do ? While dispatching my 650's for 20 odd years , the only issues I had were cooking the rear brake a few times while filtering exuberantly! They came back after 1/2 hr.....
I suppose nowadays it depends on what's available.

As an aside the company bikes we use now ...( was 650 Bandit ..now v strom650 ) have used these brake pads with no question as to performance , but we asked for them not to be used now because they don't last long enough in our job only last 4000 miles so need changing I between services.

[craik]

Thanks fossie. Not using it for dispatching or travel to work. Just occasional riding and I don't ride particularly fast or thrash it.
Also just came across these more expensive (£17 or £34 a pair?) "EBC organic kevlar brake pads" at Wemoto which claim they are "kind to disc brakes " and "KBA certified & R90 approved". Might be a better option?
https://www.wemoto.com/bikes/suzuki/gs_ ... rd_gg_type

[fossie]

The organic Kevlar ones are the ones I go for.

[Lexdba]

Same here, organic on all my bikes. My Beemer calls for ceramic sintered pads but those eat discs. Same goes for sintered pads on our old stainless discs as stated above. The organic ones brake fine, have a good feel, are cheaper and most of all, save your discs from being eaten!

[johnr]

yeah, i use ceramic on my beemer, best brakes ive ever had on any bike ive ever ridden. kat ones are loads more powerful, (r1 yam blue spots) but the bmw ones have the feel, and thats much more useful.

[Uncle Bob]

Someone recommended those Goldfren pads to me, said they made a lot of difference to an early GSX they had, so as someone who always bought EBC I thought I would give them a try... that was over a year ago, and they are still sitting on the shelf in their packaging, so at present I don't know how they perform

I have never ever had to buy a brake disc yet and I tend to keep my bikes a good time, so not because I swap them out quickly. On my V-Strom the original pads lasted 19,000 miles, the EBC replacement went to 35,000 and the EBC HH are still OK at 48,000 - still original discs.

As an aside I have just replaced the V-Stroms original battery after 16 years! I think it only went as the bike has been relegated to the shed with no power for it to get it's turn with the Optimate.

UB

[fossie]

Neither of our Vstroms at work get anyway near that milage from EBC,and rears last even less.
The bikes are now just over a year old and have 45500 miles on them each.
The OEM pads were excellent good feel, and lasted about 15000front and 10000 rear , although we specifically asked for OEM pads the servicing dealer gave some Bollox about not being able to get them....what hat means is the profit margin isn't enough!
They fitted EBC even after I said they won't last to the next service and if they don't we ain't paying!
They didn't we now use Ferodo as the last to the next service....( don't get me wrong if it were my bike they would last to half past then need doing , but that involves another day or few hours off circuit)
Discs.mines still on original but Toms has had new ones .
However old 80's discs and pads I hardly ever changed the discs and when they grooved,it made little difference after the pads shaped them selves . Progress....