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Brake Pads: Oem Or Ebc? Sintered Or Organic


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Hi there,

Looks like I need to replace my front brake pads on my '98 VFR. I was just going to buy replacement OEM pads from the local Honda dealer for $40 a set, but I read on some forums like this one: http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/6-brake-pads-front/page-3 that recomended EBC pads, and this model in particular for the 5th gen:

EBC Sintered FA261HH. Here they are on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/EBC-Brakes-FA261HH-Disc-Brake/dp/B006B28A94/ref=au_as_r?_encoding=UTF8&Make=Honda%7C59&Model=VFR800%20Interceptor%7C20140&Year=1998%7C1998&ie=UTF8&n=15684181&newVehicle=1&s=automotive&vehicleId=1&vehicleType=motorcycle

What do you guys recommend? From what I've read sintered are stronger and are better for performance riding like at the track, but can do more damage to your rotor.

I'm all for stronger brakes to avoid rear ending a car and otherwise escaping dangerous situations, but if I'm mostly looking to tour, should I just stick with organics? Are sintered pads more likely to lead to a crash if I panic and tap the brake lever mid turn?

Thanks guys!

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I LOVE the EBC HH pads... but they are so much better than OEM that it is possible to lock up the brakes. Personally, I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it...

I haven't observed undue rotor wear from having them on for 20,000 miles.....

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Nothing wrong with the OEM padas. Good combination of wear, feel and stopping power. I tend to lean toward EBC HH pads...ran them on my trackday bike and my VFR's...work really well and while I think they wear discs faster than OEM they have more feel,grip and don't fade easily.

Matt

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Another fan of EBC HH pads. I have them on all my bikes. I also have steel braided lines on all three as well! I'm with TNRabbit, I'd rather have it and not need it...

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The stock Honda pads are also HH rated but I prefer the feel and lower cost of the EBC HH pads that you listed.

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I put a full set of EBC HH on my '99 when I bought it with 24,000 miles, measured the disks @ that time (within specs) and checked them again this year (45,000 miles) and they showed no wear on any of the 3 disks. The pads still have a lot of life left in them. I do tend to ride 'the pace' in the canyons, don't have a track near by for any track days and a lot of those miles were commuting. I wouldn't worry about disk wear with the EBC pads, if your only touring.

I love EBC pads, better initial bite and great stopping power, when you need it.

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I LOVE the EBC HH pads... but they are so much better than OEM that it is possible to lock up the brakes. Personally, I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it...

I haven't observed undue rotor wear from having them on for 20,000 miles.....

This, +10. Can't recommend EBC HH enough.

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Yep, the EBC HH pads are stellar. Better in every way. I've got 96000 miles on my bike, of which I've put 40000 on, and the last 20000 with EBC pads. They made a huge difference in the stopping power, and I haven't noticed any change in rotor wear.

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Ok thanks for the advice guys. Seems like across the board people like the EBC's. What's the HH stand for?

I'm assuming it's ok to change the fronts to EBC's and not change the rear? My rear pads don't need changing as of yet.

Yep .

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The ebcs don't seem to last as long, and near the same price, less than 10,000 miles and I was scrubbing metal, where I easlily get double off the oem pads.

I'll stick with the oem, if I have time to order ahead, via that reason, I had to buy a second pad set of ebcs, but next time back to oem.

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I always had front end chatter under hard braking and chalked it up to the suspension. Changed to EBC HH pads. More initial bite, more braking power & no more front end chatter under hard braking. Would never go back to OEM pads.

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I only had OEM pads on my 5th gen (that are sintred by the way on the 5th gen!), but on a other bike (My 1984 RG250 Gamma) I have tried organic as the EBC HH and the HH had about twise the bite I would say, but did heat the brake disc mutch more also!

Also there seem to be differece in performance betwen brands whit organic pads also, I did change from EBC organic pads to Lucas TRW pads rear on my VF500F2, and the TRW pads had less braking power, even bedded in good, than the EBC had!

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OEM for me on my 5th Gen. I waffled back and forth between EBC and OEM but ultimately decided to replace with OEM based on my research. I don't think there is any doubt that EBC pads have more bite, but I do think there is a trade-off in terms of wear, both for the pads and the rotors.

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  • 3 weeks later...
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Used EBC-HH as far back as I can remember, certainly 100k+ miles.

Don't really care if there is increased disk wear; I want to be able to stop quicker if I need to. If I can't it'll probably cost me more than a set of discs.

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Big fan of Carbon Lorraine, bit pricey though.

Been using OEM for the past few years for the 800 and SBS for the 750

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