Resharpening Your Brake Pads

[Guest khyron]

No, i am not really resharpening my pads. What i did though, was to clean my rear pads of gunk by using a medium grit sharpening stone. My rear was a bit on the useless side for a while, but i didn't think about it until today, when i was spraying my chain, i noticed spray getting on my rear rotor. HMMM, can't be good for the pads. I popped the pads off, and felt them, pretty greasy. I drenched them in brake cleaner, not much difference. I took them to the sink to clean them off, but i didn't have any sandpaper, but i had an Arkansas stone medium grit, so i took Ajax to help and started rubbing the pad against the stone, with a little water for lubrication. Wow, no more greasy feel, it is clean. Washed off the residue, reinstalled, and they grip well now.

Now i have to adjust my trail braking in corners, i am used to different brakes.

[jeremy556]

Now i have to adjust my trail braking in corners, i am used to different brakes.

Stay off the rear brake, use the front brakes. Rear brakes are useless in a (real) trail braking situation as the engine braking will be more than enough to make the rear lose traction.

[Veefer800Canuck]

A sheet of 100 grit sandpaper laid on a perfectly flat surface works great too.

Work the pad on the sand paper in a figure-8 fashion until all the shiny glaze is gone and you can see fresh pad material.

If you've been riding in the rain a lot and hardly using the brakes, they may start to squeak later on in the dry.

I've fixed pads with the sandpaper method before.

[Guest]

I have done them before by rubbing the pads on the flat concrete of the garage floor. Crude but effective. The concrete is flat and abrasive, and right there when you need it.