Slippin'and a slidin'

[Dids]

Braked on a wet, greasy South London road on Thursday.
Front wheel locked and I ended up with a dislocated collar bone.

Part of the problem were the brakes on my recently purchased non-ABS, R1200ST. Previous owner had fitted non-standard wavy discs & god knows what pads.
These brakes were very powerful (maybe too powerful?) and also quite grabby.

Before I ride this bike again I want to change those discs & pads for some that are way softer and more progressive.
Just wondered if anyone could recommend a suitable disc/pad combination?

Cheers

[milleplod]

Crikey! Glad you're OK-ish, hope you're not suffering too much.

My ST started life as a non-ABS model, and when I first got it was on the original factory-issue discs and pads. After a couple of years, one of the discs warped, giving me that horrible pulsing feeling through the lever. I ended up buying a pair of James Sherlock's 'own brand' (I think) Hekkane discs, coupled with Ferodo SinterGrip Road ST pads - these turned out to be a more-or-less ideal combination. As I'd never fitted new discs and pads before, I eMailed Ferodo asking their advice on the combination and got this very helpful reply -



"Hi Pete
Thanks for your note and for buying our product. Here is an ideal procedure. If you follow this you will not go wrong. Actually ST (and sintered pads in general) are much easier to bed than organic pads, and you will probably be able to get away with as few as 10 applications. Some people say that they can “feel” a sintered pad “come in” after only 2-3 applications. That may be so, but following what I say below you should be fine.

Pad Bedding. Generalised Ideal procedure:

Initially, the brakes should be used lightly (roughly 60-70% of normal lever pressures) but frequently. As you feel the brakes come in, follow this with progressively harder braking to maximum pressure with momentary cool-down between applications. The goal here is to donate an even transfer film layer from the new friction material to the operating surface of the rotor. This takes possibly 20-30 applications with an organic pad, somewhat less with a sintered compound. The aim of the bedding is to get the pads up to and even above service temperatures, but NOT TOO QUICKLY OR GLAZING/SMEARING MAY OCCUR. After bedding, allow the system to cool to ambient temperature before going out in anger.

Please let us know if you need anything else.

Regards,

Edward

Edward Little
Technical Manager
Racing and Motorcycles Division
Federal-Mogul Operations Italy S.r.l.
Corso Inghilterra 2
12084 Mondovi (CN)
Italy"

There are a lot of cheap, no-name (names I don't recognise, at least!) out there, perhaps that's what's on your ST, and perhaps they were cooked from the off, giving the grabby effect you've noticed! I only ever use branded stuff for brakes - many moons ago, on my Traffic Patrol course, we had a visit to Ferodo's place at Chapel-en-le-Frith. I must've been impressed, because I've only ever bought their pads ever since!

Pete

[Dids]

Thanks Pete for that really helpful reply.
Still got my arm in a sling but less pain & more movement every day.
Will go for those Ferodo brakes, standard discs and the run in procedure you mentioned.

Been having discussions with biker mates about ABS & whether it would have prevented the accident.
The general consensus (amongst my mates anyway) is that once the front wheel slide on diesel has started then no amount of ABS intervention is going to save you.
I've had two of these accidents in London now on oily, wet roads:
* Came off the R1200ST a week ago.
* In 2009 had an identical experience on a non-ABS R1200GSA
Another vehicle causes need for emergency braking - Emergency braking on slippery road causes instant front wheel slide......
If I thought that ABS would help I might buy an R1200RS instead, which would have a modern ABS system.

Any thoughts about ABS and slippery London roads?

[boxerscott]

Thanks Pete for that really helpful reply.
Still got my arm in a sling but less pain & more movement every day.
Will go for those Ferodo brakes, standard discs and the run in procedure you mentioned.

Been having discussions with biker mates about ABS & whether it would have prevented the accident.
The general consensus (amongst my mates anyway) is that once the front wheel slide on diesel has started then no amount of ABS intervention is going to save you.
I've had two of these accidents in London now on oily, wet roads:
* Came off the R1200ST a week ago.
* In 2009 had an identical experience on a non-ABS R1200GSA
Another vehicle causes need for emergency braking - Emergency braking on slippery road causes instant front wheel slide......
If I thought that ABS would help I might buy an R1200RS instead, which would have a modern ABS system.

Any thoughts about ABS and slippery London roads?

Proceed with caution, if diesel is present you can fold without braking , wavy discs or no wavy discs.