WaltH
05-24-2010, 04:01 PM
I replaced all of my brake pads at 54,600 miles, but this would have been unnecessary if I did not have a warped brake rotor on the right front. The pads themselves were good for many more miles.
We have floating rotors on the Spyder, just like the Harleys. These are easily damaged and prone to warping. I was not surprised at all that I had a warped rotor at this kind of mileage. The right front was seriously warped. The left front was only slightly warped (not necessary to change). When you change a rotor you must change the pads. BRP says the pads for both front wheels must be changed at the same time. Since I was required to change the pads on the left front, I decided to change the rotor as well. I changed two rotors and four pads on the front. The rear rotor and pads were just fine, but I changed the pads just to get this issue locked up for the next 50,000 miles (one year).
The new pads came with about 9.5mm of thickness. BRP says 5.5mm is the required minimum. The old pads that I discarded had a pretty much uniform thickness of 8.5mm. Obviously, I had a lot more miles to go on the old pads. I try to avoid riding in town because there are so many dangerous old people on the road (unlike me – age 73);). I do most of my cruising out where there are more cows than people. A lot of my miles are on long distance rides where there isn’t much stop-and-go traffic. My riding doesn’t require a lot of braking.
I would like to get the brake fluid changed, but I don’t have a good place to go. This requires a connection to BUD’s. I don’t want to be the first customer for this procedure on the technician’s learning curve. I have been there and done that many times.
We have floating rotors on the Spyder, just like the Harleys. These are easily damaged and prone to warping. I was not surprised at all that I had a warped rotor at this kind of mileage. The right front was seriously warped. The left front was only slightly warped (not necessary to change). When you change a rotor you must change the pads. BRP says the pads for both front wheels must be changed at the same time. Since I was required to change the pads on the left front, I decided to change the rotor as well. I changed two rotors and four pads on the front. The rear rotor and pads were just fine, but I changed the pads just to get this issue locked up for the next 50,000 miles (one year).
The new pads came with about 9.5mm of thickness. BRP says 5.5mm is the required minimum. The old pads that I discarded had a pretty much uniform thickness of 8.5mm. Obviously, I had a lot more miles to go on the old pads. I try to avoid riding in town because there are so many dangerous old people on the road (unlike me – age 73);). I do most of my cruising out where there are more cows than people. A lot of my miles are on long distance rides where there isn’t much stop-and-go traffic. My riding doesn’t require a lot of braking.
I would like to get the brake fluid changed, but I don’t have a good place to go. This requires a connection to BUD’s. I don’t want to be the first customer for this procedure on the technician’s learning curve. I have been there and done that many times.