I got 8000 miles on F3T

[No 2817]

I am just turning 8000 miles on 2016 F3-T. The back tire is down to the wear marks in the center. This is my second spyder (2008 GS). When should I start checking the Brakes?? What have you heavy riders ( a lot of miles) been seeing when the brake pads need to to be changed?


Chris

[Peter Aawen]

I don't own an F3, but I've been ryding with & helping service a fair few of them, & we basically check the rear brake pads every time we take a Kenda rear tire off to replace it..... most likely, the Kenda on the rear will wear out before the brake pads Check them more often than every time you replace a rear tire if you've got a 'proper' tire fitted back there instead of an OE spec Kenda.

[Rattlebars]

Center wear usually indicates too high PSI.

[Pirate looks at --]

17000 on my rear in under a year, and just now starting to show significant signs of wear. Brakes still perfect!

[Chupaca]

I do not have the F3 nor the Brembo brakes but on my RS got over 30,000 miles on the rears and the fronts are still good. I also have the manual trans so helps keep the wear down. The semi-auto and RT's tend to wear the brakes down much quicker and your ryding style and area are a big factor. Always good to check the pads periodically and check both sides of the caliper as some can wear at an angle.

[Peter Aawen]

Center wear usually indicates too high PSI.

That's true, for just about everything except the OE Spec Kenda!! They are so lightly constructed that as the tire turns at road speeds, the centre of the tread balloons out & prematurely wears.... You really can't do much to stop an OE Spec Kenda from wearing out in the middle of the tread, varying the pressure up or down makes absolutely NO difference!! The only way I'm aware of to avoid wearing those tires out in the middle is to take them off your Spyder & fit a 'real' tire - but then because it's a heavier construction tire capable of carrying so much more weight than your Spyder, you need to run somewhat less air pressure in it than the Kenda needs just to carry the load!

[UtahPete]

17000 on my rear in under a year, and just now starting to show significant signs of wear. Brakes still perfect!

That sounds painful!

[Sarge707]

I am just turning 8000 miles on 2016 F3-T. The back tire is down to the wear marks in the center. This is my second spyder (2008 GS). When should I start checking the Brakes?? What have you heavy riders ( a lot of miles) been seeing when the brake pads need to to be changed?


Chris

My 2015 F3 with 8000 Miles is at the wear marks BUT they are the water wear marks Not the Low Thread wear marks? Are you sure of the Wear Marks Difference?

[No 2817]

My 2015 F3 with 8000 Miles is at the wear marks BUT they are the water wear marks Not the Low Thread wear marks? Are you sure of the Wear Marks Difference?

What's a "Water Wear" mark versus "Low Tread" mark???

[Peter Aawen]

The 'Low Tread Bars' will have little triangles embossed on the sidewall/tread interface to show that they are WEAR bars, while the bars in the big tread grooves that have NO corresponding triangles on the sidewalls are actually water/ice breakers that simply help the grooves get rid of water/ice as the tire turns &'help stop the tire squirm during cornering!!

Those water/ice breaker bars will reach the top of the grooves earlier in the tires wear life, but that doesn't mean the tire is worn & needs changing, it just means you aren't looking at the wear bars!! If you search for those little triangles (someone had a pic of them posted in another thread) then you'll likely see that there's a bit more tread wear to go thru yet!

[Rattlebars]

That's true, for just about everything except the OE Spec Kenda!! They are so lightly constructed that as the tire turns at road speeds, the centre of the tread balloons out & prematurely wears.... You really can't do much to stop an OE Spec Kenda from wearing out in the middle of the tread, varying the pressure up or down makes absolutely NO difference!! The only way I'm aware of to avoid wearing those tires out in the middle is to take them off your Spyder & fit a 'real' tire - but then because it's a heavier construction tire capable of carrying so much more weight than your Spyder, you need to run somewhat less air pressure in it than the Kenda needs just to carry the load!

Thanks for the excellent explanation.