GS-Riders International

German motorcycle magazine MOTORRAD edition 14-2008 tested front brake pads for the R 1200 GS / ADV, with interesting results. Here are excerpts.




Test Candidates
- BMW part.-no. 34117683064 (OEM)
- Braking 892 CM 55
- Brembo 07 BB 26 A
- Carbone Lorraine 1101 SBK 5
- EBC FA 335 HH
- Ferodo FDB 21 25 ST
- Lucas MCB 748 SV


The Results


Performance tests where done on R 1200 GS, wear tests were done on R 1200 ADV.

Ansprechverhalten = response
Druckpunkt = accuracy of pressure point
Dosierbarkeit = fine adjust ability of the brake pressure
Handkraft = lever force
Wirkung kalt : efficiency with cold brakes
Wirkung warm : efficiency with warm brakes
Fading : Fading
Belagverschleiss : brake pad wear
Scheibenverschleiss : disk wear
sehr gut : very good
gut : gut
befriedigend : satisfactory


Wear Measurements



First row = brake pad wear, second row = disk wear. The wear test was done by a group of seven riders on seven R 1200 ADV, over a distance of 4300 km. The riders changed the motorcycles every 50 km to eliminate riding style differences. The riders stayed together at all times as a group. Roads: 40% Autobahn + 60% country roads.

Detail Test Results

Brembo (83 pts.)



+ spontaneous response
+ average firm brake point with very low lever force
+ brake pressure can be precise regulated
+ performs well cold and warm
+ only slight fading after the 4. brake operation
+ low pad and disk wear
- nothing negative
Flawless results without any real weak points puts the red painted Brembos on the first rank together with the Lucas pads. In particular convincing are the excellent capability for fine regulating the brake pressure, and the low lever force required.

Lucas (83 pts.)



+ spontaneous response
+ average firm brake point with very low lever force
+ brake pressure can be finely regulated
+ cold and warm good performance
+ absolute fading free
+ low disk wear
- pad wear
Except the pad wear this Lucas product demonstrates for any other criteria it perfectly matches the GS. Perfect adjusting of brake pressure, the lowest lever force from out the test field, and the absence of fading secure this stoppers a deserved first rank together with the product from Brembo.


Braking (80 pts.)



+ spontaneous response
+ average firm brake point with low lever force
+ cold and warm excellent
+ no fading
+ low disk wear
- overly progressive brake force build-up
Already in the running in phase this brake pads bit aggressively into the disks. For sportive oriented GS riders who can live with the overly progressive building up of braking force, this pads are a very good choice.


Ferodo (78 pts.)
+ acceptable response
+ average firm pressure point at low hand force
+ brake pressure can be regulated well
+ cold good, warm acceptable performance
+ almost fading free
+ low disk and pad wear
- nothing
The product from Ferodo sneaks through the test procedure without a real weakness, collecting plenty merit points in the process, but without showing any highlight in a single test criterion. With one exception: The remarkable low wear of the pads. All together this pads from North-Italy are worth recommending.


EBC (73 pts.)
+ acceptable hand force
+ warm good perfomance
+ fading free
+ low pad and disk wear
- slightly delayed response
- mushy pressure point
- overly progressive
- hard to regulate braking force
- cold performance
Despite the decent overall result the EBC can not be recommended to everyone. Long distance riders will enjoy their low wear, but at the same time might be scared by the meagre cold performance. Fading behaviour is flawless and might be attractive for the sportive riders, as is the overly progressive response to lever force.


Carbone Lorraine (70 pts.)
+ acceptable response
+ average firm pressure point with low hand force
+ cold quite acceptable results, warm good
+ only slight fading after the 4. brake operation
- disk wear, highest in this round up
The SBK 5 are superior to the OEM brake pads in almost every test criterion, and therefore are well worth a recommendation. Only the price and the disk wear are too high, compared to the other aftermarket pads.


BMW (63 pts.)
+ acceptable response
+ brake pressure can be regulated well
+ acceptable warm performance
+ low disk wear
- mushy pressure point
- cold performance
- fading after the second brake operation
- high pad wear
The expensive OEM pads as offered by BMW are far not as good as the significantly cheaper aftermarket parts. The pads are gentle to brake disks, but this is bought by relatively high wear of the pads. Brake performance cold and warm is less convincing than the competition.


Summary
There are no bad brake pads in this test round. Nevertheless, there is one looser: The OEM brake pads. Compared to the aftermarket pads they are extremely expensive, but on the function side not exactly good. They of course do work well on day to day basis. If however someone tried the Lucas, Brembo or Braking pads once only, he would quickly notice how much better these candidates are measuring up. Besides of the better function the pads from Lucas for example do cost not even half as much as the pads from BMW.

I am also looking for a Brembo dealer in the US. So far no success.

Got my red Brembo pads fromRed Racing email red@redracingparts.com . Delivery took a couple of weeks. since Red Racing did not stock them. Otherwise the service was good.

Front 07BB26SA, has 5 mm 'meat'


Rear 07BB28SP, has 6 mm 'meat'



I paid Euro 34.53 / US$ 48 (front), and Euro 31.11 / US$ 43.30 (rear). The expensive portion was the shipping, Euro 47 = US$ 65. I dealt with the local Brembo agent over a couple of weeks for ordering over the official channel, unfortunately to no avail. Neither the only company nor it's the first case for me; mysterious why so many the western companies accept this kind of business attitude in Asia.

So, are you taking the EBC's? They might be not the best from the test above, but at almost half the price of the originals ...

My brake pads are still ok, the Brembos are still in waiting position. The local agent didn't want to import them for me, so I bought them from Italy.

Quoted from "ghostrider1964"

Peter, How have you like the Brembos? I am just now getting to a point that I am gonna need pads. All I can find here in the states is EBC and BMW.

Got the Brembo red pads mounted to the front yesterday.




I am still braking them in, but I can say already, it is a big difference over the OEM pads.

A couple of hundred km further I think the commenter from the brake pad test above was more on the careful side. I know the lever force is only 30 or 40 % lesser at best, but it feels like 80 % lesser. My brake has become a true 2-finger brake. Brake feel is well improved, too. The OEM pads have been almost noise-less. The red Brembos generate a slight metal to metal noise, similar to a train halting (far not as loud of course).


More for myself as a reminder.

Front
Red 07BB26 SA (sintered, recommended by Brembo for the 12-er GS)
Blue 07BB26 CC (organic, optimised for longevity)
Silver 07BB26 SC (sintered, a racing compound)

Rear
Red 07BB28 SP (sintered, similar to the SA but optimised for rear applications, recommended by Brembo for the 12-er GS)
Blue 07BB28 CC (organic)

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