brakes and different riding styles

[stickygreen]

i'm in need of a new set of brakes and was wondering .... are there different pads for different riding styles ?

would a mellow riders benefit over one type or brand over someone like me who's heavy on the brakes and if so does anyone have any recommendations for me ?

i'd appreciate any input as always !

[HS2020]

It all depends on how you fast you want to stop. There are just basic replacement pads then there are the ones that are for street or race use. I sell both types of pads. My personal thought it is get the ones that are the SBK5 I sell. They are for road or race use. They will give you the stopping power when you need it.

[The CyberPoet]

Here's what you need to know:
(A) Your bike takes and is designed to take sintered pads. You should not use anything else unless you are planning on swapping calipers and rotors to match the differences in pad types (sintered pads drag on the rotor intentionally when not engaged; organics are designed to draw back from the rotor, but the caliper has to be designed to draw them back).
(B) The real question is the friction rate. The Kat's stock pads use GG rate materials, meaning they act as G rate both cold and hot. There are HH rate sintered pads on the market, which grab a lot harder/faster, but at the penalty of building up heat a lot faster. In Florida, you'll be fine running HH rate pads, but if you lived on a mountain or did lots of track days, I wouldn't recommend them (because you're on the brakes too much in those circumstances to let them cool down as much as needed).
(C) G rating is a fairly narrow rating, from 45 to 54.9% friction rate. H is a much wider rating and represents anything at or above 55% friction rate. This means that all GG rated pads should act approximately the same (give or take a little), but HH rated pads can vary radically between brand formulations. The EBC's are the highest rate pads I've found to date (more heat, but faster/harder stopping).
(D) Most riders who haven't been at it for more than five years should avoid moving away from GG rated pads for the rear wheel, because it becomes simply too easy to lock up the rear wheel in a panic reaction, especially since during hard braking weight transfers back-to-front, unloading the rear wheel.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet