brake disc wear

[Cat 4 Life]

How many miles should you get out of your brake discs?

[scottynoface]

A whole hell of a lot if nothing's screwed up. Yours warped?

[Cat 4 Life]

no just trying to find out how long they should last.

[arsenic]

a long arse time Most motorcycles, the rotor lasts for the life of the bike.

[The CyberPoet]

As I noted in another post today -- modern (sintered/semi-sintered pads on SS Rotors) work by depositing friction materials from the pad on the rotor and then the pads' friction materials interact with that layer. The metal underneath (the rotor itself) should effectively see zero wear.

The problem that causes wear crops up when other debris gets into the equation -- sand, clay dust, quartz dust, other materials that are harder than the friction materials AND harder than the rotor's metal. These forms of debris get between the pads & rotors and dig into the rotors (pressing into the pads because they're softer), leading to grooving and wear. Rain and road wetness are particularly problematic because they easily carry crud up onto the rotors. So how do you prevent the issues? Clean your brakes regularly, to keep the sand/dust/grit out, especially after it's been raining! Cleaning your brakes also helps keep the friction rates up, improving your braking responsiveness and reducing your stopping distance.

Now, even if they are grooved, don't panic! As long as the grooves don't bring the minimum thickness of the rotor down to the service limit, you can ride with the grooved -- the pads will simply wear themselves into the same pattern. But do get in the habit of cleaning them regularly to keep them from getting eaten up futher...

And as Arsenic noted, a set of rotors (cared for correctly) can easily outlast an engine.

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

[Kaster120]

my rotor is grooved and im getting a horrible squeeling out of it the previous owner stuck in new pads what can i do to get rid of the squeeling its driving me nuts

[The CyberPoet]

my rotor is grooved and im getting a horrible squeeling out of it the previous owner stuck in new pads what can i do to get rid of the squeeling its driving me nuts

Clean or replace the guide pins the pads ride on, clean or replace the caliper pistons. The squeal is either the backer vibrating against the pins or the backer vibrating against the caliper pistons because they're not coming out evenly.

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

[SDGuero]

Thank you.

My bike needs pads, The rear rotor is grooved. I wasn't sure about replacing the rotor, this thread just saved me $100. Thank you!

[magman]

Rear rotor on my bike has a cpl cracks in it with only 7500 miles on it I'm guessing the old owner was heavy on rear brakes.

[drvk]

any brand or aftermarket front and rear disc recomemended ?