NOTE: If you're hoping for a significant increase in braking power from just a pad swap - as I was - you'll likely be disappointed. In the '14 FX at least, Zero did a good job finding pads that were compatible with their brake systems. My bikes came with Nissin TT2508HH sintered-metal front & semi-metallic Galfer FD093 rears, and while I was able to reduce the front squealing with different pads, I never got much more braking power from any of the pads I tried, and had to modify my brakes instead (now
that worked).
My pads are the same size & shape as these Renthal BP-100 front / BP-103 rear pads (which both worked pretty well):
Here are the dimensions and OEM equivalents (note the limited material availability - more on this later):
front padsrear padsI really don't know for sure which other Zeros use these pads. If your rear brake has a J Juan 1315875 caliper (25mm piston) and your front caliper is a Nissin with 2 x 26mm pistons, the pads above should fit; double-check to be sure, though. Most (if not all) of the compound info below should still be usable regardless, though.
A brief compound primer, softest to hardest (some pads fit into multiple categories):
1)
Non-metallic (organic / synthetic / Kevlar / etc.): requires the least lever / pedal pressure, best at low speeds & pad temps, easy on rotors,
dusty, short break-in, relatively short life
2)
Semi-metallic: needs more pressure than above to work well, a bit harder on rotors, can have better hi-pad-temp power w/less fade,
longer break-in, longer lasting
3)
Fully metallic (sintered, etc.): needs high pressure & temps to work best, can be hard on rotors, long break-in, long lasting, sometimes noisy
4)
Ceramic: combines good power at low pressures with reduced fade and longer life, can run very hot, quiet, medium break-in time,
difficult to find in some sizes
Anyway, on to the reviews (I define 'bite' as braking power during the first half-second or so):
Front pads (stock '14 FX Nissin front brake, OEM 240mm rotor):
Honda 45105-MY6-415 (Nissin TT2501HH sintered): OK power & bite, good consistency, least squeal BEST
OEM (Nissin TT2508HH, metallic/sintered?): OK power & consistency, weak bite, squealing
Yamaha 5XC-W0045-00-00 (Nissin TT2952HH, sintered): like OEM but less consistent, squeal
EBC MXS185: slightly more power than OEM, OK consistency / bite, some squealing
Renthal BP-100: similar to EBC but less squeal, consistent, quick break-in, easy on rotor
Front pads (
higher-pressure modified system):
Honda 45105-MY6-415 (Nissin TT2501HH): VG+ power / consistency / bite, no squeal BEST
OEM (Nissin TT2508HH): G+ power & consistency, G bite, minimal squealing
Rear pads (stock '14 FX J Juan rear brake, OEM 240mm rotor):
OEM (Galfer FD093): OK power & bite, VG consistency, easy on rotor, wears quickly BEST
Honda 43105-KZ1-415 (Nissin TT2302FF, semi-metallic?): OK power & consistency, weak bite, dark rotor coating
Galfer FD093 G1396 (sintered): awful - poor power / bite & terrible consistency, brutal on rotor (scoring)
Renthal BP-103: slightly less power / bite / consistency than OEM, quick break-in, easy on rotor
Rear pads (
higher-pressure modified system):
OEM (Galfer FD093): VG power & bite (almost too much on dirt), consistency still VG BEST
Honda 43105-KZ1-415 (as above): weaker & less consistent than OEM, OK bite, dark rotor coating
Renthal BP-103: like OEM except a bit more pedal pressure needed, consistent, easy on rotor
Here's a current Galfer compound chart:
Galfer used to make compounds that went off the top of these charts, but these are now all that's left available to the public. The 1375 race compound shown is not available in the '14 FX pad sizes. What's left is (to me, anyway) not that impressive, especially at lower speeds & temps where I do most of my braking.
When using a chart like this to choose a pad for a Zero, it's important to know what your expected speed range is and how fast you commonly need to stop from the highest speed in that range. You may have to compromise, as Zero's braking systems limit pad choices to those which provide decent stopping power at reduced pressure (types 1, 2, and 4 above). Nowadays it seems a lot of makers are pushing their sintered pads - which have decent stopping power at high speeds with typical MC brakes - but the ones I tried on the stock Zero brake systems were just OK on the front, and unusable on the back. One thing I've noticed about Zero brakes is that with some pads they 'reverse fade' (the brakes start out weak, then get stronger), especially with the harder compounds.
On a related note... some overseas pad sellers advertise hard-to-find discontinued / unavailable compounds as being in stock, then once you've paid for them they drop the bad news and suggest a replacement that's often not similar at all or available much cheaper in the States (this happened to me twice now). More than once I found what I thought would be an excellent compound to try out, only to find it wasn't available in my pad sizes (you can pretty much forget about any street-oriented 'race' compounds, as most makers consider the '14 FX style pads off-road only). I also consulted a well-known Web braking specialist asking for low-pressure / low-temp pads, and ended up with nearly the highest pressure / temp pads Galfer makes - go figure.
I'll continue looking for better pads, mainly in the semi-metallic and ceramic categories. It hasn't been easy so far. Some makers have only a few compounds, some have many but not in all sizes, most are in between. The next set I'll be trying out are SBS 604 RQ 'Carbon Tech' race pads, which I got from Zero in 2014 (P/N 25-07021). I'm also working on having custom pads made, preferably with the material on the right below; I use it on all my vintage-drum shoes, it's designed to stop / hold large conveyor belts and small trains.
Ray
