Rear Brake Rotor: Odd Wear Pattern

[avc8130]

I have become increasingly concerned with the wear of my rear brake rotor. It started with grooving along the pad contact surface. Now I have realized a "lip" is forming on both sides of each petal at the very OD of the rotor. I take it Yamaha does NOT have the pads contacting this area and my aggressive braking with a 600lb motorcycle is really starting to add up.





I'm not sure if it is visible in these pics. Anyone else seeing weird wear? $120 for a new rotor from Yamaha.

ac

 

[limey]

Looks ok to me.

 

[Dallara]

Looks ok to me.

Amen... ::026::

Looks entirely normal to me. Mine's just like that, if not worse. I know I'll be replacing my rotors soon as they are wear items, and will be hitting near the minimum wear thickness some day in the future, but I expect that.

Dallara


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[avc8130]

Ok, I'll just have to make sure when I change the pads that the new ones don't ride on the lip...otherwise there won't be much contact!

I see Yamaha spec'd a chamfer on the front rotors to avoid this condition. I think that is more typical on bikes and why I initially got concerned.

I just mic'd the rotor. Average thickness: ~.187" ~4.75mm. This was very consistent along the pad contact surface, although there is some definite grooving.

The manual states minimum thickness: 4.5mm (.18").

Anyone know what the original thickness was? I'd like to know where in the service life I am.

ac

 

[Z06]

Looks like mine. Third set of pads almost done at 24000 miles. I don't use the rear brake much. Linked system is pretty aggressive I guess.

 

[NoMorBills]

I have 20,000 miles on my original brakes and yes this looks normal. There are not as deep as they appear. When you put new pads on just hit it with a sandind block and you will see that it is an illusion. They are not grooved deep.

 

[tomatocity]

I have been concerned with the rear brake since about 20K miles. I cold stand on the rear brake and it would barely slow down. Had the 26K mile service at 24K miles. They had the Tenere an extra three days while waiting on a part so I asked them to look at the rear brake. They flushed the rear brake caliper and this seemed to help a lot. I rarely use the rear brake but it is better though I am not impressed. Bought new pads for all the calipers though I have not needed to install them.

28,087 miles: Just looked at the rear brake rotor and pads and my rotor looks like yours. The braking surface is inconsistent and there is a lip at the top. The rear pads are thinning but not at the end. I am going to have the service department look at the rear rotor before I replace the brake pads and flush the calipers. Will probably replace the rotor just because.

 

[roy]

Mine is heavily grooved as well, 24k miles and on the second set of Yamaha pads. I rarely ever go through a rear set of pads under 24k miles so I attibute this to the unified braking system. That and a cheap rotor.

 

[avc8130]

Does anyone know what the original thickness of the rotor was?

With ~.25mm to the wear limit, I would like to know if I need a new rotor in 1k, 5k, 10k, etc based on my current wear rate.

ac

 

[sail2xxs]

AC,

Does the quote below help you out? BTW, at 91k miles on my original rear rotor, just installed 3rd set of pads. My rear rotor has a pretty noticeable lip, but either I've gotten used to it, or it's not making much difference in the braking. I do tend to use the front brake more unless off pavement - original front pads are at 50%.

Best,

Chris

There are specs for both brake disc thickness (4.0 mm front, 4.5 mm rear) and runout (0.10 mm front, 0.15mm rear) in the service manual and a process to reindex the disc on the wheel to try and correct a runout problem without replacing the disc. In practice, it generally takes a fair number of miles - I'd guess 50K+ - before the disc wear is likely to exceed specs and this is something widely ignored. I've don't think very many dealers mic discs during routine maintenance.

- Mark

 

[avc8130]

AC,

Does the quote below help you out? BTW, at 91k miles on my original rear rotor, just installed 3rd set of pads. My rear rotor has a pretty noticeable lip, but either I've gotten used to it, or it's not making much difference in the braking. I do tend to use the front brake more unless off pavement - original front pads are at 50%.

Best,

Chris

Chris,

91k?!?!?! I need your job. LOL

Anyways... that doesn't really help. I was hoping to find out the actual original thickness. The wear limit is in the manual (4.5mm).

ac

 

[Dallara]

Chris,

91k?!?!?! I need your job. LOL

Anyways... that doesn't really help. I was hoping to find out the actual original thickness. The wear limit is in the manual (4.5mm).

ac

Maybe take a caliper with you up to the dealer and mic a new rotor? On a bike on the floor even? I'd do it, but my dealer doesn't currently have a Super Tenere in stock, and I know he doesn't have a set of rotors there in the parts department, either.

That may be the only way unless some of the folks here with brand new bikes can mic one for ya'... How 'bout it, you new owners? Can anybody mic their front and rear rotors for us?

Dallara



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[sail2xxs]

Chris,

91k?!?!?! I need your job. LOL

Anyways... that doesn't really help. I was hoping to find out the actual original thickness. The wear limit is in the manual (4.5mm).

ac

Doh! Sorry! I emailed the dealer who just worked on my bike - they have two 2013's on the floor. Will post info when it arrives.

Best,

Chris

 

[sail2xxs]

Here's what the dealer sent:

Rear - diameter x thickness 282.0 x 5.0 mm

Front - diameter x thickness 310.0 x 4.5 mm


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Best,

Chris

 

[avc8130]

Here's what the dealer sent:

Rear - diameter x thickness 282.0 x 5.0 mm

Front - diameter x thickness 310.0 x 4.5 mm


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Best,

Chris

Chris,

Your dealer rocks!

That means that at 4.75mm I am right about 50% life on the rear rotor.

ac

 

[sail2xxs]

ac,

I just started taking the bike to these guys. Well worth the ride down from NJ if you need something more advanced from a service standpoint.

www.tricountyhonda.com

Ask for Eric. He's very proactive and does a great job of getting things taken care of.

Chris

 

[tomatocity]

5.0 mm = 0.19685 inch

4.5 mm = 0.177165 inch

For us inch people. Actually I have calipers that are inch.

 

[Newton]

What about this mess?? Is this normal? It is grooved so deeply. Is it possible that things were put together wrong when I had it serviced?

 

[scott123007]

"Somebody" ran those pads down to the metal! :'(

 

[EricV]

"Somebody" ran those pads down to the metal! :'(

Or installed the wheel with the pads both on one side... Not the first time I've seen that happen, even by responsible people that just got in a hurry.

Check your pads to make sure they are correctly installed. The rust is no big deal, it will burn off the first good braking you do on your next ride. Oh, stop washing your bike!


Edit - at 74k miles, my rotors look like AC's too, with the lip at the OD. I briefly considered filing it down, but the pads don't hit there, so it really only means it would be easier to remove the wheel if I filed the lip down. Don't do that often enough to worry that much about it.