2 of 4 brake pads in front changed?

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Goodman4

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I just had the bike in the shop for mounting new tires and I asked them to check everything over including the brakes. I used to have to do brakes on the VTX all the time, but I've never had them say the FJR has needed pads in the 22K and 5 years I've owned this 07 FJR. He said the back needed it bad but the front was odd because only 2 were severely worn and the other two were still pretty good. He wanted to save me money and not change the other two that weren't as bad since they are so expensive.

Is that normal or really unusual?

 
If the front two were the right-hand lower pair, I believe either your back brake is sticking on (common issue) or you are riding it, which would also explain the wear of the rear pads.

To answer your question, replacing a pair like that is no problem.

 
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+1

By the way, there are FOUR pairs of pads on the front, not two for a Gen II FJR. The two pairs on the left rotor are activated by the front brake lever as well as the upper of the two pairs on the right side. AS mcatrophy mentioned, the lower fronts are activated by the rear brake pedal.

In any case, I see no problem with changing one pair of pads in the front along with the rear pads. Please make sure that the rear pedal is not sticking and causing premature wear of the pads. I use far more front brake than back and my OEM fronts lasted 40,000+ miles. Probably more than twice that for the rear pads.

If the inside pads are more worn than the outside (common), you may want to swap inside-outside to extend their life.

 
IMHO it's normal on the front to change individual pairs of brake pads. It helps with longevity if you swap them inside to out once in a while.

 
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That's normal. Even if your brake pedal is clean, one or two of your Pistons could be slower to retract than others. If you ride your rear a lot 22K is about right. I don't and my brakes have lasted 40K on average.

 
....If the inside pads are more worn than the outside (common), you may want to swap inside-outside to extend their life.
And clean the calliper pistons, they should operate evenly.

[edit] posted this just after rbentnail and magicmaker. My opinion and experience is that the pairs should wear evenly.

Pictures are from my '06

Click on image for larger view

Left calliper Right calliper



[/edit]

 
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Agree. Never hurts to clean up the pistons when you have the opportunity. My wear is not identical side-to-side but nothing that I am worried about. Anytime I have the pads out, I make sure that both sets of pistons move freely.

 
I totally agree, Mc. They should wear evenly but, some don't. I try to douche them the best I can but, it often doesn't work out too well for me. No harm, No foul. What I do is eyeball them constantly and swap them around. I have it down to a science. By the time they hit 40K they are all even and as thin as they can get without kissing metal. Works for me! :D

 
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I really appreciate the advice, but I'm not too happy about the evidence pointing to riding the back brake. I know I used to ride the back brake sometimes on the VTX from learning on trail bikes, but I was pretty sure I had retrained myself much better on the FJR from some good riding courses and just practicing riding better. I would have told you I had become a 75% front 25% rear brake user. But the back was pretty worn out and with the front being only half, I'll have to do some re-evaluation of my braking.

 
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