Front brake pads

[Honda enthusiast]

Been out on the K7 first ride all good no oil leaks or a breakdown but the front brake lever needs a big squeeze to get decent braking.
I'm using EBC organic fa013 pads, what do you guys recommend?

Thanks Hubert

[royhall]

The brakes on my 750K5 are not what I would describe as good. It takes a big handful to pull up quick. Don't think it's the pads, just the general design, after all they are 60's brakes.

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[Bryanj]

In the imortal phrase " They are all like that sir"
At the time they were lightyears ahead of the twin leading shoe british bikes, now they lag way behind the newer stuff.
Things you can check to get the best out of it, in most common order of problems
1 swinging arm free on pivot pin
2 clean fluid
3 tiny return hole in master
4 piston surface and seal groove
5 collapsing flexi pipes

[royhall]

I would usually agree Bryan except the drum on the front of my Black Bomber is superb, way better than the 750 or 350 disks

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[Bryanj]

I did say British TLS !!!

[Skoti]

Been out on the K7 first ride all good no oil leaks or a breakdown but the front brake lever needs a big squeeze to get decent braking.
I'm using EBC organic fa013 pads, what do you guys recommend?

Thanks Hubert

I use EBC FA13V pads and EBC MD1062LS brake disc.

Suitable for CB750F1 and K7 models.

Not cheap but gives an acceptable brake performance.


Good luck

Skoti

[royhall]

That's good then Bryan, we are in agreement.

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[Honda enthusiast]

Thanks 😊👍 guys, I'll take your tips onboard and try the ebc semi sintered pads first, cheers Skoti

And also go through the existing set up on the lines you mentioned, Bryan

You're right they aren't like modern brakes, I'd just like them to be a bit better...

[K2-K6]

All good things to check in previous posts in making sure there's no basic compromise within your system.

The part I pay most attention to on all brakes I work with is the caliper seal though. If that's compromised by corrosion, stopping the correct function of the seal in it's dynamic movement, then the brake will always perform at substandard level. It makes a huge difference in my experience.

The seal groove must be absolutely clear and devoid of any corrosion/gunky effect to allow the seal to both move out and then pull the piston back in again to withdraw the pad from disc contact. Without this function fully realised, it'll feel wooden, glaze the pads through continuous contact while running, and not allow the mastercylinder to deliver required amount of fluid in equilibrium into line feed.

Certainly they don't have the bite of a modern system, that's obvious. But they absolutely should be far more competent than statement of "they're old brakes, what do you expect" type comments seek to underpin.
They would, all of these single disc system, have decent real use stopping distance when contemporary, that should be the aim now. Properly set up, they are pretty decent in everyday use.

I use silicone grease to install the caliper seal and piston to make them firstly move with ease, secondly its highly repellent of water, meaning they generally stay in full functional state for longer.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Aside from all the excellent advice given there is one other thing worth mentioning.
You might be a sprightly youngster who works out in the Gym if that is the case disregard the following comment.

In my case it's the subtle but incremental weakness of the aging biker pulling on the brake or clutch lever.
This same biker (me) has trouble opening milk bottles, jam jars, pull ring cans to name but a few.
I think its affected the torque reading from hand to brain, a conspiracy to make life more challenging as I age

[Oddjob]

Worth checking that the caliper is mounted properly. The amount of 500/550s calipers I saw with the mudguard stay mounted UNDER the caliper mount was insane, this meant the caliper sat lobsided and the brakes were spongy and ineffective until the pads started to wear at an angle. The 750 uses the same type system so I'd imagine the same mistake can be made.

[Martin6]

Yes it can also be the case on a 750. I refurbished my front end, forks seals etc. and
- braided hoses (HEL)
- replacement calliper (David Silver)
- pads
- brake fluid all properly bled, no air
- new calliper arm hinge pin and o-ring, + greased
I reassembled, copying the way it was and then noticed the mudguard stay was between the calliper arm mount and fork. I'd been riding it like that. Obviously, I then put it right.

I still find it requires quite a lever pull to get serious braking.

Yesterday, I was a sensible distance behind a van. It suddenly started to get much closer. Brake lights were defective. I needed a hard pull, but I did stop pretty quickly. From that experience, Id say they do work well enough, they just don't have the 'feel' to give much confidence.

[Oddjob]

Feel can often be about pad material, too hard and it feels wooden. Organic is normally the best for feel but suffers with dust and quick wear and of course brake fade if used very hard. Sintered are good but can be hard on the discs, still a dust problem though. I'm going to try some carbon pads next, got them on my 1300 and they are great, almost no dust, stop like hell and are kinder to the disc than sintered.

Have you bedded the pads in and removed the old bedding from the disc surface? Makes a hell of a difference if done correctly.

[Pauarc]

I change mine to twin disc brakes are much better

[K2-K6]

I change mine to twin disc brakes are much better

They do work really well with twin setup, don't they.

It does though have more to do with hydraulic ratio of master to caliper ratio than absolute disc swept area.

Honda used originally very conservative ratio for them, to make them most linear and not too grabby .... of which views have now significantly shifted.

A different, smaller, master cylinder bore will be as effective for brake feel and what is interpretation of "power" to rider.

More pad and disc surface will predominantly give better performance to fade & repeated abilities to dissipate energy at the extremes of use, generally unlikely the way these are ridden nowadays.