Kawasaki Concours Forum
The C-14, aka Kawasaki Concours-14, the new one :) => Accessories and modifications - C14/GTR 1400 => Topic started by: jdhreiss on February 24, 2014, 09:31:29 AM
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I went for a set of Volmar front pads since the price was right and there were no bad reviews (at the time). Yesterday, at the end of a I-5 off ramp, I grabbed the front brakes to find the lever pull all the way to the bar. On the rear and pumping the front led to slowing and the front end grinding. 4 of the 8 pads had the friction material separated from the backing plate and one pad was missing. All were rusted behind the friction material pads, indicating the bonding agent had failed some time ago. If you have Volmar pads, check them. If not, stay away from them. My 2 cents.
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Holy wow, that could have ended badly.
Time for a very negative review then eh?
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Forgot- 8,900 miles on the pads - average thickness of the separated friction material: .170"
Average thickness pad & backing plate: .280". Note puck side of backing plates are not rusted.
Joe R.
Kelso, WA
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Hope you didn't pay a lot for that muffler.. Never heard of that brand before and I'm going to keep it that way.
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Hope you didn't pay a lot for that muffler.. Never heard of that brand before and I'm going to keep it that way.
Yeah, I am really scared of aftermarket parts when it comes to brakes... unless they are really well known
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Thats lawsuit material... Glad it wasnt worse for ya!
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The correct name of them is VOLAR. They are available @ D2moto and even Amazon. There were many good reviews on the sportbike forums. Live and learn.
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Live and learn.
Key word, "Live." Glad it didn't cause an accident. :thumbs:
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Did they scrape up the disks ?
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The discs look ok. I bought these at D2moto and posted the photos on their facebook today. They removed them twice. So, there you are.
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That's BS
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Unbelievable! Glad you could stop in time. Would you consider filing a complaint with the NTSHA? If enough people do it they may force a recall. We're talking lives here.
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I haven't thought of that. D2Moto needs all the love I can give them. After pulling my facebook posting, they posted a "if you have any problems contact customer service" line. I think they know I have had a problem! Also, I got a set for a friend of mine and had to track down the bike (another 08) since he traded it in. Got that corrected.
Joe
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I would tend to agree on their comment that you should contact them first, and depending on their reaction, eventually post that info. But lives are lives, I don't think you did anything wrong posting. Keep nagging them, and keep updating us :thumbs:
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Could you Gorilla-glue them back together and re-use them?
Oh, wait...that's something us KLR riders might try, LOL!
But then again, even as cheap as us KLR guys are, I don't think even we would resort to that!
Thanks for the warning.
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Hope you didn't pay a lot for that muffler.. Never heard of that brand before and I'm going to keep it that way.
that muffler only holds the brake pads ;D
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There are lots of pads offered for the c14
From names I've never heard of before, like Brake, Brake Master, etc.
They all claim the same features- ceramic, metal, etc.
Is it possible these all are made in the same factory in china, then
sold in different packages with different names?
They all have similar prices, about half what ebc costs.
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Oh boy. I would not try and play around with saving a few bucks on brake pads. Call Murph or go online and buy EBC sintered double H pads.
That will be about the best stopping power you can get and you wont have to worry about the glue holding.
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Go to ebay or amazon and type concours 14 in the search engine, you'll get dozens of listings for different names of brakes that all sound the same and are cheap.
I don't rust any of these cheapies.
FWIW, when it comes to brakes, I found these are the only big names offering pads:
Ferodo, EBC, Galfer, Carbon Lorraine and DP.
And, of course, Kawasaki.
Names like Brake Master, Mr. Chen (wtf?) all sound like the same stuff.
Maybe they are good, maybe they work well in smaller bikes, who knows? I think the C14 pads are also fit a Suzuki 600, but when it comes to the C14 she's a big pig of a bike and slowing down that extra girth from routine stops can be as hard on the brakes and racing on a track.
Back when I was in college, I had some wagner pads on my K car and did some towing, it started requiring more pressure to stop. The pads were falling apart, some were missing material.
Anyhow, I need brakes. i want a bad that has low dusting, quiet and good brake feel. The trade off I'm willing to give up is ultimate performance as I don't ride aggressively. Out of Ferodo, EBC, Galfer, Carbon Lorraine, DP and Kawasaki, which should I choose?
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ECONO and brakes do not mix well........EVER.
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Oh boy. I would not try and play around with saving a few bucks on brake pads. Call Murph or go online and buy EBC sintered double H pads.
That will be about the best stopping power you can get and you wont have to worry about the glue holding.
+1
saving on brake pads is even more kamikaze than saving on condoms ::)
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+1
saving on brake pads is even more kamikaze than saving on condoms ::)
Group buy? ;)
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...on kamikaze condoms?
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Why not both? We can increase the quality by buying in volume/bulk.