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EBC or Brembo?
Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 12:15 am
by Anotherbikerbabe
Guys..... ANOTHER one of my ever growing dilemmas... EBC pads or Brembo? I really can't decided as don't have enough info (I like to gather my own intel from all sorts of sources lol) before making an informed decision but honestly, guys, does it matter? Well apart from the price... I'm no racer, but I can hold my own, keep up, ride fast when I want to, am super duper at slow riding /filtering ( mostly due to me not wanting to drop my bike so I super concentrate ha ha) My cornering is not bad.
So does it really just come down to wear and tear as in one will last a lot longer than the other?. I don't brake hard cos my friggin brakes are sh1t hot!! I don't need to.. 
Re: EBC or Brembo?
Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 12:31 am
by lloydie
From what I've read people that have used both ebc and brembo they won't buy ebc again .
I'm trying brembos next just to see what all the fuss is about .
Re: EBC or Brembo?
Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 12:59 am
by Anotherbikerbabe
lloydie wrote:From what I've read people that have used both ebc and brembo they won't buy ebc again .
I'm trying brembos next just to see what all the fuss is about .
Re: EBC or Brembo?
Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 6:17 am
by leevtr
Another one of those dilemas that I dont really get. I always use original Honda pads, never, ever do they lack stopping power, nor have they worn out exceptionally quickly. Some people want more power from their brakes, but while theyre good enough to flip the bike over its nose or overwhelm the front tyre, I cant see the need to change.
Re: EBC or Brembo?
Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 6:41 am
by 954luca
leevtr wrote:Another one of those dilemas that I dont really get. I always use original Honda pads, never, ever do they lack stopping power, nor have they worn out exceptionally quickly. Some people want more power from their brakes, but while theyre good enough to flip the bike over its nose or overwhelm the front tyre, I cant see the need to change.
+1
Got to agree, after trying loads of aftermarket pads over the years, always find genuine are best, especially for road use.
Re: EBC or Brembo?
Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 8:38 am
by AMCQ46
I think good brakes are a more important mod than doing your engine up, and they need to be strong, easy to modulate and have good progressive initial bite.... You can never have enough brakes
And If I base my opinions on my own bike, the firestorm does none of these things as a std bike. And yes that is with cleaned calipers and pistons, std and EBC pads, ss hoses...the lot.. The brakes are still not strong enough ... On my bike!
So I have fitted bigger piston calipers and the correct master cyl to match, giving improved hydraulic advantage as well as bigger pistons. With this set up I have now used std Honda, EBC HH and now brembo road pads.
Honda were close to the EBC in my view, with a good initial bite, but the EBC edged it on over all power, but i was still using 3 or 4 fingers for big stops. The brembo beats them both with a good progressive bite, more power and I am mostly using 2 fingers for all stopping.
So my next pads will not be EBC or Honda, they will be brembo or perhaps I will try the dyno mans suggestion which were ferodo (I might be wrong on that but I did write it down some where!)
But currently brembo is the new baseline.
Re: EBC or Brembo?
Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 9:45 am
by sirch345
I agree it is more to do with what you're happy with, or used to.
One little tip worth noting that caught me out once, is the front pads don't have that much thickness to them when new. I bought some new (Honda OEM) front pads when I thought mine were getting down. On closer inspection and measuring I found my old ones had almost 3mm of pad thickness left (I had guessed about 2mm). To my amazement the new ones were only 4.5mm thick IIRC.
Chris.
Re: EBC or Brembo?
Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 10:06 am
by lloydie
AMCQ46 wrote:I think good brakes are a more important mod than doing your engine up, and they need to be strong, easy to modulate and have good progressive initial bite.... You can never have enough brakes
And If I base my opinions on my own bike, the firestorm does none of these things as a std bike. And yes that is with cleaned calipers and pistons, std and EBC pads, ss hoses...the lot.. The brakes are still not strong enough ... On my bike!
So I have fitted bigger piston calipers and the correct master cyl to match, giving improved hydraulic advantage as well as bigger pistons. With this set up I have now used std Honda, EBC HH and now brembo road pads.
Honda were close to the EBC in my view, with a good initial bite, but the EBC edged it on over all power, but i was still using 3 or 4 fingers for big stops. The brembo beats them both with a good progressive bite, more power and I am mostly using 2 fingers for all stopping.
So my next pads will not be EBC or Honda, they will be brembo or perhaps I will try the dyno mans suggestion which were ferodo (I might be wrong on that but I did write it down some where!)
But currently brembo is the new baseline.
Bendix pads al is kevs pads of choice and are good .
Re: EBC or Brembo?
Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 10:08 am
by Anotherbikerbabe
leevtr wrote:Another one of those dilemas that I dont really get. I always use original Honda pads, never, ever do they lack stopping power, nor have they worn out exceptionally quickly. Some people want more power from their brakes, but while they're good enough to flip the bike over its nose or overwhelm the front tyre, I cant see the need to change.
..
and there you have it.. . This is why I say 'Dilemma' in the nicest way,as in, I need more info to make the decision from you guys who have used them as I don't trust a bunch of opinion polls written on some antiquated article written by some dinosaur who prob never rode a VTR...
Re: EBC or Brembo?
Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 10:13 am
by Anotherbikerbabe
AMCQ46 wrote:I think good brakes are a more important mod than doing your engine up, and they need to be strong, easy to modulate and have good progressive initial bite.... You can never have enough brakes
:
Thanks for that bit, my brakes are really good so however/whoever had my previously certainly made sure of that and I suspect it ws pre Marravtr. :-)
And If I base my opinions on my own bike, the firestorm does none of these things as a std bike. And yes that is with cleaned calipers and pistons, std and EBC pads, ss hoses...the lot.. The brakes are still not strong enough ... On my bike!
Crikey!
So I have fitted bigger piston calipers and the correct master cyl to match, giving improved hydraulic advantage as well as bigger pistons. With this set up I have now used std Honda, EBC HH and now brembo road pads.
Honda were close to the EBC in my view, with a good initial bite, but the EBC edged it on over all power, but i was still using 3 or 4 fingers for big stops. The brembo beats them both with a good progressive bite, more power and I am mostly using 2 fingers for all stopping.
That's another piece I was looking for
So my next pads will not be EBC or Honda, they will be brembo or perhaps I will try the dyno mans suggestion which were ferodo (I might be wrong on that but I did write it down some where!)
But currently brembo is the new baseline.
Cheers for that, I always ask the guys on here first as in the past I just make sure I buy a good sintered HH pad and never really give it much thought.
Re: EBC or Brembo?
Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 10:28 am
by Anotherbikerbabe
Cheers guys
All information is useful. Brembo all round it is then, ordering today.I try to find things out from other riders and get a different perspective on who knows how to handle our machines. That is more important. So thanks guys. Over 2 VTRs and 4 years of one riding it,there is always a question or 3 ..I can always count on your guys to come up with reasonable solutions and resolutions to all sorts. We are always learning and not everyone has the answers, but between us we come as 'close to it' as a forum. Thanks guys..
Re: EBC or Brembo?
Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 10:34 am
by VTRDark
One little tip worth noting that caught me out once, is the front pads don't have that much thickness to them when new. I bought some new (Honda OEM) front pads when I thought mine were getting down.
Are you referring to the Brermbo pads Chris. They are indeed very thin compared to other brands but wear very slowly.
(:-})
Re: EBC or Brembo?
Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 12:59 pm
by mik_str
ZCOO..... simply the best, try them and become a believer. Any pad that outdoes an HRC hard bite and Vesrah SRJL cannot be described any other way. Best of all, they are readily available in Europe (unlike here in NA, had to order mine from Japan)........ They work when cold, in the rain, have a soft feel, and, brake like mad.... what is not to like.....
Re: EBC or Brembo?
Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 1:10 pm
by Wicky
Only problem is that they don't appear to do them for Firestorm OEM calipers, presumably you've got different braking system fitted.
http://www.omniaracing.net/index.php/br ... s-c-11_151
Re: EBC or Brembo?
Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2013 4:14 pm
by Tweety
Well... Since I really would suggest getting either F4i or 929/954/RC calipers with a matching master cylinder fitted anyway, that shouldn't be a huge problem really... I'm using HRC hard bite on my CBR 1000RR brakes/forks, and while I have a hard time believing anything can better them, I'm going to try mik_str's suggestion next season, as these are almost worn out now...
And yeah, compared to stock, what I have now is night and day... Two fingers is enough... Three and you are going to impersonate superman...
But still very, very easy to modulate, and I now have the confidence in the suspension to pretty much slam on the brakes hard, and feather them on the limit of what the tire grip allows me, if need be...