Honda vs. EBC rear brake pad comparison

[islandstar]

I haven't seen any threads comparing pics of brake pads.

Since the EBC use the same part numbers for the front and rear pads while Honda has different numbers front to back, I thought this would be interesting...well, a little at least.

Honda rear pad compared to new EBC
(I haven't compared the front Honda pads to the EBC's yet)

I thought I needed new rear pads because the piston was extended rather far and the leftover pad looked low.

Here is my well worn pad and the new pad (still in packaging). Not too different in pad material (So I kept the old pad in the caliper)

Even the OEM Honda backing was beefier

One thing to double check before walking away is the pad "seats" into its slot on the caliper. I mention this because you can STILL install the allen bolt to hold the pads through their tab holes when the pads are NOT seated. This is a photo from the opposite side, peeking through the wheel. Note the pad tab is fully inserted into the caliper.

BTW, should I keep the HH pads or go to Honda pads?

 

[Gug]

My dealer at one time replace the backs with EBC, I got better mileage out of the OEM's. I think you will here that echo in here.

 

[tdeboeser]

Better mileage outta the OEM's, and better rain performance. If you plan on race-tracking you ST stay with the EBC's.

Tom de

 

[Mellow]

I've got a set of the EBCs but I think I still have 2-3k left on my OEMs. I'll leave one set in the bike just in case. I won't know how well they perform for a while. I've always liked the OEMs and when I tried the EBCs on the wing they squeaked.

 

[dduelin]

Do the EBC pads have a wear indicators like the OEM Honda ones do?

If you have never checked the wear indicator you can just see one in the second picture. There is a small rectangular opening in the pad material just next to the metal backing plate. In the picture it can be seen between the metal backing plate and the brake disc. This opening is about 1 mm high and when the pad material is worn away so the top of the opening is against the disc it means it is time to replace the pads. The left hand pad in the picture had about 2 mm of pad left at the leading edge.

I have found the pads do not wear evenly from leading edge to trailing edge and left pad to right pad so when one of the wear indicators gets about 1 mm from touching the disc (2 mm of pad left like in the picture) I pull the pads to check the trailing edges which can't be seen. Often one has 1 mm or less pad remaining. I think the OEM ones start out with 5 mm of pad material.

To check the front pads I use a small mirror and a flashlight to look for the wear indicators.

Thank you for the pad comparisons. I do use EBC organic pads in my old BMW but always used OEM Honda in the ST.

 

[juddspaintballs]

I think in the not too distant future I'm going to switch to EBC front rotors to replace my nearly-worn Honda rotors. I have a wearing out set of OEM rotors that I'm going to use for a while, but at $175 a piece, it's hard to go wrong with an EBC rotor methinks. When I switch rotors, I'm going to switch to their pads too. The logic being: they probably work pretty well together.

 

[Mellow]

Do the EBC pads have a wear indicators like the OEM Honda ones do?

If you have never checked the wear indicator you can just see one in the second picture. There is a small rectangular opening in the pad material just next to the metal backing plate. In the picture it can be seen between the metal backing plate and the brake disc. This opening is about 1 mm high and when the pad material is worn away so the top of the opening is against the disc it means it is time to replace the pads. The left hand pad in the picture had about 2 mm of pad left at the leading edge.

I have found the pads do not wear evenly from leading edge to trailing edge and left pad to right pad so when one of the wear indicators gets about 1 mm from touching the disc (2 mm of pad left like in the picture) I pull the pads to check the trailing edges which can't be seen. Often one has 1 mm or less pad remaining. I think the OEM ones start out with 5 mm of pad material.

To check the front pads I use a small mirror and a flashlight to look for the wear indicators.

Thank you for the pad comparisons. I do use EBC organic pads in my old BMW but always used OEM Honda in the ST.

Nope.

 

[EASt]

My second set on the ST were EBC. They didn't wear as long as the OEMs did. Personally, I don't notice much performance difference between the two.

I've gone back to OEM. They're spendier, but I figure the longer life makes up for the extra cost.