Hi all,

I am shortly replacing both sets of front brake pads on my 2003 Yamaha XJR1300, I'm not sure what make are currently fitted but I have noticed in the short time I have owned her they are noisy and although the bike stops well enough, I feel it could do alot better.

I just wanted to throw out the question and pick your brains & draw on your experience because there are many known brands / manufacturers out there, some well known like Brembo, EBC, Gold Fren, Ferodo, Vesrah etc, and some not so well known. Once you have chosen a manufacturer, then you have to choose the compound, HH, Sintered, Carbon, Ceramic etc.

What a mine field this is, so you see your experience is invaluable, please advise ?????

Best regards and stay upright: Geoff

Hi Geoff,

I've got EBC HH Sintered pads on the front, EBC Organic (carbon) on the back. (Important to have more 'grab' on the front than the back.)

No problems. (Now at 22000 miles.)

A few questions if you've not had the bike long. Are your discs still ok, not too worn, pitted, warped or cracked? Are all 4 pistons on each slave cylinder working properly? Have both slave cylinders been re-assembled correctly, with no bits missing? (These have all been causes of poor/noisy brakes on XJRs in the past.)

Also, are the brake hoses still original rubber ones? eventually they will soften and 'give' a little, causing poor brake response.

My XJR will stop very quickly from speed, even with the missus on the back.

I,d recommend EBC HH pads (for the front brakes anyway). Much better "feel" than OE pads.