Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126892
~ D eat and Itres s u re: Themaking i o f b r a k e pads ~ SVENDBORG,DENMAR K Most riders don 't think 'm u ch about brake pads, as lon g as those pads slow down the motorcycl e upon demand, but they're actually pretty amazing devices. Brake pads have to be u naffected by extreme heat as th ey co n vert kinetic energy to hea t, th rough fri ctio n , time after ti me. T h e ma- Steel backing plates for brake pads are loaded into the pad-forming press. ready for the pad compound material and binding agents. terial the pads a re made of determines ho w th cy perform un der wet a nd d ry co ndi tio ns, how lo ng the y la st, h ow m uch th e disc wears. Tradi tio na lly, brake pads have been made of asbestos-based co m po u nds . Bu t co nce rns a bo u t hazardo us asbestos du st produced by suc h pads a nd problem s with wet- weath er brakin g sta rted th e m ovem ent to pads mad e o f other m at erial s a bo u t a decade ago. Street bik es n ow co me stoc k with si ntered metal brak e pads, which work bett er in th e wet but ma y requ ire m ore lever pr essure a nd don 't work as well in drv co nd itio ns as asbes tos based pads: Sintered met al pad s a lso often sco re and wear stainless-steel di scs rapidl y wh en used ha rd. T he ca tch is to make pads th a t work wcll u nder wet a n d dr y co n ditions , don 't g la ze o r crack, a n d don 't damage th e dis c or creat e eno ug h heat to bo il the brake fluid. Aftermarket pads made of as bes tos a nd o ther mat erial s a re a vaila ble, a n d one a fte rma rkct br ak e p ad co m pa ny is Obtec A.S. of Svendborg, Den mark , man ufactur er o f SBS (Sca n dan avia n Bra ke System s) pads. S BS pads are asbestos-free a nd arc n ot made o f sintered meta l. Rath er, the company mak es pads o u t of co mp ounds includi ng bra ss a nd o the r materials; th e co m pa ny mak es pads o u t o f th o se mat erial s not to avoid as bes tos , acco rd i ng to co m pa ny spokes men, but ra ther because pad s mad e o f th ose mat er ial s worked better under wet co nditions . Th e co m pounds are varied to deliver the friction coefficie nt needed. as measured by a test ing ma chine. It' s easy to say a pad co m pou nd in cludes brass, but wat ching th e man[Co n tin ued to page 38) Okay. send me my original fine art print of Isle of Man IT by Jeff Gundlach. pIBt1SB send. --.,porint(s) to: Name _ Address City State Zip o Phone _ r. , :; _ _ Payment enclosed (check or money order, payable to Cycle News). lCA res. add 6%. LA County res. add 6'h %) o ChBrge my ViN :' 0 ChBrge my Mastercard MStI ! '-" - -'- Chllrge Custom....: We must have complete account number and card expirat ion date. Card No. _ Expiration Date _ Signature _ M ail th is order to ISLE of AN PRINT c/o Cycle News P.O. Box 498. Long Beach. CA 90801-0498 13