Worn pads

[Fallout]

Thought I'd put this up here for giggles. I bought the Tiger a few months back from a dealer and asked them to check the brakes as I'd be doing a load of miles. They assured me they had loads of life left in them. Thought nothing of it and did 4000 odd miles.

Service interval was due but couldn't get an appointment at a Triumph dealer for a month so decided to service it myself. Front pads had less than a mm left, but the rear pads were the star of the show. The rear calliper slider had jammed on one pin so had been wearing unevenly since new AFAIK. Disc is surprisingly fine considering, though discoloured where it was metal on metal!

Moral of the story for me is you just can't trust garages! I really want to buy a KTM from them in the future too, but now thinking there is no real benefit over buying privately. If you don't get piece of mind, then what is the point?

http://forums.sv650.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=12557&stc=1&d=1367620647

[squirrel_hunter]

Nice.

I've not gone that far. Did go down to the metal on a set of rear pads. Didn't bother me that much as it wasn't my bike. However Stretchie never lets me forget I did this to his Blackbird. He did tell me about them being low and I was supposed to do them before it got too low, but in my defence I don't use the rear brake. I also forgot that the Blackbird has linked brakes.

[stuR]

Its odd eh you either seem to hear alot of negligence or just selling you something you dont need yet. Wheres the honest guys? Although like anything you only usually hear the negative places and never about the good ones

[NTECUK]

It might have been ok thickness wise when they looked at it.
All the salt on the roads has got into allot of things .
Shame you didn't pick it up when you did your once a week look over .

[Fallout]

I check everything more than once a week. You'd have to take the calliper off to be able to see it. You just can't get a good view with them on, so I took it on faith they'd last until the next scheduled service interval. It's the fault of the mechanic IMO if a bike has 4000 miles to the next service interval and pads have far fewer miles left on them. They need to make buyers aware of that, especially if I specifically asked them to check out the brakes. Oh wells.

[Dicky Ticker]

Some people are harder on brake pad wear than others, like tyre wear.
I am not defending the garage concerned but if it was 4000 miles on a set of tyres would you have changed them?
Appreciating that you asked for them to be checked before buying this is not good considering you seem to be a high mileage user.
I use a mirror on a telescopic arm, and a torch, for a quick check on my brakes between service intervals.
Regarding KTM,I considered a change myself but having read a few KTM forms and reports from individuals make sure you really want one for high mileage usage. Taking into consideration the spares availability, dealer service which you seem to have first hand knowledge of and depending on what model you are buying, where it is built and source of the build parts.
With Triumph I have always been able to get any parts 1 or 2 days after ordering them if they are not available from stock held in the dealers.

[Fallout]

The thing about the pads is if they had have checked them, they would've seen uneven wear and realised the calliper was jammed. Any unevenly worn pad needs changing and the problem rectified, imo. They can't have checked properly. I am not a big user of the rear brake either, so find it hard to believe I did all that wear myself. In any case, it's no big drama.

I don't think I could buy a KTM for high mileage. I always shop with my head and not my heart (boring I know), so if I do get one eventually it'll be as a toy. :)

[Sid Squid]

I'm not sure you should blame them, brake pad life is very difficult to estimate.

[Fallout]

True, but a jammed calliper and a pad wearing unevenly should've been picked up when I asked them to check them out. I suspect margins are low on second hand bikes and a quick look over is all they get.

[21QUEST]

Good that you caught it in time.

The truth I believe is, all the guff dealers(most) give about 1000 point check , full service etc etc is just, welll... guff

It's at the very least, very annoying

[21QUEST]

I bought a brand new bike and found the following...

Clutch cable incorrectly fixed to the actuating arm
Insufficient engine oil
Chain with stiff links/tight spots
Steering head bearing incorrectly adjusted/binding.
Bar end loose

All should have been found during the PDI .
Some of the above, I noticed within 5 mins of picking the bike up

[jambo]

There is of course the possibility that the caliper was not obviously dragging 4,000 miles ago. Once the caliper stops moving cleanly wear on the pads can be surprisingly rapid, especially if you don't expect that part to be getting a lot of use.

Jambo
Sent from my thingie

[Fallout]

That's true. I have no interest in pursuing the dealer because I can't be certain it was their fault and no harm has been done. I've just posted the pic up for giggles ... cos let's face it, it's baddddd and could've been worse had I not checked! :)

Any other dealer I would've just put it down to the usual corner cutting, high throughput, second hand, don't expect much scenario. Like 21Quest, I don't have much faith with my experiences and the stories friends have told me. However, these guys enjoyed reassuring me with phrases like "if anything needs doing we'll do it" and then we had a conversation about what I wanted them to check and why (high miles). So I left with confidence I was sorted, and to be fair, there haven't been any problems apart from this (touch wood).

But ya know, in the back of my mind I can't really see how I could've done all the damage myself in 4000 miles of occasional rear brake use, but who knows? It doesn't matter though. As I said, I just posted it up for giggles.

[jambo]

The key point here is that once a caliper starts dragging it's pretty much always on, or on for a lot longer than the time you're pressing the pedal. You're expecting very light wear because you don't touch the pedal often, but from the pad's point of view you seem to be resting your foot on the pedal a lot of the time. This can lead to a big disparity between actual wear, and expected wear.

Glad all its well, and no harm's come of it. I have some pads somewhere that have a groove cut in the backing plate by the disc and I'd had the bike ages and did all my own work by then. Hey ho!

Jambo
Sent from my thingie

[NTECUK]

. I suspect margins are low on second hand bikes and a quick look over is all they get.
This is probably what happend .
Unless you know who works on it quality servicing / checking is just luck.
There are good guys out there . Finding them is the hard part .
Do it yourself if you can.
ps
Id have a chat with them see what you can get back cost wise.Nothing ventured etc..

[Sid Squid]

Anyone who works with their hands is completely untrustworthy - everyone knows that.

Thieves and liars every last one of us, err.. I mean every last one of them.

[embee]

I bought a brand new bike and found the following...



Yes, I've found loose mudguard bolts etc on a brand new bike. I think the PDI consists of counting the wheels, and as long as it's between zero and three it's good to go.