rear rotors

ST1100Y

ST1100Y

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Joined
Nov 7, 2020
Messages
625
Age
60
Location
Vienna, AuSTria, Europe
Bike
ST1100Y, ST1100R, NT700
Well, the one on my GF's NT700VA is due, 5.2mm... 60,000km on the clock... possible the PO had some aftermarket pads in there...

New one came today, 5.95mm... and it ain't an NISSIN (like on my ST1100 where the rear lasts like 100,000km...)

IMG_20221115_144453.jpg
 
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I'm waiting for the new rear disc to arrive them I'll make the swap. I have 85k miles on my NT and noticed the disc condition when I recently changed the pads.
 
Europe's riding and environmental conditions must be entirely different than So Cal. Every bike I ever owned never required disk replacements only pad replacements. I have been and continue to use engine-breaking when coming to a stop.
 
Brillot2000 said:
I have been and continue to use engine-breaking when coming to a stop.
Click to expand...
You must ride in pretty abandoned areas then... 😏 roads fully straight, up to the horizon and that... 😁

Rear brake is also used a lot for stabilizing while cornering (trail-braking)...
 
I find this very interesting. I have ridden bikes from way before bikes had disc brakes, however, I have had several with discs also. I've even put over 118,000 miles on my Goldwing (190,000 kilometers) without needing to replace any rotors. I can't remember anyone who HAS replaced a rotor other than accident damage. Maybe the rotor material on the VT700 is different/softer?

I should mention that I often ride 2 up, often in mountains and several thousand miles pulling a trailer. I guess time will tell with the VT700. I only have 29,500 miles on mine.
 
I have 137K on Traveller and have never replaced the rotors. Just for funsies. the next time I'm in the garage when it is reasonably warm I'll measure 'em and report back. It would be good to hear David's (Woodaddict) expereience with NT rotors.

Mike
 
the rear wears faster than the fronts. front has dual disks, the rear gets more road grime. so my 1st NT with 201,111 miles, replaced rear twice and fronts once.
 
ST1100Y said:
You must ride in pretty abandoned areas then... 😏 roads fully straight, up to the horizon and that... 😁
Click to expand...
I do not live in the Great Planes States or the Midwest. No offense to those that do. :)

Southern California has plenty of mountainous roads and no shortage of curvy routes perfect for dragging a peg around a turn. I have done my fair share without needing to "Trail Break."

This route is literally in my backyard and has several alternate ways to access this twisty paradise. I have ridden it thousand times in the past 30 years or so.

 
I rode my first '10 NT700VA for 139K miles. Never replaced (or needed to) a rotor. I replaced front pads twice and never replaced the rears.
 
I bought a project, non-running 2012 700X with 26K on the clock this summer and one of it's many issues was the rear brake:

DSC00499.JPG

I've fixed up a lotta bikes over the years and I agree that it's rare to even need to replace the pads much less the rotor on the rear but that was certainly the case with this one. It seemed a pretty good bet that something was malfunctioning so I rebuilt the caliper and master cylinder but the issue I then had was that the aftermarket pads did not fit correctly and were binding up. I ended up having to order some OEM pads to get the rear brake to work correctly.
 
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This morning, I checked the rear disc thickness on my NT that has 85k miles. The new spec is 0.235" and mine was just a hair above the service limit of 0.200." I'm still waiting for the new disc to arrive from Partzilla so it's not a big rush and besides, it's now winter in OH with high temps for the next week not exceeding 35-40 F. :-(

On Deb's 2010 NT, I had to replace the badly worn, rear disc at around 45-50k miles. My guess is that the previous owner was mostly a "rear breaker" because she mostly uses the front brakes.
 
My experience has been that every time I've had a rotor that needed replacement, it was because overly abrasive aftermarket pads were installed. I think generally cheap "performance" pads are the worst, because I had a Suzuki GS500 (single disk) with EBC HH pads (high friction) that was set up for gymkhana and short track, and even that rotor was fine. That bike regularly lifted the rear tire, and the brakes went through vicious heat cycles.

I only run OEM pads now though. Better to replace pads than rotors.
 
Just FYI, you can't just use the rear brakes on the NT700. Applying the rear brake also applies some braking to one of the front rotors.
 
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