Upgrade front brakes - best replacements

[Mel46]

My wife has just told me that she does not like the brakes on the PCX. I can't do anything about the rear drum brakes, but I can change the front disc brakes. Any suggestions on the best affordable replacements?

[easyrider]

I found that the 150 PCX brakes were a bit dicey myself when I had it.

[tomtomclub2005]

Hi Mel,

There is are some hints in this thread ( in which you participated) and others around here. I have found that Kitaco non fade Rear brake shoes are a nice upgrade over stock. I have a new front disc and EBC sintered pads that i will install soon. Looking to install braided lines too but ready made ones are very expensive compared to made to measure . I wish someone could tell me the length of the front right line so i could have one made ( don't care too much about CBS, a braided line for that one might be nonsense)

Be aware that i have found that the front calipers need regular cleaning, ( every 6 months in my case) the pistons don't retract correctly if dirty and it messes with braking power completely. Make sure the pads glide on the pin. You might want to start here, give it a very good clean.


Cheers,
Thomas

[iceman]

The PCX brakes seem ok if everything is working correctly, but over time things need checking - piston cleaning as mentioned above and rear brake adjustment after lots of use. If the front does not work too well and the pads look decent, you need to take the caliper off and check piston movement for front and rear brake, and possibly re-align them as sometimes only one of the front one does most of the work as the other is semi-stuck.

[Mel46]

When we had our accident my bike had no more than 3500 miles on it. The brakes SUCKED. Every bike i have ever owned had better brakes than the PCX. With that in mind, I try to ride conservatively, leaving plenty of distance between my scooter and other vehicles.

On the day of the accident we had been riding in and out of traffic for about 4 hours. When the accident occurred I could feel the brakes fading badly. My wife had the same feeling with hers.

Now my wife is afraid to ride, feeling that the brakes are not dependable. I told her that i could solve the front brake problem by upgrading them.. Since the front brakes do most of the work, i figured that i could start with them.

So that is where I am at the moment...trying to determine which ones would be the best ones that I could afford.

[tomtomclub2005]

Ok i understand.
As hinted by oyabun and others it looks that better pads and braided Hose will get you most of the way- You can still add a bigger rotor after but these two seem to have the most impact. Re-read the thread i linked maybe? There are other posts around the forum.

Best,

[tomtomclub2005]

PS: You mentioned 4 hours of riding and braking fade- where you in the mountains or something really hilly or not? Stock braking fluid? Upgrade that to fresh DOT4...

[Mel46]

Yes, our riding that day was into the mountains, following curving roads, including the Georgia version of the Dragon's Tail.

Then we went to the local lake for some sight seeing. We were on our way home, following another back road, when it started getting crowded, with areas where there were no cars followed by bumper to bumper traffic just around the bend or over the hill.

As we all know, those days when you have traffic like that described above, it is hard to stay at a steady speed. The speed limit ranged from 45 mph up to 55 mph, and back down again.

We were just increasing our speed from 45 mph when we came around a curve and a truck towing a trailer just ahead of us crossed the center line suddenly and hit a van head on. (TEXTING while driving).

Parts were flying around everywhere right in front of us! We grabbed our brakes and tried to avoid being hit or hitting them. What a nightmare! What was worse was that the brakes weren't holding. That was when my wife headed for the shallow ditch to her right. The rest is history.

[iceman]

I've had to stop suddenly due to cars pulling out in front of me at 40mph and it worked fine. Still, they could be better. The ABS fitted to the new PCX works great but users are reporting it makes buzzing noises soon after starting the bike and often during riding as it 'calibrates' itself or such when braking. It's normal behaviour but a little annoying for some owners. On one hand I'd like it, on the other, it's more to go wrong and costlier to maintain.

[Eiron]

I've had to stop suddenly due to cars pulling out in front of me at 40mph and it worked fine. Still, they could be better. The ABS fitted to the new PCX works great but users are reporting it makes buzzing noises soon after starting the bike and often during riding as it 'calibrates' itself or such when braking. It's normal behaviour but a little annoying for some owners. On one hand I'd like it, on the other, it's more to go wrong and costlier to maintain.

I guess I don't know what "good" is? I'm coming from a 1980 Honda Super Cub with dual drum brakes and leading-link front suspension. Consequently, the PCX brakes seem more than adequate for my riding style. My recent 95 mile trip up into the Rockies didn't give me any cause for concern either.

Iceman, do you know by what mechanism the Honda ABS works? I had a 1990 Saab that used a softball-sized accumulator to store reserve pressure for ABS brake pulsing and it audibly buzzed on startup and whenever it needed to re-pressurize its system. It wasn't annoying to me, but it was also on the other side of the firewall from me. In contrast, my 2002 Saab never makes an ABS noise, but I believe it's all controlled electronically by the ECU rather than mechanically by a pressure reservoir.

[iceman]

Iceman, do you know by what mechanism the Honda ABS works? I had a 1990 Saab that used a softball-sized accumulator to store reserve pressure for ABS brake pulsing and it audibly buzzed on startup and whenever it needed to re-pressurize its system. It wasn't annoying to me, but it was also on the other side of the firewall from me. In contrast, my 2002 Saab never makes an ABS noise, but I believe it's all controlled electronically by the ECU rather than mechanically by a pressure reservoir.

No idea, just seen several posts the past few months from people concerned about the noise thinking it was a fault.

[Mel46]

I am browsing the Webike site right now, and while looking at the discs I saw something I am curious about. I don't know that much about disc brakes so I thought you guys might know what this is. I don't. Maybe it is a full rotor kit? It only has 3 stars though.
It is called:

Big Rotorkit Collar 3D Support Accessory

https://japan.webike.net/products/21415351.html

[Pcxdemon]

Hi Mel, I use that rotor, I’ve had it for few years now. It made a marginal improvement with standard pads. In the last year or two I’ve had a slow speed pulsating feel on front brake application like rotor is warped. I’ve changed the pads to kitaco ones but pulsating is still there. You wouldn’t know it’s pulsating on normal riding, only when I’m coasting slow speeds to a stop when applying front brake only. I’ve never changed my brake fluid nor cleaned the brake pistons, I will book in to a service and do that soon as it’s well overdue. But I’m not sure if that would give me that pulsating feel. I still think it’s a warped rotor.

[Old Grinner]

My wife has just told me that she does not like the brakes on the PCX. I can't do anything about the rear drum brakes, but I can change the front disc brakes. Any suggestions on the best affordable replacements?

I have a new front disc and EBC sintered pads that i will install soon. Looking to install braided lines too but ready made ones are very expensive compared to made to measure . I wish someone could tell me the length of the front right line so i could have one made ( don't care too much about CBS, a braided line for that one might be nonsense)

I've used EBC sintered replacement pads on the front and rear caliper of my KLR and on the rear of the Bandit 1200. No problems.

I would recommend them. Got a free decal with them too!

I really should do the front disc pad replacements on the Bandit too but it's a dual set-up and bleeding the lines and refilling is a bit more complicated. That said there is still sufficient material left on them for now.

[iceman]

Using EBC pads, but I believe organic not sintered as sintered are for sports bikes and wear down discs much quicker than organic - EBC have both for a reason.
As to PCX brakes and effectiveness, well riding home yesterday evening and this morning in torrential rain, flooded roads and a**h**e drivers pulling out and crossing lanes, no issues with the PCX braking at all and that's still on an original IRC front tyre after near 17,000 miles. They pass legislation and work fine for emergency stops.

[tomtomclub2005]

The reason why i am suggesting sintered is that all organic pads i have used produce a LOT of brake dust that make very regular maintenance of caliper a must - else you have stuck pistons etc etc. A stuck piston that does not retract correctly will eat your pad in time, overheat the disc. I cannot count any more the number of times i have found a stuck piston on my calipers, it's amazing. I suspect Mel's brake fading might have been due to that but who can tell now.

EBC discs are cheap, they are lighter than stock and replacing a disc say, every two/ three years (?) takes no time and is easy to do. No brainer for me.

I am currently using a Galfer wave disc, stock size. I had an 260mm on my first gen PCX but that model had a bigger pistons on the caliper, the galfer is fine for me. Although i suspect that psychologically a bigger disc is visually reassuring, braking wise its not the main factor unless maybe you are driving in the mountains all the time.

[tomtomclub2005]

This being said, i'll take a 25% distance reduction all day, any day!
Honda CBR 125 test of pads

[Testerpt5]

I've installed EBC sintered brake pads, and they drastically improved my braking distance. It costed double the normal oem but still quite cheap. Very happy with them. It costed under €20.

[Mel46]

There seems to be a consensus that changing the pads to EBC sintered plus changing the lines to braided, plus upgrade to DOT4 fluid should help considerably. I am not good at changing brakes any more...old age has gotten to my knees...so I will check local shops to see if they can handle it on my wife's bike first. If the cost isnt too much it may solve the problem. What about the back? ...EBC shoes perhaps??

[springer1]

I found that the 150 PCX brakes were a bit dicey myself when I had it.

Wow, I don't know if it's differences with the individual bikes or just me, but the brakes on my PCX are just fine.