Hi, there guys just thought I would do a quick review on Goldfren brake pads. I just replaced mine and I looked for reviews on some brake pads and I couldn't find any or even a few on this site. So let's start.
So when I got my CBR 600f2 93 2 years ago it needed a front brake pad change so I changed them to SBS pads which were great then I met my fiance' and we did a lot of trips together so I had to start using the back brake a lot otherwise we would bump heads constantly so after a few months I had to change my rear pads as well being in a financial crisis I used some 600RR rear pads in a pinch that were halfway used. They were alright but didn't last long they felt the same as the rear brakes that previously came off my bike which till today I still don't know which brand either of them was.
So then those RR brakes were done after a month and I bought some Ferodo Platinums which everyone told me were great and last long which was bullsh!t as they lasted a month and they had a very spongy feel to them also felt weak and not very responsive, they were done in a month . . . and they wore uneven which was odd as none of my old pads ever did that.
These Ferodos were the first that wore unevenly I later found out that Ferodo platinum were organic pads and that there was asbestos in the compound mix which is also why my rear wheel was almost always black and full of brake dust. Then I found out about Goldfren which I saw a lot of bad reviews about. Never i bought them with a lot of doubt so I fitted them last night.
I tested them quickly in my driveway and they felt really sh!tty but I left them this morning I took my girlfriend to work while riding I also bed them in a little and after I dropped her off and I drove back home I could feel these brakes were a godsend. I never felt rear braking power on a bike like this they were super responsive and had a lot of bite. My brake lever was rock hard with these pads not like with the old pads where my lever was constantly soft and spongy.
Now I never tried EBC, Brembo, or any of those other $60 pads as in South Africa we don't have much to choose from in the motorcycle braking category so I won't judge those pads compared to these Goldfren, but man what a difference now.
I will report back on wear and tear on these pads as I haven't had them long enough to see how they hold up.
Here are a few pics these are the Goldfren s3 series pads for track and street, TUV Certified and bought from a trusted shop.
Hi motomodmach, not to bash you or anything, but relying on the rear for stopping power is not a good idea. The Front pads are always supposed to be your primary mean of stopping, even with a passenger. The rear should be used in conjunction with the front when needed. Continuous use of the rear as a primary mean of stopping will build a bad SR (survival reaction). In an event of a panic braking situation you'll likely use the rear hard which will not stop you and cause all kind of control issues. If your helmet is knocking with your girlfriends helmet, learn to be smooth with your front lever. Gradually squeeze and not grab, which will produce good SR in a panic situation.
Regarding the lever being rock hard compared to the previous pads where they were spongy. I believe the reason you feel a difference is that you may have done a better bleed job with these pads. Air pockets in the system tend to leave that spongy feeling on levers (assuming your lines are good). I have had many F2's and F3's during my time and I finds that the MC on these bikes are hard to bleed. I find myself going back to re-bleed several time before I get that rock lever feel. Last year I finally got tired of messing around with bleeding the rear MC by hand on my F3 so I bought a speed bleeder. First bleed, solid rock lever and I did not have to go back to re-bleed. I will never bleed it without a speed bleeder moving forward
Regarding the Goldfren, thanks for the review but I don't advise people who have the means to purchase higher end products to buy an inferior product when it come to brakes. I have been in a place where money was hard to come by so I know if that's all you can afford then that's all you can afford. You just have to know to ride within the limit of the product. Rear pads to me are not important on what brand is purchased since personally I hardly use it on my sport bikes (engine braking and front pads do the job) but putting a non race proven pad up front is a no go for me. Quick story before I conclude my rant. I bought a CBR F3 from a guy who crashed his bike. He said while braking the front locked up and he went down. After I rebuilt the bike I took it for a spin to make sure the bike was sound. I began to try to panic brake. which entailed hard braking. Every time I braked really hard, the front locked up on me and I had to quickly release the lever before crashing. The tires were Q2's and when I took the pads off they were some mystery brand. I decided to buy a new set of EBC pads and began to try the panic braking again. After the pad change, the bike went from the front locking up to a complete stoppie while panic braking. A good set of pads will never lock up your front (given that your tires have full traction), it will always throw you over the bike first which sounds bad but that's a good thing because it's controllable and predictable.
Rear brake pad review, pretty much a waste of time. Your rear pads should last the life of the bike, almost. The only reason your helmets are not banging anymore is because you aint stopping as fast. Period. If you worked the front brake lever properly you would not be banging helmets either. Rear brakes should never be used by theirselves unless your going through the grass at the track and you want to intentionally low side before you hit the wall.
Rear brakes should never be used by theirselves unless your going through the grass at the track and you want to intentionally low side before you hit the wall.
Not true at all Frank, the rear brake can be used by itself in other situations also, like waiting at a red light with your hands at your hips looking cool to prevent the bike from rolling, you drop your bike and the freaking front lever breaks off and you have to get your arss home:crap:, some mechanical situations, or maneuvering some freaking slow turns where your bars are nearly locked. other then that yep no other reason to be used, lol...
And Yes, I cannot remember ever changing a rear pad on any of my bikes more then once...
Oh yeh, I forgot about trying to look cool. Silly me. Another time to use rear brake only would be when breaking sprocket nuts loose. But all kidding aside. Professionals will use the rear brake in conjuction with the front brake to slow/stop quicker than either brake alone. Or rear brake dragging to tighten their line on the track. Me, I never touch my rear brake, track or street, except of course to look cool at a traffic light on a hill, with hands on hips, thinking in my head, "dam I look cool, I wish I was someone else in a car driving past me on my bike so I could see how cool I look". hahaha I'm getting carried away now.
Yeah. I'm with you. I researched on using the rear brake on the track but I'm struggling with using it since I rely so much on the front and engine braking. I'm working on the method though. Right now it's slowing me down but as they say you'll go faster by going slower first.
Sabotage I really like you and your post about your f3 but im sorry im going to be a a$$ now.
First of all if you read my post correctly you would know that I use both my front and rear brakes all the time I just replaced the rears as they were in need of a change so I don't know if you were reading the post through your little smart phone or didn't have your glasses on but you would know this if you have read the post with 20/20 vision.Have you ever done a motorcycle safety course?i doubt you have a license any good trainer will tell you to use both your brakes at the same time.
2nd.Do you know how to tell if a rider is a novice?a novice rider will "grab" a brake lever using 4 fingers a experienced rider will use two fingers to get his bike to stop smoothly.Im Not a Novice so don't talk to me like I am an idiot.
3rd.i don't think you know how to bleed a brake if you cant bleed a brake without a speed bleeder and you always get air from your brake lines then I suggest you go on youtube and check "How to bleed a motorcycle brake the right way" do you even know why our bikes are so hard to bleed?especially the front brakes cuz they have a 2 into 1 brake line system which is on any bike hard to bleed and will take some time as when bleeding a 2 into 1 brake line system the one caliper has to get full of brake fluid and all the air bubbles should be out then only will the second one get brake fluid and as soon as all of those air bubbles are out then the lever will start to get hard other wise if its spongy you still have air bubbles.
4th.i never bled my rear brake after I installed the pads so I don't know where you got that Idea.
5th.im not poor and I bought these pads as I wanted to test them out and FYI Here is a link on they're site stating which race teams they sponsor with pads,calipers and brakes lines.
people should really start to understand if something is cheap it doesn't mean they are sh!t.
6th.next time.Go Do some research first before you try to "BASH' Me.Ohw and go learn how to ride a motorcycle.
Now Then Sabotage no hard feelings:smilebig:
And on another note Howzit Frank Good to See Your active still.:thumb:
And Frank when I ride alone I almost always use my front brakes and engine braking like sabotage does only my fiancé commutes a lot with me almost every day so I use both brakes together as its more weight on the bike obviously just to smooth things out and not kill my front brakes so fast.i just put up this review as I think these pads get a bad reputation cuz everyone is told by a friend or family member that they are crap and those friends or family member never even tested the pads they just heard the same story from another friend or family member and so on which in the end that story that came from 50 people comes down to one man who didn't bleed his brakes properly and got weak braking because of it and to add to that they are cheap so no one even takes a second look at them.
Gunk Your Absolutely right.Using your rear brake in a corner I do that alot,keeps your hand on the throttle to exit a corner quicker as there are no delay as if you were to use you front brakes.
Hi Motomodmach, thanks for the love with the F3. The only thing I can tell you about your views with my comments is I hope you continue to developed your knowledge of motorcycling. Your rebuttals clearly do not answer account of things going on with your ride, such as you going through rear pads so often, your helmets knocking, your lever feeling spongy (like some pads are made of a soft compressible material or something), and all general lessons taught in safety classes account for all form of riding and parts used.
If you stay in the sport long enough and continue to develope your knowledge you'll learn that motorcycling is not just black and white. Once you get past how to ride a motorcycle 101 there is a whole other world of comprehension that exist.
I would be leery of pads that last a significant amount of time, they're probably eating up you disc. Last time I bought front brake pads for my F2 they cost about $30 free shipping for both sides left and right, not rear. EBC's Ferodo's, SBS's or OEM Honda's.
Sabotage im just not gona reply on any off that lol . . I don't want to start making enemies.haha.
Coalminer it doesn't cost $600 for high end brake pads its around $60 lol and brake disk aren't really that costly its about $180 for cheapos and rear are about $100 each here in SOUTH AFRICA but high end discs cost about $600 to $700 a set for the fronts and $300 for one rear disc.. ...you guys in America have everything lekker here in SA We have a president who cant even speak English properly let alone AFRIKAANS!:rant:
I ran across this thread and I have to emphasize the quote by motomodmach “people should really start to understand if something is cheap it doesn't mean they are sh!t.”
Today’s market is flooded with countless brake pad brands manufactured by third party factories, and believe it or not some are known brands that you may know. There are fewer specialized manufacturers that produce their own branded sintered brake pads. GOLDfren is one of the very few manufacturers that has been invested in sintered brake pads R&D since 1991 when the technology was recently developed. The quality and performance of the GOLDfren brake pads is top notch and if anyone is interested in giving them a try like motomodmach did, please contact me to get a 20% discount voucher. https://www.1motoshop.com/contact-us
I may not be riding a Blade at the moment but regarding your comments about Goldfren pads, I have been using them for nigh on 20 years now. I find them to be excellent in both wear and stopping power. they do not leave a nasty black residue around the calipers as some pads do. I too use both brakes for stopping and was taught this by a Ministry tester/examiner for despatch rider work in HM Forces. I have been riding m/c's for 55 years and yes I have had a few scrapes over time but none were due to incorrect braking sequences. If the situation arises front brake first, gently followed by the rear brake. If you are in full control of your machine you should not have to "panic brake". I don't say ever, because little Jonny might run into the road in front of you, but anticipation holds true for all riding. If you are wondering I am 70 years old and riding a CBR 1100 XX Super Blackbird, a Triumph 1200/4, ZZR 600 and a BMW R1200R, and yes I do like to ride at the "legal limit". Sorry about the long winded blurb, I started using Goldfren HH Sintered pads on a Honda CBF 1100 SFy X11. Now most people know this to be a real muscule bike in the true sense of the word, it is also damn quick! I originally used EBC HH pads but wore mine out one year and could not get a replacement quickly so I tried the Goldfrens and have never looked back. They last well, wear well and stopped that heavy old X11 from fast scratching to zero in no time at all and they are half the cost of the other competitors. At no time did I feel they were going to let go under heavy controlled braking. Most of the riding was done on the fast open roads in Wales, UK.
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