There have been sintered metala number of new developments in braking systems over the past sev-eral years。 We spoke with Paul Kittrell， founder and President of Lyndall Racing Brakes to find out which brake pads are best suited for each application， and to howpowder metal to best sell these braking solutions。
Brake Pads Are Not Created Equal
As a club-level motorcycle racer I was unimpressed with what was available in the mar-ket for motorcycle brakes。 I have found that one of the best ways to discern high quality brake pads from others on the market， independently and without bias， is by logging on to some of the motorcycle forums on the Internet to get the facts straight from the riders themselves。 A forum provides feedback from a wide cross section of riders from all around the world。 Everyone loves to express their opinion， and the Internet is one place to do that freely。 So you’ll find straightforward talk about products no holds barred。 Short of your own independent research， the old adage stands true: you get what yousintered metal pay for。 Premium components don’t come cheap， but they can save much time and ag-gravation。 Fix it right the first time， and you’ll earn your customers loyalty， possibly for life。
Since not all brake pads are created equal， some technical information can help you un-derstand the differences between the kinds available on the market。 There are three types of friction materials commonly used for motorcycle brakes: ， ce-ramic， and Carbon-Kevlar。
Sintered-metallic brake pads， which have a high metal content， are typically hard and abrasive to the rotor surface while offering moderate stopping power and mechanical strength。 Service life tends to be significantly lower， and the sintered-metallic pads tendpowder metal to run more dirty and noisy than other types of friction material。 They are also inexpen-sive to manufacture and are the cheapest pads on the market。
Ceramic pads usually have a high copper content and are sintered as well。 While ce-ramic pads generally offer a slightly longer service life and run cleaner than sintered-metallic pads， they offer only moderate stopping power。
Carbon-Kevlar pads， often referred to as organic pads， usually have a small percentage of iron of nonferrous metal and are softer than other friction materials。 Carbon-Kevlar pads typically run clean and quiet， and offer good stopping power。 They have an ex-tremely long service life and are not abrasive to the rotor because they generate less heat than other friction materials。
What makes brake pads of the Carbon-Kevlar variety unique is that they contain a pre-mium blend of Carbon-Kevlar and nonferrous metal and have a high transfer rate。 Once the pad material has transferred a layer to the rotor， the rotor effectively becomes one big brake pad， stopping against the two smaller brake pads positioned in the caliper。 The result: incredible stopping power， no dust， no noise， no drag， no measurable rotor wear， and the highest service life of any pad on the market。 Finding out which brake pads work with a particular caliper can be a challenge， but most manufacturers’ list application in-formation， complete with OE part numbers cross referenced， on their websites。 Also， a phone call to a rep those hard to identify pads can help provide an answer
Safety， Service， and Sales
As a safety precaution， shop owners and their technicians should always look at brake pads whenever a bike comes into the shop for any type of service or repair work。 While brakes are a known safety item， premium-quality brake pads are also a great customer service item that can enhance your customers’ riding experience。 Installing a brake pad that solves the riders’ dust or noise problems can boost confidence in your service de-partment and increase repeat business。
