Sorry for the intrusion Rowland. I just replied to a post that appeared in a group I subscribe to, I did not check the list of groups it was sent to. I share your disdain for cross posters, but I hold no animosity toward those that reply to a cross posted thread.
To drag this discussion (kicking and screaming, I might add) back on topic in the depression group, being told that your brakes need significant service after only 10K kilometers is a very depressing bit of news ...
You didn't begin the intrusion, so no major worries on that score. And thank you for your polite and reasonable post.
I've got to have some sort of personal reason for animus, myself. This sort of cross-posting is somewhere between amusing and irritating.
A valid point indeed. Although if like me you've got an old motorcycle, brake maintenance every 6000 miles is entirely normal, if not `a bit less often than I'd feared'. I've been known to wear out rear brake pads in that distance, but not discs. What did it? Were the brakes dragging all the time, or what? Hard to think of a pad compound that'd wear 'em out so quickly, unless it's a mad carbon-carbon brake like they fit to racing cars.
When I had a drum braked bike, I had to fiddle with the brakes every weekend to keep the things working sweetly. They did work very well, mind - but it took a lot of work ('twas a CZ with a superb twin leading shoe front brake).
Staying on the subject of brakes: silicone grease is the magic elixer for conventional hydraulic disc brakes, so it seems. I had terrible trouble with my brakes `just not working quite right' - mild dragging, and so on. Nissin sliding calipers, fitted to a Honda VFR750 (don't ask about the VF500).
Anyway, to cut a very long tale very short: after replacing lots of bits and fettling everything multiple times to no avail, I tracked down some silicone grease and used it in the appropriate places, and `it's all sorted now'.
Because my brakes, like most motorcycle brakes, don't have a protective boot over the pistons, I give 'em a squirt with silicone spray lubricant every once in a while - that helps reduce the frequency with which the brakes need cleaning.
Don't use ordinary grease or oil or WD40 or similar for that: it doesn't do the seals any favours. And do remember to clean the disc after spraying silicone lube around the place or you'll have a very nasty shock when you first try to slow down.
Rowland.
Tell that to the BMW mechanic I was talking to.
I was replying to a joke.
So you think it was either god or the devil?
You need a new mechanic. If you indeed need rotors after 10k kilometers, ABS is not the reason. A stuck caliper might exist -- indeed, it probably does -- but the ABS itself is not the reason for the brakes to stick shut.
From the gist of the posts, sound like you are located in the UK. I recall from my tour of duty in the East Anglia area in the 80s that things corroded quite quickly because of the salt on the roads and the wet climate. Here in the US in the southeast where the climate is mild brakes last a very long time -- 50-70k miles before new pads and frequently the rotors are still OK. Unless you can hose the undercarriage of the car off frequently, or drive more often, I am afraid you are going to be stuck with more brake problems over the life of the car.
I'm originally from the NE coast of Scotland where besides the salt from the sea we get vast amounts used on the roads in the winter - far more so than the relatively mild East Anglia. And it makes little if any difference to the life of discs. Other metal parts like brake pipes etc it will do.
50k pad life suggests *very* gentle use. I consider 25k good - and I'm not a hard driver, although do now live in an area with heavy traffic.BTW the OP is unlikely to be from the UK - he mentions kilometres. ;-)
Interesting! My forebearers were originally from somewhere south of Glasgow -- came to the U.S. around 1830 or so. Still have school books from that era -- Mitcalder Academy or some such. Indeed the driving we do around here does not task brakes much at all. I run around 60 miles per day round trip to work mostly on 4 - 6 lane highways running around 80 mph. Town driving is no where near what I recollect London was -- or for that matter Tokyo where I spent a couple years. My wife's Honda Pilot is still on the original brakes at 70k miles.
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