'01 Front brake pad replacement, too thick?

[BladeVortex]

First post! I'd like to start by thanking just about everybody that posts frequently on this forum, I read about 20 different threads for each job that I try to do myself, and I believe you guys are the reason I can put on 15,000 miles each season and haven't had a single failure.

On to the important stuff!

Pads were worn, so I ordered these.
Noticed before buying them that they seemed awfully thick, even compared to other new pads.
With some extreme difficulty, and having to eventually buy a pad spreader to get the piston flush with the caliper surface, I got the new pads in, all greased up, and all mounted on the bike.
There is so much friction, even with the bleeder open, that I can barely move the bike.
Are pads that are too thick a thing? I would've figured that buying the pads for my exact bike that look exactly like the old ones would be foolproof.

I'm honestly concerned that I might have to sand down the new pads.

Fun side story:
I always figured that the pad in contact with the piston is the only one that "moves" and that the other pad just makes contact via bending the metal the tiniest bit on the caliper mounts, and that as you go through your pads, you need to adjust what I thought were adjustment bolts to bring that pad in closer, and when you replace the pads that you need to bring these all the way out.
I have since learned that the whole caliper slides on those circled bolts .
Thank goodness I didn't undo those bolts.

[BladeVortex]

Update:
The bike moves after I did a brake fluid flush. It still has quite a bit of friction. I'm going to do some hard stops to see if it fixes things.

Update 2:
Did not work.
After a call to Sixity who made my brake pads, we did some research and found out that there are 2 forms of the GZ250's front brake pads, the FA106 and the FA106/2. They are the exact same shape, but they have different pad thickness. The FA106 pads are 7mm thick and the FA106/2 pads are 9.5mm thick, so FA106 will fit into a bike that can take FA106/2 but NOT the other way around. I will be needing to sand my pads down to make them fit. I believe that all GZ250's take the FA106 and will not
take the FA106/2, so buyer beware.

I hope that this helps someone who's running into trouble with their pad replacement.

[Vegas Street Rider]

Thanks for the heads up Blade Vortex. Sixity should replaced them for you since their incorrect listing was the cause. Ride safe.

[blaine]

Originally Posted by BladeVortex

Update:
The bike moves after I did a brake fluid flush. It still has quite a bit of friction. I'm going to do some hard stops to see if it fixes things.

Update 2:
Did not work.
After a call to Sixity who made my brake pads, we did some research and found out that there are 2 forms of the GZ250's front brake pads, the FA106 and the FA106/2. They are the exact same shape, but they have different pad thickness. The FA106 pads are 7mm thick and the FA106/2 pads are 9.5mm thick, so FA106 will fit into a bike that can take FA106/2 but NOT the other way around. I will be needing to sand my pads down to make them fit. I believe that all GZ250's take the FA106 and will not
take the FA106/2, so buyer beware.

I hope that this helps someone who's running into trouble with their pad replacement.

DO NOT sand them down......brake dust is bad for your respiority & breathing..

[BladeVortex]

Originally Posted by blaine

DO NOT sand them down......brake dust is bad for your respiority & breathing..

Don't worry, these are ceramic pads, not the old asbestos pads, however i'm picking up a respirator from an old neighbor just to be safe. I think i'll also have a fan blowing away from me too for added safety.

[BladeVortex]

Update: bought 80 grit sand paper and sanded them down the tiniest bit, about 3 minutes of light sanding on each pad, mostly focusing on even pressure. Barely a visible difference on the thickness, maybe a millimeter, but now they fit! I now have pads that are probably about 8.5mm thick and they're perfect! To be honest, I'll probably do this again, because they were so cheap and thicker than the FA106/2 pads, plus ceramic!

To whomever may read this in the future, make sure to do this outside and with a good filter over your mouth/nose. It was very dusty, and the dust is still harmful even if it's not asbestos pads.

[Shawnski451]

I'm currently dealing with this same situation. I bought Volar pads from Amazon and they were too tight. I tried to ride the bike to break them but they started to get hot. Luckily, I brought some tools and the old pads with me and swapped them in a parking lot. I'm going to mic the new pads up and see what I got. Thanks for the input.

[BladeVortex]

Originally Posted by Shawnski451

I'm currently dealing with this same situation. I bought Volar pads from Amazon and they were too tight. I tried to ride the bike to break them but they started to get hot. Luckily, I brought some tools and the old pads with me and swapped them in a parking lot. I'm going to mic the new pads up and see what I got. Thanks for the input.

Let me know if you need any advice. It's pretty easy to sand them down but the utmost effort should be put into them being sanded evenly. I found that pressing the pad onto the sandpaper on their center of mass somehow didn't sand it evenly.