On Friday last, the bike received its 20,000 mile service. I was advised that the front discs were below the wear limit and required replacement. I have booked the bike in this Wednesday 28th and have been advised that the cost will be almost £700.
I am greatly shocked by this. I have ridden for many years and have never had to replace discs before. My previous bike was a Honda Blackbird with 70,000 miles when I sold it, and it was still on the original discs.
I do not believe that my riding style has changed, and although I acknowledge that the GTR is a heavy bike, I would not expect discs to wear in such a short time. If such wear is both normal and expected, I would question whether I can keep the bike as the running costs would become prohibitive.
Any of you guys had a similar experience
Thanks
Tom
Not being an expert on this but an expert on not spending money when i dont need to i would say this is excessive, ok i dont know the actual cost of a pair of disks right now but i am sure they wont be much more than say £100 and then its labour to change them, plus pads.
Me, i would research the cost of the pads then get my mate who knows stuff to do it for me while i help, and save a heap of cash.
Alan
Discs at 20000 miles? Are you sure they aren't having you on? I know there are issues with discs warping, but not wearing out.
I would take the bike to another dealer and ask for a second opinion. You can get after market discs on ebay for about £150 I think. Add onto that the cost of pads.
You should be able to DIY. I don't think its a hard job.
Bull :shit:
The dealer is having you on.
Mine has 48,600 miles on the original discs and there is not even a slight lip on them.
If I were you I'd check them yourself or get another independent dealer to take a look.
I am on my 3rd set of pads on the front.
If they have worn below the wear limit already then there is a serious problem with the brakes dragging which would probably affect the handling and ride quality. You would also have worn out about 5 sets of brake pads.
Quote from: Boomer on March 26, 2012, 02:00:58 PM
Bull :shit:
The dealer is having you on.
Mine has 48,600 miles on the original discs and there is not even a slight lip on them.
If I were you I'd check them yourself or get another independent dealer to take a look.
I am on my 3rd set of pads on the front.
If they have worn below the wear limit already then there is a serious problem with the brakes dragging which would probably affect the handling and ride quality. You would also have worn out about 5 sets of brake pads.
TOTALLY agree with this :agree:
Thanks for the comments guys
The discs are definately worn. There is a sizeable lip on them
Am in correspondence with Kawasaki, so keep you updated
Tom
Jeeeepers ... :eek: .. keep us all updated Tom ... there is no way that would be £700 ... you could source the discs on E bay, then take them to Jo Bloggs down the road if you had to but it wouldn't be £700 !!
I'd done 20k on the other GTR which was five years old and the discs were spot on. I'd definately say there is an issue with the brakes especially if you have a prominent lip as you described on the discs.
Your bike is a 2010 model year with 20,000 miles
Kawasaki should deffo cover this under warranty. amke sure nyou tell them so !
Hi I had my discs and pads replaced under warranty as they were distorted and the dealer is quoting the correct price as his hands are tied, he has to use gen parts and that is why its exspensive.
I would source the disc and pads from a un gen source and then get a independant garage to fit them,I would exspect your bill to be £200 to £300 lighter than a main dealer.
I do think your front brake calipers need a good check as it seems unusual to have disc replacment at this mileage.
agree with the rest of them, discs should not show any significant signs of wear at 20,000 miles. if you can't get them under warranty for some reason, as a last resort only! use the mileage to your advantage and suggest they meet half the cost with you. if that fails, "sack the dealer" you can get a good set of quality discs and pads for under £400 and there easy enough to fit yourself :smiley:
Tom I find it impossible to believe that a set of discs could wear to the point that you can actually detect a lip on the disc, unless the brakes have been binding, in which case as you sound like an experienced rider you would have picked up on it. so as someone has already said you need to go and face your dealer. I would expect no visible wear at all after your stated mileage. One question !!!!!! Have you owned the bike from new?
when we had our merc serviced we were told that the discs needed changing at 24k. I found out what the thickness of the discs should be and bought myself a cheap micrometer from aldi for £8, i measured the disc thickness and it was the same as when new, there was a " lip " on them but this was just a crud and brake dust build up. When i challenged merc they said its policy to change discs when changing pads . The car has done 55k now and still same discs. I know this is a car story but same rules apply, get your discs measured and compare from new spec.
If they are not warped and are a bit thinner i cant see this being a safety issue, id carry on running them and then id buy the cheap chinese ones off ebay ( £130 set ) , ive had several sets and they are great , i think the brand is " arashi" , i have a test post for these on another forum
Funnily enough, mine's a 2010 bike with about 18000 miles or so on the clock, and I'm getting a little concerned about the wear ridges in the front discs. I'll have to measure the discs and report back.
Anybody know the minimum wear limit?
Maybe there's a batch of discs out there that are a little on the soft side??
Thanks for the responses guys.
I do not believe the dealer is shafting me, but I am in correspondence with kawasaki UK to see what their attitude is. Will keep you posted
Tom
When buying brake pads the other week, I noticed that the 2008/9 brake pads are a different, more expensive part than those fitted to the 2010 bike. Quite a difference, £70 a caliper for 08/09 and £50 a caliper for 2010.
I wonder if Kawasaki simply fitted cheaper, more abrasive pads in 2010 as us 2010 owners all seem to see pads wearing out in 12k miles. I have had two sets worn down completely, both at that mileage. vfrtom, you are the first I have heard with prematurely worn brake discs though.
Brake discs are the same part number on all years, hence my suggestion that 2010 pads are more abrasive. Maybe Kwak fitted sintered metallic pads to get the same braking force from a cheaper pad.
Martin.
20k seems too soon for worn discs too me unless as previously stated brakes have been binding or maybe a previous owner used the brakes far too much. Get a micrometer and check for yourself. The min thickness for the discs is 4.5mm on the 2009 model i presume its the same on the 2010 on, but you will find it stamped in to the centre part of the disc. i personaly wouldn't replace with oem if they are worn. I would use the opportunity to upgrade to good quality aftermarket discs from a reputable manufacturer. I certainly wouldnt trust the cheap ones you can buy on ebay that come from Honk Kong or similar.
This thread prompted me to measure my discs on my 2010 23,200 mile bike.
Mine are also worn below (what I assume, at 4.5mm, to be) the minimum thickness. Mine are at 4.42mm both sides, with a very pronounced lip that measures 5mm as I assume the original thickness was.
So, I can only surmise that these bikes (at least the 2010 on) do wear discs fast, and that dealers are simply not checking them - except vfrtom's.
I would recommend 2010 owners at least check their discs more often. Even if you don't posess a micrometer, you will notice a very pronounced lip at the outside edge of the disc.
As for paying £700 to Kwak for another set of discs that only last 23k miles, not a chance. I use Grimeca discs on my racebike, and shall be trying them first for replacements.
@vfrtom, please let me know if Kawasaki replace yours under warranty.
Martin.
the last set of brake discs I fitted was to my zrx1200, I used armstrong wavy discs "front and rear" which are also supplied with armstrong brake pads. also fitted braided hoses and found a vast improvement from the initial bite, and under hard braking. I bought them of my mates brother, he bought them for his zrx1100 but traded in the bike before he had the chance to swap them over. If I remember correctly he paid £350.00 for the front and rear discs including pads all round, but that was 5 years ago! I gave him £150.00 for the lot, so got a dam good bargain there :smiley: I found them to be excellent quality and they also looked dam good too! just a thought, if kawasaki say :nono: and you need to buy after market discs. p.s good luck with the result from Mr kawasaki..!
(http://i335.photobucket.com/albums/m474/02zx7r/2003zrx1200s-1.jpg)
Cheers Tom, I'll look forward to reading your findings.
Decided to go with OE as I am in correspondence with Big K
Initial response was that they are wear and tear items and could wear in 20k miles. Bike was purchased new and serviced regularly
I responded very politely alluding to b******s
This is their flagship tourer and should not go through discs in 20k miles
Also quoted feedback from this site. Will use info on pads in next salvo
Awaiting response
Tom
Quote from: vfrtom on March 28, 2012, 12:07:33 PM
Decided to go with OE as I am in correspondence with Big K
Initial response was that they are wear and tear items and could wear in 20k miles. Bike was purchased new and serviced regularly
I responded very politely alluding to b******s
This is their flagship tourer and should not go through discs in 20k miles
Also quoted feedback from this site. Will use info on pads in next salvo
Awaiting response
Tom
Pads I agree with. Disc at 20k? No way
For what it's worth ... just been in the garage for a feel ... !! .... 11 plate, 12500 miles and the discs look and feel fine. :laugh:
And I'll be checking mine tomorrow.
Quote from: Rusty on March 28, 2012, 04:01:06 PM
For what it's worth ... just been in the garage for a feel ... !! .... 11 plate, 12500 miles and the discs look and feel fine. :laugh:
For what it's worth ... just been in the garage for a feel ... !! Deluxe model,with real hair, 30 psi and I feel fine.
Coman
Still no joy from Big K. They maintain it is fair wear and tear. I fitted OE as I still intend to get something back.
Will keep you appraised.
Tom
Quote from: MJJ_ZX6RR on March 27, 2012, 01:14:26 PM
When buying brake pads the other week, I noticed that the 2008/9 brake pads are a different, more expensive part than those fitted to the 2010 bike. Quite a difference, £70 a caliper for 08/09 and £50 a caliper for 2010.
I wonder if Kawasaki simply fitted cheaper, more abrasive pads in 2010 as us 2010 owners all seem to see pads wearing out in 12k miles. I have had two sets worn down completely, both at that mileage. vfrtom, you are the first I have heard with prematurely worn brake discs though.
Brake discs are the same part number on all years, hence my suggestion that 2010 pads are more abrasive. Maybe Kwak fitted sintered metallic pads to get the same braking force from a cheaper pad.
Martin.
would not surprise me if the pads were more harsh on later bikes the early discs on some 2007 bikes had what they said were hot spots where the disk had more friction in places than other parts of the disk causing pulsing and same efect as warped disc maybe a corser pad would stop this happening and the disk would wear even. i remember years ago i think it was ferodo put a coating on the start of new car disc pads to try and clear imperfections on discs which took so much metal off in the first so many miles. still got my old gtr discs in shed that pulsed when braking and to the eye they look fine.
good point....