The International CBX Owners Association

My new 82 had relatively new EBC pads but I’ve always liked their HH pads so I put some in. New Galfer SS lines are going on next week and I noticed that the HH pads squeal loudly as I come to a stop. The regular pads didn’t. I swapped out the HH pads for the ones that came with the bike that had less than a thousand miles on them and saw this. All four HH pads looked like this. Any ideas?

Have you check the pads to be flat? It looks like the upper one is bowed so that only the ends are touching.

Unless you're racing on the track I would stick with organic
pads. I tried EBC HH pads on 2 different bikes and both sets
warped.

Yes the pads are flat and as I mentioned I’ve used HH pads for years on several bikes including a 79 and 82. I’ll contact EBC to see what they have to say.

They obviously are not perfectly flat. I'd go out and do some pretty serious braking to see if you can bed them in.

Dave

Well, I used a metal flat edged ruler with a flashlight and sure enough, slightly more light is emitting from the center of the pads than what comes thru from either end. Has to be a (very) slight warp. I’ve swapped them for the EBC organic pads that were on it when I bought it and which didn’t squeal but it’s been raining. If it doesn’t rain or snow tomorrow I’m having Galfer SS brake lines installed. Supposed to clear up by mid week next. I contacted EBC and they asked for the part number so I sent it but haven’t heard back yet.

I should have said that EVERY new pad you install will require bedding in, sometimes up to 500 miles or so, depending on your braking habits. I don't think there is anything unusual about the new pads you installed, other than I wouldn't use those on the CBX. They are very hard on rotors.

Dave

Galfer SS brake lines installed today along with regular EBC pads. Some time in the future I’ll try bedding in the HH pads. I’ve used them on all my bikes for years including a 79 and another 82, all with OEM rotors and I’ve never heard a squeal or seen a brake pad even with just a hundred miles on them, have marks only at each end. My bet is that the brand new pad material is slightly thinner in the center of the pads causing only the ends of the pads to touch the rotor. I’ll guess that in time (and use) they’ll ’bed in’ better than they have so far.

Get some 220 grit and a sheet of plate glass and do a hundred figure-8s with them, and try again. That’ll get them flat.

Suggest you reset the rotors with a hard scotchbrite-and-brakleen scrub as you do.