california side car rear brakes

[phil1945]

I have a 2012 California side car viper and the rear brakes are down to metal at 14000 miles...is this common?

[SEABILL]

When I bought my 2005 CSC Cobra it had 13400 miles on it. I ordered new pads thinking I would change them out. When I checked them, there was more then half of the pads remaining, so did not change them out. Mine is the upgraded system. Not sure if that means anything.

[Grandpa1]

I would hope we get better than that on our Vipers. I'll sure keep an eye on mine now. Surely they used quality pads on the high dollar kits.

I just looked at the maint. schedule and it only says start inspecting them at 4000 miles and .04" is the minimum thickness before replacing.

Please let us know what pads you used to replace the old ones with and where you got them.

Good luck!

[Calgary]

I have a 2012 California side car viper and the rear brakes are down to metal at 14000 miles...is this common?

That's rather alarming - I've just turned 11,000 miles so will check mine out. I did get the upgraded brakes - hopefully that will make a difference and give longer wear.

[phil1945]

It seems as the only place to get the pads is from California side car although I think it is the same as Harrison bilet mini 4 calipers...that pad is ebc Kevlar fa175...my installer said to check the fronts also because I have abs...he also said not to turn the rotors...anyone have any info on the front brake mileage?

[msocko3]

It seems as the only place to get the pads is from California side car although I think it is the same as Harrison bilet mini 4 calipers...that pad is ebc Kevlar fa175...my installer said to check the fronts also because I have abs...he also said not to turn the rotors...anyone have any info on the front brake mileage?

Do you use more rear break vs front. This summer while in Maggie Valley I happened to see several trikes come up to an intersection while I was waiting to walk across, almost everyone of them stood on the rear breaks and never touched the front.

[John Luciano]

My single rear brake pads were just changed at 60,000 mikes. I could of done them at 50,000 they were really thin. I have replaced my fronts once at 19,000 and again at 55,000

[07BlueCSC]

When I my 2007 GL1800ABS converted at the CSC factory in 2007, I had the 4 piston performance brake package installed.
I changed the rear pads at 27,000 miles(about 1/2 gone). I changed the pads again at 55,000 miles(again about 1/2 gone).
I upgraded to the XL body in September this year and elected to upgrade to the newer Performance Brake Package(larger pistons in the caliper/same brake pad).

The brakes are much better now but I am seeing a lot more BRAKE DUST, so I probably will not get the same wear on the new BRAKES.

[CSCguy]

Would like to see more input on this... CSC changed from a harder pad that occasionally squeaked to a softer type pad in 2010. Obviously they wear faster but stop like a F1 car with 18" of rear tire contact patch.

I've heard that the Honda anti-dive occasionally causes an issue. There's a 2 factory valves between the secondary master cylinder on the front fork and front rear pistons on the CSC calipers. Dirty fluid almost guarantees problems and to flush it you have to use a jack and bleed through the system by engaging the anti-dive.

It's a Goldwing design flaw that I would expect to see on all brands.

[Doctor Doug]

I have seen this problem with the later model brakes. You can find the pads on line and at bike shops that deal with ATVs but I have found CSC has the better price on them.