Rear brakes on my '02 Strom were making a strange dragging sound. Assumed it was more serious than wear to the pads, because I had new pads put on last season. I only ride weekends, and not every single weekend of the summer, so I assumed I could get more than one of my riding seasons out of a pair of rear brake pads.


Turns out the pads were worn to metal-on-metal contact with the rotor! Gouges on both sides, means it couldn't be ground down and had to be replaced. New rotor ordered (and pads installed) and was told by the dealership that the 'Strom's rear brake is a "coaster brake." It's for use when you need to stop in a big hurry! All you need for dayd-to-day stops is the front. ie. you go into a turn WAY too hot, someone darts out in front of you unexpectedly, etc. Not for everyday, coming to a controlled stop at a light. Use your front for that without the assistance of the rear. To their credit the front pads (dual in front) are fine, and didn't need replacement when the rears were done last year. Had them checked during this inspection, and they're STILL good. I have 15k miles on the bike, so maybe it's time for a new rotor anyway?

Being someone that took the motorcycle safety course [albeit back in the 80s] I know that 70-75% of a bikes stopping power is in the front. I also know, that we were taught to use BOTH brakes at ALL times for safety's sake. OK, I learned this back in the drum brake days, but it just seemed like sound logic to me, and I've always followed it.

Was I just told a buncha HOOEY by the service manager at the dealership?

Extreme major amount of HOOEY. Your front does all the stopping but the rear has its uses also. Could have a sticking caliper.

The fronts will outlast the rears everytime

Wow for a weekend only use, it seems your brakes wore out pretty fast, are you sure they aren't sticking?
As for a coaster brake, using it to stop in a hurry will do the same thing on a motorcycle as it did on my CCM: turn the bike sideways and make some noise, fun when you're 6, but not fun when you're doing 60 mph.

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2003 DL 1000

Yes, you were told a bunch of hooey.

With that said, you may need to review your braking technique. You do have to use a very light touch on the rear brake, and you may indeed need to use less rear brake.

But on a bike as heavy and long as a DL1000, you do have to use some rear brake.

Inexperienced sportbike riders on the track are often told to ignore the rear brake. This is a way of keeping them out of trouble and giving them one less thing to think about with little penalty to lap times, since on a short, lightweight sportbike the rear does very little (or nothing) under maximum braking. After they gain experience, they can start to use the rear again for trail braking to settle the chassis in corners.

None of the above applies to a V-Strom on the street, of course. For smooth everyday braking, use some rear brake. For maximum braking situations, you'll need to learn to balance this -- use less rear brake when you have to use more front.

You may also need to review your riding position -- it's very, very common to find riders are resting their foot on the pedal and dragging the rear brake unawares. I've also seen rear brake pads wear prematurely because the pivot point in the frame needs to be greased, causing the brake pedal to hang up slightly.

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2002 Suzuki DL1000 V-Strom, Dark Metallic Space Blue
1983 Suzuki GS850G, Cosmic Blue
2005 KLR650, Aztec Red - Turd II, the ReTurdening

True that the front provides about 70% of the stopping power, but personally I'm not willing to give up that other 30%. I'll use both ends for stopping.

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Scott Craig - Nashville, TN
Red '06 Suzuki DL650 - Red '07 Honda VFR800 - My Bike Page

I was a bike instructor for 12 years many moons ago and the safe and proper way to stop quickly is to use both brakes. That how it's taught for basic and advanced rider training over here. You may choose to use just a dab of the front when mooching about town slowly coming upto lights etc etc. Or, drag some speed off using the back, or some just use it in traffic at slow speed exclusively. But so long as you use the rear brake in conjunction with the front for any meaningful stopping power from speed, you're fine. I actually find that because I read the road well ahead I don't need the brakes that much for most of my everyday riding.

The rear Strom brake is a great brake, and very useful. I use mine in conjunction with the front most times, and haven't worn out my first set of pads yet in two years of riding everyday in all weathers. I think the dealer was either not getting his point over very well and in the process misinforming you, or he was just bulls**ting! I'd check your rear wheel alignment too if that hasn't been done as that brings the life of your pads down quite a bit if it's out by much. Ride safe bud.

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V-Strom 1000 k8 GT - Now Gone! But 2012 Burgman 400z ABS now in service...

Hooey concurred.

Now, the other topic:

I wore out my rear pads very quickly after I bought the bike new.

Turns out that I was dragging the rear brake.

I adjusted the pedal downward to accomodate my grotesque anatomy (go kart accident to right ankle) and things have been well ever since.

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Sent from my Hewlett-Packard 75C, using the Flying Merkel motorcycle app.

Stromin'Nroman NC28729, USA

DL650A K7 (Greywolf Moto Lab's R&D test mule) June 1, 2012 - present
DL650A K7 April 23, 2007 - January 6, 2012, RIP

"Look here brother, who you jivin' with that cosmik debris?" Frank Zappa, 1975

Something is wrong with your rear brake. Maybe the caliper bracket is not in its slot, or you ride with a severe rear wheel misalignment, or the pads were mounted crooked in the caliper, or the brake is just dragging all the time because of sticking pistons.

I suspect that the mechanic who replaced your rear pads screwed up with the reassembly. They covered it up by telling you a bunch of baloney. There is no way you could have worn the pads down that much, that quick even with aggressive use of the rear brake.

+1 on most of what was said by others, but I'll add that checking brake wear is a regular maintenance item and is trivial to do with eyeballs. Doing so more often might have saved you a rotor.

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'08 Wee

One more thought. My Harley was eating rear brake shoes. Turns out the rear disk was bent slightly and the pulsating against the shoes was more then an american motorcyle could stand. You could only barley feel it in the foot pedal. A big cresent wrench and keen eye strightened her right back up.


dtalk is spot on....I let him say it though....being a newbie. Remember, it would suck to die from a preventable maintenace issue. I never ride without checking brake shoe thickness (by eye), fluid levels in the brake reservoirs (also a wear indicator), tire pressure (by guage), and chain tension (by feel). Everyday before leaving for fun.