Modern Vespa

Hi guys
I'm sadly in hospital at the moment with viral meningitis

I'm lying here full of lovely morphine (at least until
It wears off) and it's giving me a chance to prepare some planned maintenance on the GTS300ie for when I'm up and about again.

I need to replace the rear pads
It's a job I've never done before
Any tips or pointers would be handy
Lastly I'm not sure which brand of pads to buy, I don't want crap and I'm frightened of buying just that not knowing.
After all decent pads can mean the difference between life and death

Ill order these based on what I read here in honesty
Many thanks in advance guys
John

VESPA GTS300 ie 2008-12 EBC Organic Rear Brake Pads

I'm edging towards these after reading this thread
GTS 300 - Brakes

Amazing how the mind wanders when it's not occupied....!

Best wishes for a speedy recovery mate. Take care.

(Sorry I can't answer the question!)

I've never had this much free time mate tbh lol

I replaced my front pads with Malossi Sintered pads, and got the whoop disk installed at the same time, and it's like a totally different bike. It looks really good, and it feels like my vespa stops like a sport bike. If you get sintered pads, you have to change the disk. It made such a difference that I'm going to change the rear ones out too when they wear out.

I've read the sintered pads are not abrasive hence the disk change ?
Hmmmm
Choices choices

Sintered pads are abrasive I mean sorry

I just use the OEM ones or the EBC organic. Both seem fine, and no disc change required.

As with JimC, I would be inclined to stay stock when the time comes...

EBC organic it is then
Many thanks guys

I would use the EBC SFA321 organic pads
There £6.99 delivered on ebay - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EBC-SFA321-SCOOTER-BRAKE-PADS-/190959386430?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item2c7610ff3e

Thanks guys
I've ordered a set of front and rear EBC organic pads

The funny thing is when I was a youngster EBC brakes was just starting out and was only a small unit in Northampton
I still remember the smell of them cooking the pads and shoes as I used to work in the unit next door as a panel beater
Nice to know they have done so well and even nicer to support them

So out of intrest
Why doesn't everyone use these organic pads ?
From what I've read they out perform everything else for barking and service life and let's face it, they aren't even expensive
Just wondering why people still use these sintered pads

Wow that sucks and get better fast. Glad the MS is working My brake pads are still going strong at almost 25k and it's almost 7yrs old. Are yours that bad? How many miles do you have on it? I ride like a bat out of hell so the brakes get used very hard all the time. I have OEM ones in the shed for when we need to change them out. Get better soon.

+1 on EBC pads

Get well soon mate

The weird thing is I bought it off and old fella who I think was a steady rider
He gave me the service history and it has an advise on replacing the rear brake pads on the last service which was in May this year

I've done a few hundred miles since and thought if better get a set in ready, so I've gone with EBC organic front and rear in honesty and ill do the lot in one go.

One small question I did wonder about
How do you guys support the scooter when changing the front set ?
Is it wheel off ?
I ask as it sits on the front wheel when on the stand

Bike on centre-stand.

Start the front wheel bolts so they can be turned and removed later.

Take out the pet carrier (under-seat storage), turn it upside down, and use that to prop up the frame.

Undo the front wheel bolts, remove wheel.

Your the man Jim
Ty mate for the tip
Ill do just that

You'll need to remove rear wheel to get to rear pads. I just watched one of the rear wheel removal videos around here. Also be sure to loosen just the 2 bolts holding the brake assembly. The other two will cause brake fluid leakage. I caught mine before too much leaked out.

Organic pads are the most conventional general purpose material and directly replace the old asbestos based materials. They do not require any warm up and will work very predictably from cold and also have good tolerance to wet conditions. They are ideal for applications were it is important that there will be no grabbing or sudden change in friction characteristics and are easy to control with moderate lever pressure. This means they are almost always the best choice for a rear brake.

Sintered pads can give greater retardation for less lever pressure and have more tolerance to being very hot ( better heat dissipation too). They tend to need one application from cold before they reach best friction so can be slightly unpredictable on first application or in very cold weather. They can also be more abrasive so do not suit older machines. Nearly all modern machines use stainless steel disks and sintered pads work well with these as some abrasive quality actually improves the disk surface.

My personal preference is for sintered pads on the front because of the improved control under moderate to heavy braking which requires less lever pressure. This is particularly true of MP3s which have the extra stability under braking which can fully exploit them.

Regards Roadster

That's a good read mate and very interesting
I think because I'm committed now I'll go with the organic pads as they are ordered, but organic do sound like what I'm after.
The good thing I guess is that they cost only peanuts to buy, so I'll put them on, have a feel how they are and then decide
Many thanks mate for your time
John

Thanks buddying actually feeling a lot better today
So im when it get out I'm gonna have a go
I'll watch a couple of videos myself as well prior to doing it
Isn't the internet great

I upgraded my front to a Brembo 4 piston set-up, then changed over to sintered pads when the pads that came with the Brembo calipers got thin. I changed both front and rear pads and what a difference in braking. I wouldn't recommend these for someone that doesn't have a lot of experience as they bite so much better than the stock pads and require someone that's versed at modulating the brake lever. Snatching the fronts on a wet road could definitely cause an off and the rears could cause a low side. I've had several gts owners ride my scoot and all raved about how well it stopped in relation to theirs. If you tend to ride the backroads or a little faster than most, this is a must do upgrade. If you putt around town it would definitely be a waste of money. BTW, I'm still using the original Piaggio rotors front and rear.

By all accounts I think we can all agree Piaggio rotors are good

I suppose the pads are all cheap to try at the end of the day