Topic: Brake pads-what brand do you use (and where to buy)?-for a 1970cb750 K0

[Bikebuff]

Hi everyone,

Well, getting closer to actually riding my 750 K0, but need brake pads front and rear.  I looked on the Brakes FAQ's but didn't find what I am looking for: 

What brand and type of brake pads and shoes do you all use, and where can I get them.  I went on Dennis Kirk, and found organic kevlar pads from EBC, but those were for fronts only, then saw SBS and they were rear only.  So...I'd like to stick with one brand for front and rear if possible.  I have also read that it is not advisable to use sintered brake pads on bikes that were not originally equipped with sintered brake pads.  I was hoping to use HH sintered pads, but can't find what I'm looking for.   

Help!

[Bodi]

Kevlar is just the replacement for asbestos, non-sintered pads and shoes are the modern equivalent to stock ones. Some sintered pads are OK for stainless, I guess it depends on what metal bits they mix in.
I would use sintered front pads and kevlar rear shoes if these are actually worn much - the back brake doesn't do much and the shoes seem to last almost forever unless the bike had a rider afraid of the front brake (not a rarity).
Changing the rear shoes can be difficult - if the drum is worn much it should be resurfaced and there's not a lot of iron in there to work with - the maximum diameter should be stamped on the inside of the drum well on the rim... don't exceed it! A shop that will/can turn bike wheel drums may be a challenging find.
Even if smooth, a worn drum will not be the same radius as the new shoes, so you need to get the shoes radiused. Most brake shops have the machine for this, but can be nasty about bike brakes as the setup has to be changed to fit the tiny shoes if they even have the proper shoe holder tooling for them. The brake will be weak and grabby with shoes that aren't the same radius as the drum.
Moral - if the rear brake works and the shoes have a few mm of good lining then clean them up and re-use the old stuff.

[Somemonkey]

Kevlar is just the replacement for asbestos, non-sintered pads and shoes are the modern equivalent to stock ones. Some sintered pads are OK for stainless, I guess it depends on what metal bits they mix in.
I would use sintered front pads and kevlar rear shoes if these are actually worn much - the back brake doesn't do much and the shoes seem to last almost forever unless the bike had a rider afraid of the front brake (not a rarity).
Changing the rear shoes can be difficult - if the drum is worn much it should be resurfaced and there's not a lot of iron in there to work with - the maximum diameter should be stamped on the inside of the drum well on the rim... don't exceed it! A shop that will/can turn bike wheel drums may be a challenging find.
Even if smooth, a worn drum will not be the same radius as the new shoes, so you need to get the shoes radiused. Most brake shops have the machine for this, but can be nasty about bike brakes as the setup has to be changed to fit the tiny shoes if they even have the proper shoe holder tooling for them. The brake will be weak and grabby with shoes that aren't the same radius as the drum.
Moral - if the rear brake works and the shoes have a few mm of good lining then clean them up and re-use the old stuff.

I don't mean to thread-jack here but I just purchased new rear brakes for my cb550 because the wear indicator says they're almost done. They still have some pad left but you have to push the foot peddle almost to the ground in order for them to catch. My question is: Can I adjust the brake foot peddle somehow so it's not so spongy, or do I absolutely have to replace the brake pads right now in order to fix the issue with the brake peddle?