Better check it...

[OneMoreFarang]

I bought a KTM Duke 390 a little more than a year ago. Now it shows 6300km and the official next service is 7500km.

And now, surprise, surprise, my rear brake pads were down to the minimum and had to be replaced ASAP.

 

I write this here because I would have thought service intervals are set in a way that nothing major should happen in between.

I visited the dealer because the front of my bike didn't feel 100% stable (just a little) and they found that the steering was a little lose and they fixed that (for free) yesterday.

And then they told me that the front brakes are fine but my rear brake pads have to be replaced.

 

If I would not have visited them then I guess I would have only found out after the pads were less than minimum and scratching the discs. That would have been a lot more expensive than changing just the pads.

 

My conclusion: Don't think because you have a new bike you don't have to check it in between the inspections...

 

[aremesal]

For me, some things are mandatory to check every chain lubing time - that's 500Km, once a week for me. Chech the brake pads are one of the checks I do every time I lube the chain. It's a matter of 5 seconds.

[Isaanbiker]

OP, you've still got 1 to 2 mm, which should be good for another 500 to 1,000 km. Of course was it time to change them. 

 

If they're completely worn down, you'll hear the metal on metal sound which is very annoying.

 

But it's good to check the brakes more often.

 

I had a similar problem with the steering of our Yamaha 110 cc, our son is always using.

 

When my wife and I wanted to drive to the city, the whole front started shaking that much that we almost fell on our noses. I was doing around 60 km/h and it was really shocking. 

 

I could stop without using the brakes and checked the front tire.

 

The bolt holding the tire was just a bit loose. From that time on, I make sure that all is fine, would my wife have been riding the bike with me on the back, I'm sure that we'd have had an accident.  

 

Ride safe out there. It's a jungle. 

[jackdd]

Stop resting your foot on the brake pedal or use the front brake more.

I think the rear brake pads are supposed to last way longer than 6300km

[OneMoreFarang]

58 minutes ago, jackdd said:

Stop resting your foot on the brake pedal or use the front brake more.

I think the rear brake pads are supposed to last way longer than 6300km

You make assumptions which are not true.

I also thought the brake pads should last longer. I asked the mechanic in the KTM shop and he didn't think this was unusual.

Maybe the bike has softer pads than others, I don't know.

Or maybe it's just the fact that I ride at least 90% in Bangkok traffic.

[piston broke]

 

i'd have thought 15,000 km plus ..

[OneMoreFarang]

9 hours ago, piston broke said:

i'd have thought 15,000 km plus ..

I thought: At least until the 7500km inspection. But obviously I was wrong.

This is why I thought I open this thread: "Better check it..." ???? 

[alx123]

Always check my scoot every other 2 weeks; things like brakes, oil level, coolant, tire pressure, bolts and nuts, etc..

 

i agree, better check them in regular intervals..

[eisfeld]

It's more helpful to write what the actual thing is to check in the topic instead of a generic "Better check it...".

 

The break pads are indeed something to check every now and then. It's super easy and fast anyways. 6300km is not much for such a small bike but maybe you use the back brake a lot in BKK. Obviously also depends on how aggressive one is riding, how much engine brake one is using to slow down etc. On my AT I think I'm now on my third pad in the rear. I probably average something like 13k km, though it can go up or down a lot. But like fuel usage the riding style can easily double or even triple consumption of tires or brake pads. I know of a guy who can chew through a (sport) tire in under 1000km given the right asphalt.

[OneMoreFarang]

1 minute ago, eisfeld said:

It's more helpful to write what the actual thing is to check in the topic instead of a generic "Better check it...".

I did this deliberately because I am sure there are other things to check which people just don't think about.

I was surprised about the used brake pads. But maybe for another bike it's the brake fluid level or the oil level or ...

 

A long time ago when I was young I looked at lots of details of my small bike all the time - in a cooler climate.

Here, with a new bike, I just thought there is nothing to do until the next service. Obviously I was wrong.

But I guess there are other people here who think or thought: there is nothing to do until the next service...