Rear pads

Hi Guys, proud new owner of a low km te310r. Went for my first ride off road in 20 years last week, am absolutely hooked and absolutely impressed with this little bike. Could do everything and go everywhere that my much more experienced mate on his KTM 500 could do, albeit with a lot less grace due to lack of technique on my behalf and was sore in muscles i didnt know i had the next day lol.
The bike was owned from new by a 60 year old gent who had stegz, bashplate, rad guards barkbusters, map switch and engine un-detune (pretty sure thats not even a word) dealer fitted.
Suspension settings were stock. He didnt touch anything except oil and filters. Bike had zero sag when i sat on it (im 75kg) rear preload was wound all the way up - easy fix - static and rider sag were spot on after adjustment. Fork springs bit stifff i think though, i compensated by taking off a butt load of compression and sliding the tubes up 10mm. Will get the suspension tuned proffesionally soon.
Ok, long story short,, still need to tweak the contact points and controls to suit myself (and learn how to ride lol), but was having trouble with the rear brake... it was so grabby that i couldnt use it with confidence. On steep decents i would stall the bike unless i clutched it, and everywhere else would skid the back wheel.
Is there a brake pad i should be looking for that is less grabby? or are there other adjustments apart from lever position?

Hi newb, welcome and nice bike but where's the pic?

First thing is make sure the play in the pedal is right. I stand mostly and took awhile to find the sweet spot where it works best when standing and still good when sitting.
Also, bleed that old Italian fish oil out and get some good DOT4 brake fluid in there.
If they're still not right get some 1000 grit sand paper and deglaze the pads and rotor. Make sure the caliper works right while you're at it.
Stock pads are pretty good, not sure what's available in Oz. I like EBC sintered pads on the rear and EBC carbon on the front. If I was riding completely dry area I'd run carbon on the rear too.

Oh yeah, forks probably have old Italian fish oil too. My 300 had different amounts of what looked like different oil. Much better with some good 5wt fork oil.

Thanks steve. Yes good point on replacing all the 5 year old Italian fish oils and fluids, definitely the next job on the cards. Will definitely have to work on lever placement etc. Especially since I'm not used to wearing proper MX boots. Was finding feel through those a bit difficult. Yeah i stand when i ride too. So the sintered vs carbon/organic thing... which one offers more initial bite vs more progressive feel?
Was toying with the idea of getting some no-name $12 rear pads* and carrying the existing ones as spares. We wer riding through a fair bit of deep mud in places so dont think there is a glazing issue. Most likely I'm just a bit ham fisted (footed?) on the rear brake.

Here is about the only pic ive got so far sorry, just after we got back last weekend to show my mate how good CT18 truck wash and a quick hose off works lol.


* ebc or brembo sintered circa $50- 60 here for comparison.

Sounds like getting used to MX boots is probably some of the issue. Sintered seems to have stronger bite, carbon more progressive feel.

Glazed brakes usually have less bite in my experience. I always lightly sand the rotor when replacing pads. Brakes could have been glazed by previous owner.

Blurry, but bike does look clean!

Ouch! Half that here That said, both the EBC sintered and carbonx pads last a long time for me. Just did 60 hours WFO riding and racing on the 165 and pads only about 1/2 - 2/3 worn and working fine.
Surely there's some decent pads for a fair price available in Oz. KTM used the same brakes on many models too.

Cheers steve. Yeah its always good practice to sand the brakes. I usually use a block and a fairly aggressive grit. Pretty sure mine are ok. All the mud we went through would have unglazed them pretty good id say! Quck check on the stand; rear wheel spins freely enough, no signs of warped disc, and caliper seems to release ok. Must be me and my lack of finesse. Will play with lever adjustment and try and get more seat time. Might experiment with a few of the cheapest and nastiest organic pads i can find lol. Will keep top notch pads on the front of course though.

If you are in mud you want sintered pads, they will last the longest.