Brake pad question

[sgtcalle]

Hi there. I've got a euro tour coming up at the end of the month (my first time out the country on the bike - bricking it and buzzing in equal measure!). I noticed yesterday I have around 3-4 mm left in my front pads. Will this last me the 3000-4000 miles that I will have done by the end of the tour?

I know most of you will just say change them anyway, but I've not had much luck doing it in the past, done it on old crappy bikes, and the pistons have ended up seizing and binding the brakes.
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CBR600F '02
Manchester

[J4mes]

Sounds like an ideal time to change your pads, fluid and make sure the seals and pistons are in good condition before you go.

Hard to tell if they'll last or not, really depends on how much braking you planning on doing!

You doing 4K miles on the motorway or backroads and alpine passes?

[sgtcalle]

Well I'll do 1000 miles probably before the tour commuting the UK which will mainly motorway, but the tour will mostly be back roads and mountains as you say... I imagine coming down a mountain is fairly heavy going on the brakes. As you say, think I might just have to bite the bullet and replace the pads. I don't have a garage though and I'm not really confident in doing a full brake rebuild. Might just start by changing the pads and see where I end up. If needs be I can put it into the garage for them to replace seals etc. Don't really want to try it myself and mess it up so close to my tour.
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CBR600F '02
Manchester

[Polarbear]

Change them. What happens if the last mill or so of material comes of the backing plate and you go metal to metal on your discs. It's not unheard of. You will end up paying some garage for discs, pads and labour. ££££££££££££
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[tom_e]

Changing your pads isn't going to magically mean your brakes need a rebuild, if they need one they need one whether you change the pads or not.

What you're basically doing is burying your head in the sand and ignoring the maintenance of one of if not the most important part of the bike.