Organic Motorcycle Brakes

EBC Brakes do NOT recommend or endorse metal matrix, ceramic or composite discs and EBC brakes pads are NOT compatible with these and will cause DISC damage. If in the years to come this changes, this message will be modified.

Europe’s first and only ECE R90 approved pad. These pads brake as well as sintered pads, as proved by R90 compliance. Made in our own factory in Bristol, England, the EBC aramid series has now been renamed NAO series or Non-Asbestos Organic, although we still use the famous Dupont aramid fibre in conjunction with other high tech fibres that have come on the market. The NAO series are a superb all round value-for-money replacement for all levels of motorcycle and are still extremely popular with many riders who prefer the “feel” of organic pads.

NAO series are fully TUV tested and KBA certified and conform to the new ECE R90 brake regulations which are about to storm the European market. EBC is at the forefront of this technology and will be the first on the market to offer Reg. 90 approved pads and packaging. Most EBC organic pads have expansion grooves which reduce noise and prevent cracking. The aramid fibre compound with non-ferrous particles helps to prevent surface “scorching” under load.

NOW ECE R90 APPROVED
What does R90 mean? Cheap and nasty motorcycle brakes are the quickest way to an accident no matter where or how you ride. EBC Brakes welcomes the new legislation on ECE R90 brake safety testing that shuts the door on unworthy parts. Until recently all EBC Brakes were tested by the notorious German TUV test centres and carried the KBA (German Motor Vehicle Organisation) certification number. EBC Brakes is pleased to announce that after extensive multi-model testing at the MIRA (Motor Industries Research Association) test track located at Nuneaton, UK, that both EBC aramid organic pads and EBC Double-H sintered pads have been approved.

There are three types of brake pad used on modern Motorcycles and these fall into these groups, Organic, semi metallic or sintered. Quickly explained, semi metallic pads are blended with up to 30 or 50% cheap steel fibre, organic pads are made with man made fibres such as aramid or Twaron bonded together with a petrochemical resin and sintered metal pads are copper alloy fused together under heat and pressure.

EBC Brakes makes only Organic and Sintered Brake pads, we do not subscribe to the steel fibre technology as suitable for motorcycle brakes for numerous reasons. Elsewhere on this website we have explained sintered brake pads in detail (Click here to read that information again).

Organic pads have attracted many enthusiasts because of the way they work. They are inherently “Softer” easier on rotors and have a brake “feel” preferred by many riders. EBC make only two formulations of organic pads for motorcycles which are described as follows.

Street Sport DMX compound
Enduro Grade TT or X pads

Made with Dupont aramid fibre base this material have sold over 18 million sets alone since adopted. It is surely one of the best selling Motorcycle brake materials ever made and has passed every known standard test time and time again. It has been rated by top German consumer Magazine Motorrad as a compound that outperformed all compared organic pads in friction level tested. DMX compound is TUV tested and approved and is the first ever material to pass the European ECE R90 brake safety test where it was tested alongside sintered metal pads. With a GG rated friction rating, technically this material has a lower rating for brake power over sintered pads but on the machine, which is where it counts, this materials impresses.

Having past the ECE R90 test on motorcycles designed for sintered pads there is no doubt that this materials can be used to replace sintered pads on most motorcycles with safety.

This is the EBC pad compound used for larger and heavier Enduro or what we sometimes call Paris-Dakar type or dual purpose machines. The material is carbon based with aramid fibres and as a softer pad is less aggressive to rotors and runs cooler than sintered metal. It will last longer than its stable mate the DMX formula in dual purpose use which is why EBC make this alternate grade for that different group of Motorcycles.

Again the EBC philosophy is to give the customer a choice and offer a range of pad compounds ideal for each market segment.