![Lyndall Racing Brakes Carbon-Kevlar Brake Pads](images/DailyArticles/January2010/LyndallRacingBrakes/Lyndall-Racing-Brakes-01.jpg)
Lyndall Racing Brakes Carbon-Kevlar Brake Pads
Story by Buck Manning, Photos courtesy of Lyndall Racing Brakes
Paul Kittrell’s goal in life is to stop all your fun as quickly as possible. No, he’s not a killjoy or anything like that when it comes to having fun. Paul’s just dedicated himself to making sure when you need to put a halt to things involving two wheels and too much fun, his Lyndall Racing Brakes products will save the day so you can do more silly things involving two wheels in the future. The only thing he can’t stop is talking about his brakes and his genuine interest and devotion in making new brake products for Harleys that stop better, cleaner, and easier. It seems every time I speak with him he’s come up with a new part or process that he’s as proud as a new dad about. Luckily for motorcyclists, he knows what he’s talking about and we at Barnett’s have gotten to experience firsthand the fruits of his labors.
How this fixation with cessation came about is an involved story. “I got my beginning in friction material working at Porterfield Enterprise in Costa Mesa, California, the largest distributor for friction materials for race car applications on the West Coast. I was involved with the racing program and did all the [motorcycle] track days I could every month,” said Paul. “The brake pads I had available to me were just not that impressive for club-level riders. If you were an AMA racer, you’re going to get the best stuff, a very different pad that was not commercially available. At Porterfield we had every compound available including some asbestos stuff. I started hand-cutting everything and tested it until I came across a Carbon-Kevlar compound that was working really well. We tested my pads with some AMA riders, two or three very high-profile factory teams, and they loved the pads.” Lyndall Racing Brakes opened in 1998 after Paul told his retired dad to join him in this venture saying, ”I want to be the Porterfield per se of motorcycle brakes. After about six or seven months of testing, we dialed in a compound specifically for stainless rotors and it was awesome, unbeatable, and we haven’t looked back since.”
Lyndall’s home brewed Carbon-Kevlar compound became the mainstay of the company, but Paul’s not one to rest on his laurels and he continues to update the compound whenever he makes a breakthrough, no matter how small it might be. “We’re always trying to top what we have,” said Paul. What they do have, and I can tell you from personal experience, is a pad that pops right into your factory or aftermarket caliper and instantly provides not only better stopping, but increased feel and control. “It’s a real linear modulation,” he said. ”It’s not on-and-off like a light switch.” Good feel and control can keep you from exacerbating an already touchy panic stop situation where panic is the key word. The totally unique, frosting-on-the-cake part to his compound, though, is especially important for a lot of picky H-D owners. Pay attention now ― they leave no nasty brake dust residue. Again, especially important if you’ve got spoked wires like Okie, my obsessively clean-freak dresser owner friend. Now that may not seem possible as pads wear from friction and do turn into dust with use, but Paul explained, “A lot of that has to do with particle size. We start with a real fine compound and although our pads do make dust, the dust is so fine it doesn’t adhere to the wheel. Saying it’s just a property of Carbon-Kevlar is like saying ‘My tires are made of rubber.’ There’s Carbon-Kevlar pads and then there’s Carbon-Kevlar pads. Our recipe is expensive, the components and the processes are time and labor intensive, but they pay off in the end.” One thing I was pleasantly surprised about was the wear rate; you figure anything really good would wear out quickly. “We’re getting at least 18,000-plus miles out of the rear of a 2008 and later bagger with zero dust, zero noise, and twenty to thirty per-cent more stopping power than anything else you’re gonna put on ‘em,” said Paul.
One other big benefit of Lyndall’s pads is basically zero break-in time and no special procedure to get the ultimate braking they offer. “Our pads are pre-burnished at the factory, they go through an extra heat cycle and pressure cycle,” said Paul. “Basically you just put them on and go. The pad will clean the rotors within the first fifty miles, displace whatever’s on there and embed its own film transfer of Carbon-Kevlar from the pad to the disc surface effectively turning the brake rotor into one big brake pad. That’s where we achieve the noticeable distance in stopping power. You will notice a difference right out of the driveway. By the time you put fifty miles on ‘em, you’ll be absolutely in love with them.”
Lyndall makes two different sets (compounds) of pads, the Z Plus and the Gold Plus, for Harleys, Buells, Victorys, Big Dogs, and just about any aftermarket caliper you could imagine. The Z Plus and the Gold Plus are good for any kind of steel rotor (Lyndall makes another pad for composite rotors only and we’ll cover that when we do a further look into Lyndall’s composite rotors and cool lug-drive design (instead of button) floating rotors in a future story), the Z gives you more mileage with 20% more stopping power than stock with a 23,000 mile service life while the Gold gives 30% with the 18,000 service life previously mentioned. In my opinion, go for the Gold.
So let’s review then, Lyndall pads stop better, feel better, wear well, leave no brake dust, are brainless to bed-in, and lastly, are competitively priced with Motor Company OEM pads. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out Lyndall pads should be on your wish list. They’re available through Drag Specialties and Biker’s Choice dealers (including many Harley dealers) or directly from Lyndall at www.lyndallracingbrakes.com. Also, if you need a special application pad or need an old set of drum brake shoes relined, give Paul a call. He’ll be more than happy to put a stop to your dilemma― immediately!