I installed new, not polished, rotors on the front and run organic but they don't last as long as the sintered or Kevlar. I have about 5k miles and they need replacing already but the OEM's I had squealed like an old school bus. That drove me crazy. I'm thinking of trying ceramic, if I can find them, but after reading this article, it seems Kevlar is the way to go....the best of all worlds.
This is from another site....
Polished rotors: Pads will bed into them. No real difference in my experience than from normal stainless rotors.
Kevlar, OEM or organic pads: All good IMHO.
Sintered pads work well, but generally are used in racing applications, and need time and heavy enough use to warm up and be fully functional. They're also a tad harder on rotors, due to heat anf friction wear. I don't recommend them for street use on cruisers. They, like semi-metailc pads are also plagued with noise issues.
Ceramic pads are similar to Kevlar pads, in that they disipate heat faster/better than OEMs and last a tad longer. They also have a decreased braking ability until fully heated, but heat up faster than Sintered pads. If you ride in a spirited manner, this is something to consider.
Ceramic pads = almost zero dust. Very minimal if any at all.
Sintered, OEM and Kevlar = dust.
OEM pads are semi-metail.
Organic (non-metalic, old style material) is outdated. Brake fade waiting to happen, cracked material, dirty/dusty and inexpensive price. Not likely to find them at all for modern day motorcycles.
I'm a fan of Lyndall's brake products.
From their site:
http://www.lyndallracingbrakes.com/
There are three types of friction material commonly used for motorcycle brakes: sintered metal, ceramic, and Carbon-Kevlar. Sintered-metallic brake pads, which have a high metal content, are typically hard and abrasive to the rotor surface while offering moderate stopping power and mechanical strength. Service life tends to be
significantly lower, and sintered-metallic pads tend to run more dirty and noisy than other types of friction material. They are also inexpensive to manufacture and are the cheapest pads on the market.
Ceramic brake pads usually have a high copper content and are sintered as well. While ceramic pads generally offer a slightly longer service life and run cleaner than sintered-metallic pads, they
offer only moderate stopping power. Carbon-Kevlar pads, often referred to as organic pads, usually have a small percentage of iron or nonferrous metal and are softer than other friction materials. Carbon-Kevlar pads typically run clean and quiet, and offer good stopping power. They have an extremely long service life and are not abrasive to the rotor because they generate less heat than other friction materials.
Lyndall’s brake pads are of the Carbon-Kevlar variety. What makes Lyndall’s pads unique is that they contain a premium blend of Carbon-Kevlar and nonferrous metal and have a high transfer rate. Once the pad material has transferred a layer to the rotor, the rotor effectively becomes one big brake pad, stopping against the two smaller brake pads positioned in the caliper. The result: incredible stopping power, no dust, no noise, no drag, no measurable rotor wear, and the highest service life of any pad on the market.
Finding out which brake pads work with a particular caliper can be a challenge, but most manufacturers (Lyndall included) list application information, complete with OE part numbers crossreferenced, on their web sites. Also, a phone call to a rep for those hard-toidentify pads can help provide an answer. By looking at your sales andservice history, you can also identify which models are the most popular in your dealership. Those would be the best ones to keep in stock. Keep in mind that the older-model bikes are a diminishing market segment, so it’s best to limit your stock to one or two of each fitment.