Keep us informed how that works out Eddie.............

 

Yeah I don't have a gen3 but color me interested... I was always under the impression that they were supposed to "just touch" but I might be wrong. Do the springs actually keep the pads a measurable distance from the rotor?

 

NOT as far as I'm aware. What they do is to 'push' outward reducing the amount of drag.

where can i buy this spring ?

Measure how far apart the two pads are, then get a spring that's a BIT longer, and DON'T get a massive spring! Usually at your local hardware (ACE, etc).

 

Dirt and grit in the wrong place can keep the pads from retracting properly. I was under the impression all three Versys versions had the same rear and front calipers. In particular the brake sliders need to be greased and move freely. Cleaning the slider pins with steel wool can help too as well as ensuring the boots are not cracked or damaged. I recently had to replace a rear caliper on my car because of this issue. If the caliper is working like it should, there should be no reason for the spring.

 

Gen III's have different calipers both front and rear.

 

where can i buy this spring ?

 

You certainly don't want a spring that physically separates the pads to the point there's a gap from the pad to the rotor. Braking performance would be very compromised.

 

I had my pads worn out on my 2015 at 9,000 miles... and a rotor that was warped just enough to make a "Grunk-Grunk-Grunk" noise at slow speeds.

A new rotor was $270+ (and brakes are not covered by extended warranty)... so I got a very nice used rear caliper and bracket from a 2012 w/ABS and a nice 2014 rotor (all from an EX650) w/ABS and installed them.
The hose wasn't too happy about it (the end of it wants to point the wrong way a bit), but I managed to loosen it up along its run to make it work until I can have a new one made, but it works. Works very well, pads are easier to get and cheaper too.
Caliper and bracket were $17.00 on ebay and the rotor was $30.00, but I have seen them cheaper on there (look for EX650 stuff... cheaper for some reason!)
The bike can't tell the difference.
If the newer Nissin calipers and "slightly" bigger rotors ever get cheaper, I can always go back, but I don't see why I would worry about it.

 

We have done the same thing!


The pads on mine were not worn out but I was very fed up with the squealing etc. of the rear brake on my Gen 3 Versys 650.
After retrograding to a 2014 Versys 650 ABS rear caliper assembly plus a 2012-2015 Ninja 650 ABS rear disc, the squealing, etc. was gone.
I can ridden with this setup for over 650 km and am also very happy with the result. I should have done this mod last summer.

 

For the record, my 2015 has over 20k miles and the rear pads are still original, no anomalous wear, no squeal, nothing. I've changed the front pads twice already.

There's nothing intrinsically wrong with the rear brakes, from what I can tell.

 

You are one of the fortunate ones.
Past threads on this forum, and on others, have shown that this problem is not rare (squealing rear brakes, warped disc).

 

Don't do that

if you rely on rear brake being available instantly.
The way this works is that the spring is strong enough to push the piston back in a tiny bit.
meaning, you could have a full brake stroke yet no braking unless you pump it many times.

Even if the spring doesn't rest uncompressed far now, it will become too far as the pads wear.

And your insurer might say you tampered with brakes.

Don't do that!

 

Works just FINE, so far...! (About 10K kms since they were changed-out at 19,7xx kms - LOTS of pad left, and I do NOT expect any problem w/ my rear brakes NOT working.)