How bad are aftermarket brake pads?

Cm46 pads are the only ones i can find that are close.. i once smoked a set of tusks in 8 laps. 

I think it depends.  I took my suspension in for a full-rebuild and revalve with Race Tech valving.  I bought the Pivot Works fork rebuild kit and they recommended something else.  Pivot Works bearings for other parts were fine for the other things.  I've got some All Ball's parts and went with Galfer for rotors and pads.

Wiseco used to be the top brand when I was growing up, but I've heard they're crankshafts are garbage.

Motomaster are good.

The choice of compounds also helps, like if your rear brake is a little grabby you can fit the lower end pads, if you want the front good and sharp you can fit their fancy pad, etc.

Galfer like Electro21 mentioned are OE on KTM anyway, and KTM (granted, mostly due to the Brembo) are widely said to have the best brakes...

If people use a budget brand like Tusk then of course OEM should be better, but there are good options out there.

I remember when Braking o/s rotor and pads were an incredible improvement. 

KTM OEM pads are ridiculous $, and the powerparts ones left a lot to be desired at half the price of OEM. Braking CM46 and Galfer Sintered are my preferred, but I bought two sets of Tusk rears to try on both of my bikes, one only has two rides but the other has three harescrambles and about five practice days at the MX track on them and probably have about 40% life left. They replaced Galfer Sintered pads and I literally can’t tell a difference. Maybe I suck at riding 🤷🏻‍♂️

a few years a go i wondered if oem were better than aftermarket and i found out most oem are not making themselfs, inc brembo there made in india at ask automotive,

69% of the people that ride wouldn’t notice the difference between different brake pads.  But some aftermarket pads just don’t work as well based on the compounds they are manufactured from.  

I run CM46 pads in harescramble/GNCC competition. Excellent pads. That said, the OEM pads for my bike (CRF 450RX) were pretty good. Mostly depends on the compounds used. Metallic pads come stock on just about all the bikes these days. I did smoke a set of Galfer pads in one race....completely worn out. They were organic pads, and the race was 3.5 hours on a track with sandy mud

They are indeed crazy high but they seem to last substantially longer than any aftermarket pad, at least for me.

Ebc mxs I never buy oem

OEM Nissin for me. We have some horrible cheap aftermarket options here in the UK like Goldfren, SBS, Apico. They are a fantastic way to ruin your braking performance. 

I had a goldfren pad split apart on my RM250, the material broke away from the backing plate

One of the big KTM dealers here has a half wall covered with EBC pads. Are the MXS the ones to go with?

I've had good luck with the DP brake pads that Pro Circuit uses.  I've only tried the top line Pro MX sintered on the front of Austrian bikes.   I believe these are also the same pads sold as Moose M1 pads.  They seem to have a hair more bite than the stock pads and are much more reasonably priced.  I only ride MX tracks and don't ride extreme mud conditions. 

Complete opposite experience for me. They stop incredibly, but just don’t last nearly as long as even cheap pads. Front and rear. 

Every set of EBCs I’ve tried were absolute garbage. 

DP or Motomaster for me. 

Yamaha uses Nissin brakes, the brake pads are made by Nissin Kogyo, who are owned by Hitachi Astemo, who also own Showa and Keihin.

Yamaha would buy enough brake pads for that years production, projected spares sales to dealers, and stock for Yamaha Japan, US, Europe and Australia.

If you are buying OEM pads for an 03 that uses the same part number as recent models, the pads would have been made recently, if the part number is different, they may be from original manufacture or recent manufacture.

I always found DP to be the best for my liking. All Balls and Pivot Works are pure china junk. Go to a bearing house and get Koyo bearings.

DP

Wait until you hear where the OEMs get their radiators, hoses, engine electronics, bearings, plastics, air filters, brake calipers, suspension components, cables and virtually all fasteners. 

If you purchase on price then that is the primary concern. Performance is achieved secondary to price. If you want performance then change how you buy.

Braking Rotors and CM46 pads.Predictable braking/feel, with excellent durability.

I've always had great luck with EBC and Brembo.  I would sample a couple brands and see what you think.