Most grippy brand of pads?

[buzzer]

A mate has a cruiser (VN800) and wants to replace the pads wit some that are good from cold and need little lever presure...

Fade wont be an issue!

Any recommendations for a brand or type?

[Zarco]

OE?

[wolf1]

As has been mentioned already OE pads or standard compound pads from EBC etc.

[Rubin215]

Bear in mind that, with the geometry of a cruiser, you use more back brake than you would with a sportsbike so that you don't push the front wheel.

The sharpest stopping pads work best when they are reasonably warm but are st when they are cold; given the interchangeability of aftermarket pads to fit several different bikes, your friend might be better just sticking with the genuine OE pads as I'm pretty sure Mr Kawasaki will have taken this in to account...