Andy_B, I have changed my front brake fluid to Motul RBF600 Dot 4 racing fluid. I put it in the front at the same time I swapped my calipers, so cant say if it would notice on its own. What I have noticed is that I don't need to bleed air out of the master cylinder now. I have yet to put it in my rear brake.
Well I had a go but realised after I'd started that my cordless drill is in my office at work and I need to drill holes in the seat to clear the bleed nipples. Once I'd put the original banjo bolt back in things just went downhill and the pedal still has way too much travel so I'll have to take the caliper off and try bleeding it with it held as high as I can get it.
Great post Paul, thanks for sharing.....were the banjo/bleed nipples supplied in Ducati packaging?.....part number? ....by the way, PM'd you a couple of days back ;-)
Hi Andy, Sorry did get your message...been Uber busy with AC (something to do with the weather). Sent pics now. No the parts were loose (and free). Really we need a low profile bleed nipple, automatic if possible and even better at 90° angle to the banjo. At the moment the rear ABS connection hits the seat pad. I believe its the standard clutch slave bleed nipple and banjo bolt.
When I was standing staring at my nice shiny banjos bolts with the protruding nipples I considered using one to replace the banjo bolt on the rear master cylinder and see if that improved anything. I might have done it if I hadn't been distracted by the bike making a lunge for freedom and impaling itself on my trailer before I could do it any harm
Bugger! :frown: Thanks again Paul (AirConTechnical) for your post..........article based on your write-up here: Soft / bad / poor brakes rear &/or front - Simple low cost modification ....one thing in particular of note - the Workshop Manual states that the OE banjo bolts should be tightened/torqued to 23Nm ;-) I assumed that the same torque would apply to the replacement banjo fittings with bleed nipples (the body of the banjo/bn not the bleed nipple itself;-)
I had the same problem when I fitted the bleeder, I just dremeled a hole in the seat for it to clear. It only needed 1/2" to clear.
I did the same (hole in the underside of the seat (DP Comfort Seats) - photos here: Motorcycle Info Pages - MTS1200 Service & Maintenance > ABS / Brakes bleed mod Whilst I got better lever feel no discernible improvement to the rear braking for me :-( Did repeat the bleeding and got more air out......one of my winter jobs to try again. Any updated feedback from anyone else that's done this mod?.......or other comments?
Andy, I found it took several attempts at bleeding both from the ABS unit and from the caliper (with the calliper suspended at head height) before I got a decent back brake. I need to do it again to replace the fluid as it seems a waste of money paying the dealer to do this on the 15K service when I can do it myself (and be able to spend more time on it than they are allowed) so I hope it stays good after that. I also got the heat shield from the chap on the USA site (but I only fitted it on Sunday so can't say what effect it will have yet).
Thanks..........heat shields - found a mention on this thread on ducati.ms here although will have to plough back through the 23 pages sometime to find more info! My search on ducati.ms loaded page 1 of the above mentioned thread where I found this interesting tip: ......anyone able to explain the science at work there?? (as I said above don't have time to read the 23 pages of that thread to see if the explanation is given!!)....thnx
My reckoning is that air in the system dissolves under pressure giving a firmer feel to the pedal but it slowly comes out of solution over a few days and the spongy pedal returns.
Correct - the real question is how does the air get into a sealed system in the first place, it has the same effect as tying the front brake lever back to the bars overnight, next day the front brake will be harder. It must be a fluid issue but all that stuff is beyond me.
Not sure if anyone has already said this but, I did the conversion yesterday. I found I had to remove my back wheel and undo the brake calliper and sit it on the top of the disk so that the piston was lower than the bleed nipple. I got a lot of air out in this position even though I'd already bleed the whole system. I'm happy to say my back brake now locks the back wheel and brings on the ABS pump. Happy days. Not sure how long it will last but I'm hoping a while.
Just to make sure I've understood this correctly the conversion doesn't permanently put the cylinder in the correct upright position? You did this just while you were doing something else? By the way what is the conversion.?
Yes I put the calliper there just to bleed it. looking at it it's designed to go on top of the disk but Ducati have fitted it below. By conversion I mean fitting the bleed nipple banjo bolts to the ABS pump.
Ordered mine over the phone whilst the bike was getting sorted at P&H... Yes sir, we've heard of that mod. We've left them under the seat with the washers and bits. Just went out to the garage to do it and they've given me the actual circular banjo bit. So much anger!
Jh, ask for lloydy in p&h parts. He recently got these bits for my mate. He will recall this, as they rang me to check the part numbers I had previously ordered. You need the bolt, bleed nipple, dust cap, and some copper washers (don't reuse the originals). Hope that helps.
