Picking the bike back up in the morning. Dealer has checked it and re bled the system. They say as it's had all the upgrade parts previously fitted there is nothing more they can do and if it goes again I just need to keep having it bled. It made 2000 mile from the upgrade to the latest fail. Drum brake on my 1980 FS1E was more effective than this poor excuse of a brake, not impressed.
Is there such a thing as vacuum bleeding for brake systems ???? Evacuate the whole system then flood it with hydraulic fluid.
I have 22K miles on mine and they have been bled three time. It seems like on a trip you go from dealer to dealer. If it's not the brakes, it's the clutch. I was told in Calgary that the problem seemed to affect one in three bikes. I share your concern. Although the rear brake takes a back seat to the front and the engine, it's critical for stopping in the shortest distance and especially when going downhill on gravel.
Done the clutch thing as well, new master cylinder after a clutch fail then bled again before my last Alps trip, as the lever got closer to the bar.
After riding it today in the sunshine, everything working as it should it's still a truly great bike and I do not currently see anything I would want to change it for. Paid my £300.00 and extended the warranty up to March 2014. A nice touch was that the dealer had washed 2000 miles of road grime off the bike (probably too dirty for their workshop!).
Well mine has been good for some time now but yesterday doesn't seem so good now. Pretty firm but not much power.....here we go again...
The rear brake on my Multi was fine when new then lost it a bit although the pedal stayed firm, I think I oversprayed some chain lube on the caliper. I cleaned it all off with brake cleaner but the brake was still less than perfect. Last time out I decided to give the rear brake abit of a hammering at low speed in a straight line and the braking performance noticeably improved to the point that I could get the rear ABS to kick in helped by some little surface irregularities. I suspect that the pads were glazed and just needed bedding in again ??
I can't help but think that this is a liabillity issue for Ducati. They know they have a problem that can cause injury or death but they're not making much of an effort to correct it. Maybe it's cheaper to hire more lawyers than to do the right thing.
£15000 for a bike with questionable brakes!!!! great whilst under warranty, but what about when they come up for MOT, from the reports on here it sounds like heat from the exhaust is causing the fluid to boil, that will give the same feel to the pedal as air in the system, and bleeding with fresh fluid will bring it back again. Ducati need to come up with a final fix once & for all.
My bike went off warranty July 30. I made sure that my issues were documented and approved by the Ducati Rep before I got home. But you're right, they need to come up with a fix. I have the name of the rep for my area. I think I'll write to him to find out what Ducati is doing to solve the problem. I've never had an issue with the brakes on any motorcycle I've owned. Ducati doesn't seem to be taking the problem seriously. From my understanding the issue was addressed as a recall. I was told it was a service bulletin.
This was/is a service bulletin and would only be actioned at owners request, it may be that since most owners appear to have the same problem this will end up as a recall.
I hope you're right. Nothing is worse that taking off on a trip and wondering how long you're going to have to hang around waiting to get your bike into a shop. I also don't like it when you press on the rear brake pedal and nothing happens. The Ducati network is smaller than BMWs and those shops are far and few inbetween. I'm starting to think about the Yamaha Super Tenere. I'm not crazy about the weight but I like the idea that no matter what town you pull into you can usually find a Yamaha shop.
Ducati rear brakes are crap at best but I only use mine as a hand brake for hill starts etc at which it is perfectly adequate. Or are some of you guys saying your rear brake will not even hold the bike still on a hill?
Bloody Hell, I did not realise it was that much an issue. If it is that bad then the bike is surely not fit for purpose and would surely fail an MOT. Chris
It definitely wouldn't pass an MOT. Despite my rear brake having been changed under warranty, I effectively don't have a rear brake at all. Needless to say, I'm not exactly happy about this! Back to the dealer she goes...
Sorry to hear this one mate, must be very frustrating to say the least. A few suggestions... Contaminated pads such as oil, grease etc on the face of the pads? Contamination oils etc on the face of the disc? Glazed, can be caused by not bedding new pads in. Siezed piston although doubt it but possible. One would think it would be easy enough to find the problem. Chris
It's nothing to do with simple stuff like that I'm afraid. A glazed pad will still offer some retardation, this problem is that the pedal goes straight to the end of it's travel without actually bothering to move the pistons in the caliper... I could bleed it, but I'm refusing to do so. I shouldn't need to constantly bleed the brakes simply to get them to work. Especially on a £15K bike that has 4,000 miles on the clock...
I am of the same opinion as you, I could keep bleeding the brake myself even if it is a calliper off job but while it's under warranty why should I? It's averaged about 2000 mile from being usable (but still poor) to being to being useless. Bleeding the brake at home my be less hassle than getting it back to the dealer but hides the true extent of the issue Ducati have. Come on Ducati a proper fix please or run the risk pissing off good customers to the point where their next bike choice will be anything other than Ducati. (4 times back to the dealer in 15 months for rear brake)
