[BDC848]

Headed out for a ride this morning did some light trail braking in 4 or 5 turns in the first mile, then when coming to a normal stop at the first stop sign at mile 2 (normal braking pressure I would say), the front bit and seized. Was stuck in the middle of the road for about 4 min until the calipers loosened up. Tried some very light braking on way back home and it didn't do it again.

So, looking for a sanity check. I rode yesterday, nothing out of the ordinary happened btw. 3500 miles and it's a 2012, no track days, usually pretty easy on the brakes and very rarely executed a hard braking maneuver. I did flush and bleed the brakes about a month and 6 rides ago. Other than that, I've never done anything significant to the brakes. The reservoir is at the max line with the cap on. From the brief research I have done could it be hydraulic lock? Or perhaps dirty pistons in the caliper? I'm just a shade tree mechanic and brakes are definitely one of the fuzzier areas for me.

Separate issue... The rear brake. I installed CRG rear sets in the off season and adjusting the rear brake pedal has been an illusive magic that I just don't understand. I made an adjustment to the linkage last night to tighten the pedal up as it had a lot of slop up and down before engaging. Got it tightened and after my short ride here today the pedal travels about 30 degrees down and mashing on it as hard I can barely engages the rear brake now. So my ride back I discovered I didn't even have the rear brake if things went really pear shaped...

Any advice or words of wisdom on these two issues would be greatly appreciated. I think I'm going to take the calipers and pads off to see what things look like.


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[Charles]

Are you 110% sure it was the front brakes locking up?

I would suggest that when you installed the rearsets the rear brake went back together in a manner that doesn't (or didn't before your last adjustment), allow the plunger to completely disengage inside the rear master. This will cause the rear brake to lock up.

 

[Duc_L_over_V]

Separate issue... The rear brake. I installed CRG rear sets in the off season and adjusting the rear brake pedal has been an illusive magic that I just don't understand. I made an adjustment to the linkage last night to tighten the pedal up as it had a lot of slop up and down before engaging. Got it tightened and after my short ride here today the pedal travels about 30 degrees down and mashing on it as hard I can barely engages the rear brake now. So my ride back I discovered I didn't even have the rear brake if things went really pear shaped...

Be careful doing that. Lots of people have adjusted the rear pedal to "take the slack out" only to end up burning up their pads and rotors due to drag they caused by adjusting too far. Chances are the real issue is air in the caliper, which can only be gotten rid of by a proper bleed. The trick here is to remove the caliper from the mounting bracket and bleed it with the bleed nipple as the highest point, which means flipping it (the caliper) upside down for the bleed. You'll notice that Ducati, in their infinite wisdom, placed the caliper with the bleed nipple at the lowest point, meaning air collects above it with no easy way to remove it. Over time it builds up and the rear brake stops working altogether... common problem.

Dunno what's up with your front brake, but it sounds heat-related.

 

[BDC848]

Was ready to say yes but now you've got me second guessing myself. Coming to that stop sign was the first time I touched the rear brake since adjusting and I after getting back is when I confirmed the wasn't working at all. I just took the linkage apart again readjusted everything and had to pump the rear back up. I also found the rear reservoir was definitely over full. Took some fluid out both front and rear and just got back from a short run with about a dozen hard braking to a stop, but only about half of them using the rear brake too. I also experimented with dragging the rear independently to ensure I had something if I couldn't rely on the front. Both brakes feel normal now and I couldn't recreate the incident.

I'm starting to lean more towards the issue being with the rear now the more I think about it, Charles.


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[BDC848]

Be careful doing that. Lots of people have adjusted the rear pedal to "take the slack out" only to end up burning up their pads and rotors due to drag they caused by adjusting too far. Chances are the real issue is air in the caliper, which can only be gotten rid of by a proper bleed. The trick here is to remove the caliper from the mounting bracket and bleed it with the bleed nipple as the highest point, which means flipping it (the caliper) upside down for the bleed. You'll notice that Ducati, in their infinite wisdom, placed the caliper with the bleed nipple at the lowest point, meaning air collects above it with no easy way to remove it. Over time it builds up and the rear brake stops working altogether... common problem.



Dunno what's up with your front brake, but it sounds heat-related.

Yeah. I must have done this. The dragging plus over full reservoir must have heated it up and when I pressed the lever their simple wasn't anywhere for fluid to go to relieve pressure.

Left a healthy amount of play in the rear lever this time.



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[PhilDucati]

FOR ALL DUCATI ALL OWNER BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1- NEVER EVER OVER FILL BRAKE FLUID RESERVOIR, ALWAYS FILL IT UP BELOW THE LINE
2-NEVER ADJUST HAND BRAKE MASTER PIN IN, BEWARE USING AFTER MARKET LEVER THAT RE-USE OEM PIN

FOR YOUR CASE I AM 100% SURE THAT YOUR PIN OF YOUR MASTER TOO CLOSE TO THE MASTER PUMP WHEN THE HEAT BUILT UP IT BE COME AUTOMATIC BRAKING CAUSE IT HAD NO ROOM TO MOVE/PUSH THE PIN OUT TO WHERE IT SUPPOSE TO BE, SO IT WILL STOP YOUR BIKE ANY WHERE ON THE STREET, AT SLOW SPEED YOU CAN MANAGE TO STOP OR AT HIGH SPEED YOU WILL HIGH SIDE, IF YOU GET LUCKY CAR ARE NOT HIT YOU OR RUN OVER.

YOU CAN CHECK MY POSTED IN 2009 OR 2010
I have front brake lock on me, and second one rear brake lock on me on 55HWY

if you have more question welcome to pm me

 

[Duc_L_over_V]

Yeah. I must have done this. The dragging plus over full reservoir must have heated it up and when I pressed the lever their simple wasn't anywhere for fluid to go to relieve pressure.

Left a healthy amount of play in the rear lever this time.

Hmmmm. Very possible, but I'm still not sure about it being all rear. Surely you'd notice the difference between the rear locking up vs the front, right?:stickpoke

At any rate I'm glad you got it sorted. A rear brake locking up can throw you into a highside if it happens when you're leaned over.

 

[BDC848]

Hmmmm. Very possible, but I'm still not sure about it being all rear. Surely you'd notice the difference between the rear locking up vs the front, right?:stickpoke



At any rate I'm glad you got it sorted. A rear brake locking up can throw you into a highside if it happens when you're leaned over.

Neither of my tires locked. It was just a quick stop from only about 35 mph. It was more like after I applied the brake force and began backing off lever pressure in anticipation of a rolling stop, the actual braking force didn't back off with it and then I was stopped and could not move the bike a mm until something cooled down and let the rotor go. I rarely use my rear brake for slow speed stops but I definitely applied it here. Couldn't over power it with the engine easily either so my gut reaction was it must have been the front given how fast it was held. Adding to that preconception is that when everything was stock I can still remember being able to practically stand on the rear brake and have it not do much. That's definitely not the case post rearsets installed.

Anyway I think it's sorted now. Thanks guys.


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[Charles]

Neither of my tires locked. It was just a quick stop from only about 35 mph. It was more like after I applied the brake force and began backing off lever pressure in anticipation of a rolling stop, the actual braking force didn't back off with it and then I was stopped and could not move the bike a mm until something cooled down and let the rotor go.

This is exactly the way I experienced it too a couple of years ago after installing aftermarket rearsets. Not an actual 'lock up' of the brakes but a pronounced, rather quick stopping of the bike. I would have placed a bet back then that it was the front brakes locking up. After it cooled down and I could ride it again I limped home and experimented more. On my street just outside of my garage, it locked up again. I got off of the bike lifted the front end enough to turn the wheel and everything was good. Did the same in the rear and it was locked solid!

It sounds like your last adjustment fixed it, but be very very VERY careful until you are totally certain that it's fixed.