Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > 999 / 749 > Brakes...again !!

[Gareth]

Having read of the woes Twinfan and others have had I have been keeping a close eye on the front brakes on my '05 999. I have been a little concerned since collecting the bike in March that the front brakes do rub a little..to the point that on a front paddock stand the wheel will make one complete turn from a reasonable spin but that is about it. Compare this with the RVF400 that also sits in the garage and it will spin its front wheel for about 20 revolutions from the same spin.

I raised it with the dealer at the first service, but they (Pro Twins) confirmed they were OK. Another 500/600 miles later and I was still not very happy so took the bike back to Pro Twins and they put it on a stand and confirmed that all was perfectly normal, however did comment that the brakes do "hiss" quite loudly even when they are not on.

Took the bike on its first track day a week ago and the front end took a hammering on a very hot Brands Indy circuit (32 air temp!) and while the discs have bronzed a little the amount of "grab" is still the same as the day I collected the bike.

I would be happier if there was no "grab" when the brakes are not applied, and certainly I have never come across there being brake "grab" from the pads on any previous bike when the brakes are not applied. However, now with just over 2000 miles on the bike the braking is still fine, and the amount of "grab" is exactly the same as it was when the bike had 100 miles on it.

Is it normal for the '05 999, or other 999 with the standard, non radial, set up to "grab" a little? Having gone back to the dealer with it twice now I don't really want to be seen as a unnecessarily fussy owner, but would like to put my mind at rest that all is OK.

So to summarise, the question is "Is it normal for the front brakes of a 999 to "grab" slightly..the test being that the wheel spins only one revolution when spun whilst on a front paddock stand..?".

I am hoping the answer is YES...it is a Ducati "feature"...!!!

Cheers...

Gareth

[Twinfan]

I would say no bike should have grabby brakes to the point where the wheel will only make one revolution. It'd be interesting to see what other 749/999 owners say about their bikes...

[ak47]

Mine do "hiss" for a short while after application, but they certainly not grabby.

[Gizmo750]

Will have to get mine on the paddock stand and have a try. I've not noticed anything untoward from riding it though.

[JPM]

No problem with mine, although I do have the radial setup

[Gareth]

Thanks for comments so far... by "grabby" I mean that when I spin the wheel on the paddock stand there is obviously some friction between the pads and discs....but when riding it is not noticable and even when freewheeling it is not enough for you to feel as if you are pushing against any resistance.

I certainly get the "hiss" after application of the brakes for a short time but seems AK47 has the same thing so sounds pretty normal....

I certainly cant have any issue with the stopping power..they are very good in that respect and there is plenty of feel !

[Gizmo]

The pistons are retracted from the expansion of the seal rubber, as you brake the piston pushes against the seal, when you release lever the rubber expands pushing the piston back. As you can imagine the rubber only pushes it back a very small amount. Typically the rotor floats and gives a slight hiss as it passes pads but it also knocks the pistons back a tiny amount each revolution and the wheel then spins freely. This doesn't happen on a paddock stand, the only true test to see how much grab there is is to ride bike the bike and then try and stop and put it on a stand without touching the front brake lever, then spin wheel. As forks have got stiffer and tolerances on wheel bearings tighter there's less chance of the rotors moving and knocking pads back.

Theres been a couple of MTB systems which have a closed system which allows adustment of piston/pad clearance from master cyinder, sounds good but downside is you can build up enough heat in the system to expand fluid to a point where you can lock the wheel on long downhills dragging the brakes unless you use large rotors.

[Brogins]

Gareth... mine is exactley like yours.. been at silverstone today, braking at the end of the GP straight at 150 miles/h.. bike working great..
I put the bike on the front stand and the pads are... "grabby"...
I did clean the calipers really well last sunday, took wheel and brake pads down, reassembled the bike properly..first turn great, lots of revolutions.. after applied the brake, again , "grabby".
Asked friends in Italy, same issue... lucky the guys that don't have the "grabby" brake... and I hope it is not going to degenerate in the Twinfan problem...

[Gareth]

Brogins...very glad to hear that your bike is the same, which points to it being a design feature rather than a fault. It is actually quite concerning when in the past all previous bikes, including a very similar Brembo set up on a RSVR, did not evidence any obvious contact between pads and discs when the brakes were released. However having had mine checked out twice by the dealer and now having had feedback that other '05 999s are similar it is starting to put my mind at rest !

[Twinfan]

Hmmm. I still don't think it's "right". A design feature it may be, but it shouldn't be there in my opinion. I wonder if this 'feature' contributed to the fault with my brakes...