Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > 999 / 749 > Various 749 niggles

[Jayse]

Had my 749bp for about a week now, so am getting used to what's what. A couple of things I've noticed which someone may be able to explain before i go back to Ducati Aylesbury for them to take a look and for them to just fob me off, as they do.

Under normal to light braking to a stop I occasionaly get a slight judder from the front brakes, does not seem to be influenced by heat, may be due to glazed pads(?), they were meant to be checked and I haven't crucified them yet.

There is also a kind of faint 'cracking' noise, as if the grips or top yoke are moving under pressure when braking to a stop, some sort of play somewhere, not sure oif this is normal and I am just doing my 'dog-ears' impression.

The other thing is if riding on a flat bit of tarmac, when I lift my hands of bars (as you do) the bike drifts to the left (I had said veers before, but that is a bit strong for what is actually happening), I've tried it on both sides of the road just to check it wasn't the road influencing. What could this be down to?

It's had an HPI done by Ducati Aylesbury and no crash has was reported on it.

Generally she rides well tho.

Cheers

J

[Edited on 1-5-2005 by Jayse]

[Jayse]

Cheers mate, I'll get somebody from my local Ducati place to have a look and a go to see what they think too, I've sent Twinfan a message. Hopefully it's something small. It's under warrenty still with DA, (2nd hand 2003 model is what I have) but I'd rather pay someone for there time to diagnose the problem first.

J

[Twinfan]

I've U2U'd you mate.

Not sure about the veering left thing, but I'd get your whole bike checked out.

[Greybloke]

Originally posted by Jayse

Under normal to light braking to a stop I occasionaly get a slight judder from the front brakes, does not seem to be influenced by heat, may be due to glazed pads(?),

J

Had th every same thing happen on mine yesterday Does not do it every time, and disks look OK. I've read about the unfortunate problem that twinfan experienced, so am keeping a close eye on things, it may be i've just got some kind of contamination on the pads?

[JohnDa]

Under normal to light braking to a stop I occasionaly get a slight judder from the front brakes, does not seem to be influenced by heat, may be due to glazed pads(?), they were meant to be checked and I haven't crucified them yet.

I get a judder on mine only at very low speeds, I had it on my previous bike as well (honda CBR) and have read a few threads on here with people experiencing the same thing, think the issue with twinfans brake is different, I maybe wrong.

[Jayse]

I hope so. the drift to the left (veering is probably too strong a word, sorry should have clarified) could be so many things I suppose, one of which could be that pads are rubbing and causing the left side of the wheel to slow and making it drift to the left? I compared the temperature of the disks earlier after a short ride, the left disc does seem to be slightly warmer than the right, but it's quite subtle so could be in my mind On the slip that indicates the pre check before I picked the bike up, it mentions that the brakes had been looked at, so it could be that they let a monkey loose on the bike instead of a mechanic.

Will keep you posted in case anyone else has similar probs in the future.

J

[spartacus]

would definately get your brakes checked out pronto.... especially after twinfans other's (mine included) experiences.... not sure about the veering to the left though, but maybe this cracking noise that you hear? is the yokes moving... meaning your forks aren't properly aligned???

[Gareth]

This is very interesting. I have read and am aware of the problems Twinfan has had. I have a 2005 999, the base model with the standard Brembo set up, so probably the same as the 749. I have noticed since I have had the bike that the front brakes do bind slightly. I mentioned it at the first service but they did not seem to think it was a problem. I have the bike on a front paddock stand and can spin the wheel, but it clearly has the brakes rubbing, which suggests they are not fully returning by the calipers.

When out yesterday I noticed that when I brakes heavily for a set of traffic lights, when I then moved off again there was a clunk as the pads released. Suggests to me that there is an issue with the calipers...now that the bike had 1300 miles on it. I was putting it down to lack of pads having bedded in before that. Phoned the dealer this morning, and they had suggested I drop the bike in for them to look at so will do that at the weekend.

It is not as bad a Twinfan's issue. I have monitored the situation and it has been the same since the bike was delivered..no better or worse at any stage but I think there is something not quite right. The discs do look ok, there is not any blueing or any of the other signs... might just be a case of poor adjustment or alignment...

[Murray Mint]

I had the same problem with my brakes, changed the pads and all sorted. As for the “drift” could this be caused by the camber of the road?

Murray Mint

[Jayse]

Sounds similar to my situation except I don't experience any return sound of the calipers. I just took mine into Dave Robinson Motorcycles down the road, he checked the front end and took it for a test ride and said he thought it was okay. The rubbing sound on the pads he said could possibly be sorted out by changing the pads but thought it wasn't really necessary. The drift he put down to the Steering Damper (it's non adjustable), so I'm going to take it off and see what it does without it, if it sorts the problem then at least I know what it is - obviously I'll put it on again It doesn't seem to influence the overall riding of the bike, ie. it doesn't pull to the left when I'm riding about.

The faint clicking/cracking noise from the bars, he didn't actually mention come to think of it, if it carries on I'll have to take it back to Aylesbury and see what they have to say, there's no obvious problems though from the checks that he did to suggest any noise should be occuring.

J