Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > 998 / 996 / 916 / 748 > Erm, help please - 748 rear brake

[ducatimad]

Bit thick I am but.......

My rear brake has ceased to work, now I hardly use it, hill starts and in very slow traffic, but noticed today I can push the lever all the way down and the rear pads do not move.

No sign of a leak, no loss of fluid, nothing done to the bike that might have caused this. Front seems to be normal.

Suggestions please.

[KeefyB]

Try bleeding the fluid and see if it helps matters.
Failing that,it could be that the piston seal has gone in the master cylinder.Instead of pushing the fluid,it could be escaping round the sides.It wont show up as a leak,just no pressure at the lever.

[ducatimad]

Bein a bit thick again.....

With Rockingham on Wednesday............

1. Do I need to get this fixed now?

2. If I don't could my front brake fail/be affected?

[Mark853]

Sorry chap there all the same they let air into the system!

Remove rear caliper and place on the top of the disc so all the air can escape.

Bleed the system and then re-fit cailper.

This will last about 3 months then back to square one!

The rear brakes are totaly crap, sorry.

[Damo748]

I don't think mine worked since I got the bike! I took it in the other day and there was loads of air in the system, they bled the brakes and sorted the problem in about 2 mins!

I can now do those hill starts again without struggling quite so much with trying to hold it on the front brake etc!

[WeeJohnyB]

Not big or clever, but I NEVER use my back brakes on any of my bikes - race, blast or commuting. I used to, but have got out of the habit, I could seriously remove them altogether and never notice. I know I should use both and teach/demo this at CBT days every week and watch the race boys use theirs. I must get back into the habit.

My brake fluid is completely clear, but my clutch fluid has things floating around in it and I have very little pressure. Need to try this bleeding lark I suppose.

WeeJohnyB

[scuffy]

Do you use it in the wet ?

If someone asked me if i used the back brake i would say no, but i've found that i use it in the wet automatically,usually to find that it needs bleeding AGAIN tho'

[kfz2]

what? some ******** in this thread?

Yes you need to get your brakes to work if you want to live.

Sounds like the the whole system needs cleaning, inc the pistons. I come accorss this quite often with modern bikes. Rear brakes are underused and neglected.

Try bleading it thru and if that doesnt help then i suggest you look at the caliper and give it a overhaul. If you not 100% happy abut working on your brakes then it would be a good idea to either get someone to supervise you or to get someone else to do it.

If there is one componant on a bike that needs to work 100% its the brakes, you life may well depend on it!
Kev