Ducati Supersport rear brake fire

[M3 POO]

Howdy All,

A mate of mine hired a Ducati Supersport for a weekend jaunt and 20 minutes from drop off the rear brake caught fire... initially you would suggest it was brake drag from a lazy foot except they insist they weren't and ride with their foot off the brake and toes on the pedal so as to prevent this and they led their companion all afternoon on the final day and there wasn't a brake light on...

A wee google exploration suggests Ducati's are known to occasionally have rear brake issues where the pistons don't allow the pad to decompress fully and cause the exact situation...

So to petrol heads, I am hoping a few might be Ducati fans and perhaps know if my friend is dreaming or not, I suggested they go to a Ducati forum etc but thought I would check here for them just in case

Cheers

[anonymous-user]

I think my KTM may use the same brakes.....

[Steve Bass]

Nope, it's definitely a thing.

I had the same issue on my 996 race bike. The rear brake adjustment at the lever is very finicky. Slightly over done and the pads are fractionally too tight. Heat builds up and viola, you have a thermal runaway effect.
Mine was so bad it cooked the rear hub out of a carbon wheel and the carbon basically returned to its strand form.

[M3 POO]

Thanks for the replies, does anyone have any idea of how to deal with the hire company / Ducati? My friend is reasonably experienced so totally shocked. Anyone manage to take on Ducati and win?

[Steve Bass]

M3 POO said:

Thanks for the replies, does anyone have any idea of how to deal with the hire company / Ducati? My friend is reasonably experienced so totally shocked. Anyone manage to take on Ducati and win?

If you don't have the bike in your possession, it's going to be very difficult to prove either way.

If your friend is an experienced rider, with years of riding different bikes, he may be able to claim no such similar event.

And to have the fire after 20 miles would indicate a latent fault in the servicing of the bike that you could not be reasonably expected to determine at the time of signing over.

But, they have the credit card and signed agreement, the burden of proof will rest with your friend from here on out.

Perhaps emphasis the 20 miles aspect as it would point to the faultily adjusted rear brake being there from the start.

[M3 POO]

Thanks Steve, sadly it was 20 miles before the end of a ~450 mile journey in two days. Same kind of thing in reverse, odd that it would come up so late!

[Steve Bass]

M3 POO said:

Thanks Steve, sadly it was 20 miles before the end of a ~450 mile journey in two days. Same kind of thing in reverse, odd that it would come up so late!

Ah, ok. Apologies, my misread.

Well, it's a tricky one now. Very strange why it would do that so late in the ride but there's still a few possibilities.

You can't overlook the likelihood of dragging the brake, however small. But, and it's a big one, you'd have to be dragging it for a while to generate the heat required to start a fire.

Alternatively, possible a stone or similar got jammed in the caliper and built up the heat ? If so, that's going to be on the rider unfortunately...


Good luck

[M3 POO]

Thanks Steve, think my mate is scuppered but thought I would check!

That is the odd thing... you'd be dragging for a while to get that much heat generation!

[Steve Bass]

M3 POO said:

Thanks Steve, think my mate is scuppered but thought I would check!

That is the odd thing... you'd be dragging for a while to get that much heat generation!

Exactly, so really not likely.

But a jammed stone may well cause a heat spot that causes expansion of the caliper, causing binding, causing increased temp causing more expansion and we're off to the races.
And because the rear brake is so light in force, it's be difficult to sense or feel it, as was my instance.

[M3 POO]

Thanks Steve, appreciate your input

[catso]

Had the same on my 916.

At the first service they adjusted something on the rear brake as there was quite a lot of play in the pedal, on the ride home the bike started to feel sluggish and then I pulled up at a roundabout and it wouldn't move any more as the rear brake had locked. I could smell burning and looked at the rear to see flames coming from the pads

Fire died out after a few seconds and by the time the dealer's recovery van had arrived it was rotating freely again - cooked the pads, burnt the paint off the edge of the disc and despite working OK afterwards, a year or so later it needed a new rear caliper as it had started leaking probably because the seals had been damaged?

[TypeR]

catso said:

Had the same on my 916.

At the first service they adjusted something on the rear brake as there was quite a lot of play in the pedal, on the ride home the bike started to feel sluggish and then I pulled up at a roundabout and it wouldn't move any more as the rear brake had locked. I could smell burning and looked at the rear to see flames coming from the pads

Fire died out after a few seconds and by the time the dealer's recovery van had arrived it was rotating freely again - cooked the pads, burnt the paint off the edge of the disc and despite working OK afterwards, a year or so later it needed a new rear caliper as it had started leaking probably because the seals had been damaged?

I had the very same thing happen to me on the M4 elevated section at Brentford. In the rush hour! I managed to cause an almighty tailback.....