pre-flight check.........first ride of the season.......a note of caution.

[pitbull]

First ride of the season today as the weather was unseasonably warm.

I charged the battery up last night and spent a couple hours going around the bike yesterday, changing oil, topping up tire pressure, checking fasteners, lights, ect.

I was sure I had thought of everything. About 20 minutes into the ride, along a straight stretch, my rear brake caliper seized up........completely. thank god I was on a straight away. By the time I got pulled over I could not turn the rear wheel at all and had to actually lift the back of the bike to roll it on the front tire.....not fun. For whatever reason I didn't bring any tools with me as I normally do, even on short rides. (usually in a tank bag)
I called a friend who lives close by and it took him about 40 minutes to get to where I was. By that time the bike had completely cooled down and the brakes let off.

Anyhow, as much as I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't bleed the brakes off after the bike sat in the cold garage all winter, I thought I would post up in the hopes that it might remind somebody else who lives in a northern climate and is getting ready to pull the bike out for the season.

[arai_speed]

Crazy - you snow folks have it pretty bad when it comes to riding.

Winter prep for me is closing the garage door so the bike doesn't get wet when it rains.

[seevtsaab]

so what was it .... air in the lines, water in the lines?

Inquiring minds ....

[Bill in OKC]

That is *usually* caused by a mis-adjusted rear brake lever - or some other reason that it cannot return to its fully up position - no pressure on the master piston.  When the piston in the master does not uncover the bleed-back port - the heated fluid cannot vent back to the reservoir.  It gets trapped and if the pads are dragging a bit they will heat the trapped fluid, the fluid expands, the pads drag even more...  etc until the brake is fully engaged.  It can happen on front brakes too.  Sometimes you can manually pull up on the lever and release the pressure.  I've heard of a spring breaking in the master that can cause the same problem but I'd think that is pretty rare.

[Popeye the Sailor]

Yeah and if you do it just right.....you can set the brake fluid on fire.

[pitbull]

I got home just in time to stick the bike in the garage and leave for work for night shift (typing this from work) and have not had a chance to figure out the issue yet.

I'll update tomorrow when I get into it.

[Howie]

Check out the caliper pistons as well, they may be sticking.

[lazarus7]

also, check the jam nut on the adjustment for the brake pedal linkage....
if it loosened and the rod unthreaded itself longer, engaging the brake slightly
itll heat, brake harder, heat , lock solid, cool off to the point that itll roll again unimpeded....
ask me how i know......

[pitbull]

I still haven't had a chance to dig into it, but will likely do so tomorrow and report back. I do appreciate all the suggestions and list of possible issues. I was thinking it was likely just an air lock issue, but the possibilities mentioned by a few different people here all seem plausible and perhaps more likely.

[eyeboy]

I had a very similar thing happen a few years ago after I 'adjusted' the front lever a bit too tight, the pads were dragging ever so slightly and over time it heated the fluid up so that I was 'braking' unintentionally, again I was lucky to be able to get off the road.

A good thing to watch for if you are a tweaker

[pitbull]

also, check the jam nut on the adjustment for the brake pedal linkage....
if it loosened and the rod unthreaded itself longer, engaging the brake slightly
itll heat, brake harder, heat , lock solid, cool off to the point that itll roll again unimpeded....
ask me how i know......

ding, ding, ding.................we have a winner!

I finally got around to digging into the problem and this is exactly what had happened.

thanks for all the suggestions of possibilities.........it made finding the problem much easier.

[lazarus7]

ahhhhhhh ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha........
yup, been there.....

did the usual monday night bike night, fast run down, bike just felt "tight"....
well of course it was, the rear brake was dragging, and when i got to the bike night
and rolled it back into line, HELL no....
more like ten guys to roll it back....
aah well, cooled, off, rode it home, no probs....
of course, new rear brake pads are in order...
rotors fine tho.

glad my ineptitude in pre-ride checklist could be of help.....

[slyfox]

I thought all Ducatis don't need the rear brake .... it's just there for show