2009 Ducati Monster 1100

[09Aircooled]

Okay guys I'm coming from a 2014 FZ1 to the bike mentioned above. The problem I'm having is that I lock my rear end at times. Today for instance, I had to e-stop due to a bus taking a super wide turn and coming into my lane and had to stop to not plow into it. My rear end seemed to lock up when I pressed in the clutch...wtf am I doing wrong? This is the second or third time that the rear end has locked up on me and I want to avoid doing that.

Also my bike seems to stall a bit when I press in the clutch and don't blip the throttle enough to raise the rpms...yet again, wth am I doing wrong. This bike is new to me as I've only had it a couple of months and new to duc's but I was coming from an old café Honda cb750, Fz1 and now the duc...different animals all of them and I know they all had their quirks and what not...but I really don't want to ever lock up the rear end or stall out if I can help it.

All insight would be greatly appreciated!!

09Aircooled out!!

[stopintime]

Your front suspension is quite 'soft'. When you brake hard there isn't much weight left on the rear wheel - making rear wheel braking less relevant and lock ups more frequent. That being said.... stop by a dealer and ask them to test the brakes for function.

At the same time your dealer test rides it, they can tell you if the stalling is out of the ordinary. Probably normal - Ducs are different and much more 'interesting' to learn and to control.

[09Aircooled]

The suspension was just gone through by a suspension guru a couple of weeks back at a suspension event held by local bike shop. It was set up for me (6'5", 260lbs without gear). Suspension is actually pretty stiff than when I first got the bike and it would nose dive every time I got on the brakes. The rear end is what locked up and I'm guess it had to do with the clutch but just weird...maybe when the rpm's dropped to low as I was coming to the stop it caused it to lock?

I just want to make sure I don't do what ever it is I'm doing as this is the second or third time the rear end locked up on me. Twice before when I stalled and bike was already moving and I tried to jump/clutch start it the bike got squirley on me when attempting that. Today it was coming to an e-stop but the bike was level and didn't nose dive at all but the rear end fished tailed on me when I pressed the clutch and front brake. I'm lost and need to avoid doing whatever it is that is causing the rear end to lock on me.

[ducpainter]

My advice would be to not grab the clutch when using the rear brake. The weight transfer that occurs when you grab the front brake makes the rear very light, and very easy to lock the rear wheel. Having the engine braking in effect will help to control things.

Personally, I never use the rear brake except if I've gone off roading at the track. I have the same issue of locking the rear.

[chipripper]

I had a similar experience when I got my 08 s2r1000. My previous bike had a drum rear, so I was used to stomping on it and nothing happening. I ended up adjusting the rear brake pedal much further down, so I had to really reach for it. Before that I would lock the rear any time I even thought about braking. Like Ducpainter said, I have given up all use of the rear brake, except to stabilize low speed maneuvers.

I also had stalling when the bike was new, which was due to a combination of lean fueling, poor factory valve clearances, and throttle body synch. A tune up and DP ecu flash fixed the stalling and made the bike much more friendly at low RPM. Even with everything setup how I like it, this bike has made me be much more mindful of my control inputs, compared to previous bikes.

[emullick]

Some bikes lock the rear brake easily, others very difficult to lock up.  After going from a ZX9R to my M1100 I found a huge difference.  If you are 6-5 and 260 lbs you are putting a helluva push on that rear brake.....ease off.  Better yet, don't use it, the front alone will give you all the braking you need.
It took a while for me to get used to the seemingly low idle, I thought it would die, but two big cylinders at 1100 rpm sound and feel a lot different from 4 smaller cyliders at the same rpm. 

[scooterd145]

+1 for "engine braking" and front braking. It is definitely different on a big twin. The funny thing is, on my M1100s I could not get that thing to lock the rear.

[manwithgun]

   Just to be clear.  You are saying that you are applying/using the rear brake and then it locks up once the clutch is pulled in?  I would guess that maybe you are putting too much pressure into the brake lever while fighting against the engine which is still engaged and keeping the rear wheel rotating.  Once the clutch is pulled in, disconnecting the engine forces from the wheel, it locks up.  Unless you are not fully closing the throttle while decelerating, it sounds like a timing/modulation error on your part.  
   I would start by adjusting the brake pedal lower and at the very least,  set aside some time to practice your stops when it's not an emergency situation...
   Old School Tip - Two of my bikes have an intentional air bubble in the rear brake system to weaken it , kinda like ABS.

[09Aircooled]

  Just to be clear.  You are saying that you are applying/using the rear brake and then it locks up once the clutch is pulled in?  I would guess that maybe you are putting too much pressure into the brake lever while fighting against the engine which is still engaged and keeping the rear wheel rotating.  Once the clutch is pulled in, disconnecting the engine forces from the wheel, it locks up.  Unless you are not fully closing the throttle while decelerating, it sounds like a timing/modulation error on your part.  
   I would start by adjusting the brake pedal lower and at the very least,  set aside some time to practice your stops when it's not an emergency situation...
   Old School Tip - Two of my bikes have an intentional air bubble in the rear brake system to weaken it , kinda like ABS.

No I didn't apply the rear brake at all...I pulled both the clutch and front brake only and the rear end got squirly on me. I did an emergency stop/last minute real hard braking to the front end but as mentioned the rear end locked up and got squirly. I'm not sure why this happened?? I'll just keep practicing on this new (new to me) bike as I'm still not used to it just yet. I feel as my FZ was much faster (I know it's totally a different animal), but I miss the top end speed, even though my fz wasn't a slouch in the mid curve either. I love the sound and feel of the monster though and can't wait to get more miles and learn all the characteristics of these bikes!! Thanks in advance fellas!!

[manwithgun]

"No I didn't apply the rear brake at all...I pulled both the clutch and front brake only and the rear end got squirly on me. I did an emergency stop/last minute real hard braking to the front end but as mentioned the rear end locked up and got squirly. I'm not sure why this happened?? I'll just keep practicing on this new (new to me) bike as I'm still not used to it just yet. I feel as my FZ was much faster (I know it's totally a different animal), but I miss the top end speed, even though my fz wasn't a slouch in the mid curve either. I love the sound and feel of the monster though and can't wait to get more miles and learn all the characteristics of these bikes!! Thanks in advance fellas!! "  - 09AirCooled

This sounds quite concerning to me, not to mention dangerous.  You either have a serious mechanical issue, an operator technique that you are not aware of,  or an act of physics that you are not observing/misdiagnosing.  Whatever it is, you've got to get it figured out.

If the dealer cannot find anything wrong, hopefully some people on this forum can suggest some possibilities. 

On the mechanical side, I have heard of people adjusting the rear brake without enough freeplay, which causes it to constantly drag, build up heat and pressure, and cause the rear to lock up.  If you have a rearstand, get the rear wheel off the ground and see how much resistance there is while rotating in neutral.  Check this both before and after a ride.  Without a rearstand, you may get someone to help carefully tip the bike onto the sidestand while you rotate the tire.  Good chance to lube the chain while you're at it.   

And check the adjuster/linkage at the rear brake master to make sure that the plunger is fully extended at rest and that everything pivots and returns without binding...

Are you wearing stiff boots that you are unfamiliar with?  Is there any chance that you are standing on the rear brake pedal and not aware of it?

Is there a chance that the rear wheel was picking up off of the ground during your panic stop and made you think that the instability felt was the rear locked up? 

You mentioned "suspension GURU", 260lbs, and "felt stiffer/front not diving"...   Were the front fork and rear spring changed to suit your weight, or did he just add too much preload and turn in the compression clickers?  Fluid damping can make it feel stiffer and slow down fork dive, but it can only do so much if under sprung.  Without changing the rear spring, spec sag "might" be achieved by adding way too much preload.  This results in ZERO static/free sag, which causes the rear to lose stability under braking or anytime mass is shifted forward.   This will all be compounded by the front being under sprung and thinking that it can be masked with compression damping...  And all of this will be made worse if all of the forward braking forces are being transferred through the hands and bars rather than an anchoring point lower on the bike.

[09Aircooled]

"No I didn't apply the rear brake at all...I pulled both the clutch and front brake only and the rear end got squirly on me. I did an emergency stop/last minute real hard braking to the front end but as mentioned the rear end locked up and got squirly. I'm not sure why this happened?? I'll just keep practicing on this new (new to me) bike as I'm still not used to it just yet. I feel as my FZ was much faster (I know it's totally a different animal), but I miss the top end speed, even though my fz wasn't a slouch in the mid curve either. I love the sound and feel of the monster though and can't wait to get more miles and learn all the characteristics of these bikes!! Thanks in advance fellas!! "  - 09AirCooled

This sounds quite concerning to me, not to mention dangerous.  You either have a serious mechanical issue, an operator technique that you are not aware of,  or an act of physics that you are not observing/misdiagnosing.  Whatever it is, you've got to get it figured out.

If the dealer cannot find anything wrong, hopefully some people on this forum can suggest some possibilities. 

On the mechanical side, I have heard of people adjusting the rear brake without enough freeplay, which causes it to constantly drag, build up heat and pressure, and cause the rear to lock up.  If you have a rearstand, get the rear wheel off the ground and see how much resistance there is while rotating in neutral.  Check this both before and after a ride.  Without a rearstand, you may get someone to help carefully tip the bike onto the sidestand while you rotate the tire.  Good chance to lube the chain while you're at it.   

And check the adjuster/linkage at the rear brake master to make sure that the plunger is fully extended at rest and that everything pivots and returns without binding...

Are you wearing stiff boots that you are unfamiliar with?  Is there any chance that you are standing on the rear brake pedal and not aware of it?

Is there a chance that the rear wheel was picking up off of the ground during your panic stop and made you think that the instability felt was the rear locked up? 

You mentioned "suspension GURU", 260lbs, and "felt stiffer/front not diving"...   Were the front fork and rear spring changed to suit your weight, or did he just add too much preload and turn in the compression clickers?  Fluid damping can make it feel stiffer and slow down fork dive, but it can only do so much if under sprung.  Without changing the rear spring, spec sag "might" be achieved by adding way too much preload.  This results in ZERO static/free sag, which causes the rear to lose stability under braking or anytime mass is shifted forward.   This will all be compounded by the front being under sprung and thinking that it can be masked with compression damping...  And all of this will be made worse if all of the forward braking forces are being transferred through the hands and bars rather than an anchoring point lower on the bike.

Dude thanks for all that info...I think I might have to get the front and rear re-sprung for my weight. That should be my next project to get done so I don't have to keep going through this. Never had this problem on my FZ1 as that one was re-sprung using R1 front forks and AK20, and an 07-08 R1 rear shock with 650lb spring rate spring.

Hope to get this done sooner than later, and I appreciate all the feedback!! 

[manwithgun]

Being under sprung is just a theory of one thing that may be upsetting the stability of the motorcycle.   If the rear wheel is locking up, you've got a much larger issue that must be sorted out.