2014 Ducati Multistrada

The rear brake system chronically loses the ability to perform correctly. After having the dealer bleed the rear brake and confirm that the system is correct, the system will begin to require three pumps on the brake pedal to build enough pressure to make the brake work. This degradation of performance will happen in just a few weeks since being bled. I have been through this with the dealer three times. The condition makes the rear brake useless in quick stops or immediate hill-holds, since the three pumps have to be made on the brake pedal to get the brake to activate.

The rear brake has never worked--at all--since I bought this motorcycle new. The rear brake lever simply "goes to the floor" with no resistance against the foot or any application of the brake caliper. It is fundamentally useless. The front brakes work superbly. I am a mechanical engineer and am high skilled in the repair, modification, and maintenance of automobiles, airplanes and motorcycles. After a thorough bleed of the system, including the installation of additional bleed nipples on the master cylinder and the ABS unit to get ALL air out of the system, the rear brake will work for perhaps 50 miles, then it returns to mush. In addition to the added bleed nipples I have tried all manner of other equipment improvements and procedural changes including reverse bleeding from the caliper--as many other owners have done--with the same result. No rear brake. The dealer admits defeat, too.

The rear brake is terrible on this model bike, even after having it bled properly by the dealership.