I have a 2013 1200S Touring. I've bled the front brakes, clutch, and rear brake a number of times. I've had the dealer bleed them as well, since they follow the manufacturer directions to make sure they move whatever bits (caliper) higher and leave pressure over night to make sure they have air at the highest points. The front brakes have always been squishy. They firm up a bit after pumping as you'd expect. But there is always travel and squishiness in the lever. Given that this bike has steel lines, I would expect that the brakes should feel very solid after a good bleeding. I have a CBR954 with braided line, and the front brake lever feels completely solid. I know there is a lot more routing of brake lines and other things like ABS going on in the Multi, but I sure wish I could get the front brake feeling more solid without that squishiness. It is especially bothersome to me since I have short fingers, so I would really like to reduce the brake lever travel. The rear brake was kinda ok when I got the bike. I tend not to worry so much about the rear, since I pretty much depend on the front brakes for pretty much everything and use the rear only sparingly. However, I found that my rear brake started getting really squishy...to the point that it was not useable. So I had the dealer bleed the rear (with the caliper moved higher, etc), and now the rear feels much more firm; although, it seems to have settled into a semi-squishy feel. That said, I am not so concerned about a precise feel on the rear (not like the front). I've also noticed that the clutch seems to be imprecise. Since I bought the bike new, I have had issues with shifting into 5th and 6th gears. The bike will miss shifts and end up in false neutrals whether shifting up or down to/from 5th or 6th. I've had it to the dealer multiple times - mainly to document the issue so that if it gets worse after my warrantee expires, I will at least have a paper trail of issues. The only thing the dealer seems to do is to bleed the clutch and then do a road test at low speeds (where the missed shifts never show up). Well, the other thing I have noticed is that on a few isolated occasions is that when at a stop, with the clutch pulled in, and in 1st gear, I could feel the transmission engaging - meaning that the bike wanted to move forward a bit. After shifting to neutral and pumping the clutch a bit, this went away. Now, I have noticed things like this on older bikes with hydraulic clutches, and perhaps this is something that just happens with hydraulic clutches, but I wonder if, in this case, that the clutch hydraulics on my Multi are just not up to snuff. I am wondering if, in addition to gearbox issues w/ 5th and 6th, that the clutch is also playing a role in the issues that I am seeing. So, sorry for the long-winded post What I am wondering is if other folks out there have issues with the hydraulics. I think there is clearly room for improvement, and I honestly think I should be able to expect more. Any ideas on how to improve the issues I have, or is this just something that I need to live with due to the nature of the bike? Thanks, Matt
could be the clutch push rod needs a good clean, rear brake is pants, sort of fixable but time & effort required and then may only be temporary
The Multi front brake should be really solid and firm always, with no squishiness whatever. If yours isn't, @pokey3 that is a very serious (and unusual) defect and it needs to be fixed properly, and quickly.
Mines been the same on the front since I put fluid from an open container in there (urgent MOT). I've been using a cable tie on it between rides as I haven't had the time to bleed it with new fluid. May well be that you've got fluid that needs swapping out like mine? Once opened, brake fluid basically absorbs air so when you put that stuff in your lines you get a permanent mushy brake. That's why they say always from a sealed container. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Clutch Replace the fund with a good quality brake fluid Motul RBF600. I use a 25% reduced action (makes it softer) slave and it works perfect everytime. Brakes Both the front and rear suffer with trapped air at the abs unit. Fit bleed points at the abs unit. Replace rear pads with a soft comping and clean the disk with brake cleaner. Replace all the fluid with Motul RBF600 and bleed. Brakes are perfect. Upgrade front calipers to M4s Disk upgrade to iron if you really need 110% ABS / Brakes bleed mod | Ducati MTS1200 Forum
