2018 Ducati Panigale 959 Recalls & Complaints

Incident: October 10, 2018 · Filed: October 31, 2018

I WAS RIDING UP TO A RED LIGHT INTERSECTION AND APPLIED THE REAR BRAKES. THEY SEIZED CLOSED (SAME EFFECT AS SLAMMING ON THE BRAKES), ALMOST WASHING ME OUT INTO CROSSTRAFFIC. THEY DID NOT RELEASE FOR ABOUT 15 SECONDS ONCE STOPPED. THERE WAS NO DIRT, WATER, OR FOD IN THE HYDRAULIC LINES OR THE PAD/ROTOR. I HAD JUST BLED THEM, SO IT WAS NOT THE EXPANSION OF AN AIR POCKET. THE RETURN CHANNEL (THE SMALL PINHOLE BACK TO THE RESERVOIR) WAS CLEAR, AND THE SPRING WAS FUNCTIONAL. I SEARCHED FOR OTHER PROBLEMS AND FOUND SRV-RCL-18-004, A KNOWN RECALL FOR FAULTY REAR BRAKE PADS ON MY BIKE/MODEL (HTTPS://STATIC.NHTSA.GOV/ODI/RCL/2018/RCRIT-18V480-3230.PDF). I SUSPECT THAT THEY THERMALLY FUSED TO MY DISC DURING THE INCIDENT ABOVE. I REMOVED THE BRAKE PADS TO INSPECT THEM. PICTURES ARE ATTACHED. SURE ENOUGH, THE PADS WERE TRASHED. NOT ONLY WAS THE FRICTION MATERIAL COMPLETELY GONE, BUT ABOUT 80-90% OF THE BACKING PLATE ON WHICH THE PAD IS ADHERED WAS WORN THROUGH. THIS IS EXTREMELY UNSAFE. THE MOTORCYCLE HAS 3500 MILES, WELL BEFORE EOL FOR A HEALTHY REAR BRAKE PAD. IF A MOTORCYCLE IS DRIVEN FOR 3500 MILES WITH NO FRONT BRAKE APPLICATION, ONLY REAR, THAT WOULD STILL NOT BE ENOUGH TO WEAR THE REAR PAD OUT TO THIS DEGREE. THIS APPEARS TO BE A DEFECT. THE ROTORS ARE SCORED DUE TO THE CONTACT WITH THE FAULTY BRAKE PAD. I HAVE REPLACED THE REAR PADS TO TEMPORARILY ALLOW REAR BRAKING, BUT EFFICIENCY IS REDUCED AGAINST A NON-FLAT ROTOR. I HAVE REACHED OUT TO THE DEALERSHIP AS WELL. THEY DID NOT NOTIFY ME OF THE ORIGINAL RECALL, WHICH WAS SCHEDULED FOR OWNER CONTACT AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER.