Went down pretty hard, front brake question

[LionStar]

So I have read a couple of posts about the front brake getting stiff, locking up, etc. and was wondering if anyone else has dealt with this. I had a wreck a couple of weeks ago and we cant really figure out what went wrong. I have been riding quite a while and feel that my riding style etc was all good but ended up going down in a pretty easy corner. I ride with a Ducati group up in the mountains fairly often and we ride with a lot of guys with a lot of experience. (just want to eliminate any thoughts that this was a noob rider mistake) We were going into a pretty easy left hand turn, leaned in to the turn and all I can think is that I may have touched the front brake (obviously not grabbing it or anything) the corner was not tight so I was definitely not hot or riding to hard into it. Anyway, the front end tucked under, slid for a bit then high sided for a pretty lengthy flight. I ended up breaking a bunch of bones, spent some time in the hospital and wrote my hyper off. At first I just figured this was some type of rider error and I took it as me screwing up but the more I have read about the front brake issue I am wondering if this has more to do with it. Input?

[lelenb]

I have not heard of a Hyper's brakes just locking up. Do you remember how many fingers you used to cover the front brake?

[m7777777]

I think you could be on to something . Mine makes a noise , not a squeak ,but i always think its going to lock up . Now this is not when i brake hard like a panic stop but more when i am just about stopped and am just gently braking .I might try a different type of pads , see if that fixes it Also these are not the same as 1098 brakes they were the best , these with the smaller disks are good , but not i am going over the bars with one finger good . Glad you are alright but it tough not knowing why you went down .

[BigHoss]

I have locked up the front end a few times and have made many hard stops using the front brake. I have never had the front brakes stay locked up though. The only problem I have is pump up of the brake lever and that is uncomfortably when making a quick stop.

I have locked up the front end on other bikes and if I am good I can keep the bike upright but I have lost it, the front end slides and then tucks under and the next thing I know is I am sliding along on the pavement. It happens fast!

Overall I have found the hyper very capable of sudden braking, more so than any other streetbike I had owned in the past.

[josephvman]

I thought the brakes on the 'S model were way too grabby for my taste and actually preferred the brake feel on the standard HP. I'm hearing about a lot of 1098 crashes caused by locking up the front.

[MongoWERA]

If you think you may have touched the brakes then odds are good you did. It's one of the reasons MSF teaches you to not cover the brake lever - especially on a bike that has race bike brakes on the street.

Mine will pump up for the second push of the lever but the pads in it aren't grabby enough to lock up without me using the lever to make them to do so. So far the monoblocs are some of the easiest brakes to regulate I've ever ridden with, and with the stock pads not grabby at all. You just can't ride it like it's got normal street brakes.

[LionStar]

yeah, I have always thought that these brakes were awesome and actually like them much better than my monster because they are much closer to my brake setup on my dirtbikes. I usually ride with either one or two fingers on the brake at all time (comes from my dirtbike background). I am figuring I may have sub-consciously flexed that finger a little while leaned in and caused that brake to grab. I just wanted to make sure that those experiencing this pump up that it was not causing an unwanted lock up.

As a side note, the cop that was there said that this was the 12th motorcycle accident on that exact corner this year, may be some weird dip or something in the corner.

[Navigator]

I think this is about the 3rd S model front end lock up crash I've heard of. Obviously the results are a combination of contributing factors that can't be solely blamed on the brakes, but its more and more becoming obvious that the brakes are an issue that is a huge contributor of riders locking up and tucking the front with no warning. My opinion has always been just because something is the best out there on the market, race proven, trickled down from GP and all that...it's not always appropriate to put them on street bikes that don't really need them. Ducati loves to add another bullet point to the tech sheet of their S models to help sell bikes and give buyers that warm and fuzzy feeling they have the best components available...not always a good thing without considering the full package of the bike, its purpose and environment.
Grabby powerful brakes on cushy long-travel forks can be very upsetting to a bike leaned over! On the street corners sneak up and tighten up, more often than at the repetitive and predictable track you may find yourself reaching for that lever. If you get your braking done ahead of turn in when you have all your traction you should be good...but mid-corner and at lean they are not forgiving when applied like more subtle brakes are.
Notice the Pikes Peak winning Hypermotard has one of its brakes removed, makes sense for the conditions but also all supermotos only run one front brake rotor as well. Its always been enough for me riding supermoto, and with the added weight of the Hypermotard the two base model brakes are enough as well.

[lelenb]

One thing that really help me modulate the front brake better was to remove the locating pins and rotate the brake levers down. The flat position makes for touchy modulation. I also installed shorter levers to fit under Acerbis hand guards and if anything I wish I had a bit more power now.

Sorry to hear about your loss and pain.

[hyprduc]

I love every bit of my two finger monoblocs! I do however, respect them a great deal. Even on the track I don't use nearly the braking power they offer. But then again, I ride like a granny