[Pedro]

Hey Chief

just to add my thoughts:

Dry clutches on Dukes can get glazed which makes them sound and feel graunchy and grabby - both my 900 and 1000 suffer from this but it may not indicate a knackered clutch (a few agressive starts seems to sort that!!!). You don't mention how many miles you've done? Do you slip the clutch a lot in traffic? If it's making a load of noise on downshifts, it maybe that the system needs bleeding as air in the system won't let the clutch disengage properly.

The rear brake issue sounds strange. My only thought is that the claiper is binding and takes a lot of pressure to overcome it. It may be in need of a good clean. Never use the rear brake myself so nothing to compare I'm afraid. For rapid stopping you should rely on the front brake as it's more effective and less likely to lock than the rear.

As a possible suggestion, perhaps someone on here local to you with experience of other Dukes could take your bike out for a spin to get a second opinion?

If you can't resolve things with PvT, the Snells or Rapido get my recommendation. Warrently will not be affected by using an independent providing they stick to the Ducati service schedules and instructions.

Hope it's sort soon.