Rear Brake Failure
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Stage IV
Joined: Apr 2021
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
From: Indiana
Rear Brake Failure
Hello Friends,
Just wondering if anyone has had issues with rear brake failure? Seems to be intermittent but worse as the bike warms up. Took to my mechanic and he said that he has seen this a number of times now on models that have the master cylinder by the front floor board. his fix for this issue is to replace the master cylinder with a chrome (metal, not plastic) one and that fixes the problem. Seems like Harley may have a bigger issue on their hands if this is a common problem that others seems to have also. Have asked the local dealerships about it also, and their response was that if they sent the defective part in to Harley all they would do is look at it and charge the dealership for nothing... Seems sketchy to me..
Just wondering if anyone has had issues with rear brake failure? Seems to be intermittent but worse as the bike warms up. Took to my mechanic and he said that he has seen this a number of times now on models that have the master cylinder by the front floor board. his fix for this issue is to replace the master cylinder with a chrome (metal, not plastic) one and that fixes the problem. Seems like Harley may have a bigger issue on their hands if this is a common problem that others seems to have also. Have asked the local dealerships about it also, and their response was that if they sent the defective part in to Harley all they would do is look at it and charge the dealership for nothing... Seems sketchy to me..
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 14,156
Likes: 11,247
From: San Diego, CA
Your signature says 2011 Ultra Classic... so I'm assuming you are talking about that bike....
I have two Twin Cam Softails and one Twin Cam bagger... Plus I had a prior Twin Cam Bagger, 2012 Limited...
All have forward controls and the rear master cylinders are on the front of the frame... I have 100,000+ miles between them...
All have the OEM rear master cylinder and I've never had an issue with any of them...
Is your mechanic suggesting it's a heat issue....?? I don't understand the advantage of a chrome master cylinder over the OEM black finish...!?
The 2011 was the last year involved in the brake flushing voluntary recall (2008-2011 Touring bikes).... Harley was using a substandard brake fluid that was absorbing a lot of moisture and causing some issues with the ABS valves. They offered a one-time free brake flush, with their new platinum brake fluid... They found many damaged ABS units during that voluntary recall, that the customer had to pay to replace..
Did you have the voluntary recall done...? Have you been flushing your brake fluid regularly...?
If you haven't been flushing your brake fluid, your problem could be high moisture in your brake fluid which lowers both wet and dry boiling temps... That could account for the loss of brake pressure when the lines/cylinder get hot from the engine/exhaust...
If you are up on the recall and regular brake flushing, I would remove, inspect, rebuild or replace as necessary the master and also inspect/ rebuild the calipers, before I would just add a chrome master cylinder to the system...
Something is causing your issue and I just don't see how a chrome master cylinder fixes anything other than a regular master cylinder that needs replacing...
Good luck with your diagnosis and repair...
I have two Twin Cam Softails and one Twin Cam bagger... Plus I had a prior Twin Cam Bagger, 2012 Limited...
All have forward controls and the rear master cylinders are on the front of the frame... I have 100,000+ miles between them...
All have the OEM rear master cylinder and I've never had an issue with any of them...
Is your mechanic suggesting it's a heat issue....?? I don't understand the advantage of a chrome master cylinder over the OEM black finish...!?
The 2011 was the last year involved in the brake flushing voluntary recall (2008-2011 Touring bikes).... Harley was using a substandard brake fluid that was absorbing a lot of moisture and causing some issues with the ABS valves. They offered a one-time free brake flush, with their new platinum brake fluid... They found many damaged ABS units during that voluntary recall, that the customer had to pay to replace..
Did you have the voluntary recall done...? Have you been flushing your brake fluid regularly...?
If you haven't been flushing your brake fluid, your problem could be high moisture in your brake fluid which lowers both wet and dry boiling temps... That could account for the loss of brake pressure when the lines/cylinder get hot from the engine/exhaust...
If you are up on the recall and regular brake flushing, I would remove, inspect, rebuild or replace as necessary the master and also inspect/ rebuild the calipers, before I would just add a chrome master cylinder to the system...
Something is causing your issue and I just don't see how a chrome master cylinder fixes anything other than a regular master cylinder that needs replacing...
Good luck with your diagnosis and repair...
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 11,224
Likes: 3,049
From: St.Louis Mo.
Is it leaking any brake fluid ? Those bikes are known for the rear brake light switch failing and the bike losing it's brakes. Happens because some nitwit at the design table placed the switch right next to the cat on the touring bikes.
Road Captain
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 574
Likes: 156
From: Big Sky Country
I think some clarification on exactly how it's failing could be helpful. Is pedal pushing down with little or no resistance and you have to pump it? Or are you unable to depress pedal? Something else?
My understanding is the ABS issue made it so brake pedal couldn't be depressed, but I don't believe that was intermittent. If pedal pushes down but doesn't activate brakes it could be master cylinder has a problem and rebuilding (or replacing) it might be necessary, but I can't see how a chrome replacement is going to change anything...
My understanding is the ABS issue made it so brake pedal couldn't be depressed, but I don't believe that was intermittent. If pedal pushes down but doesn't activate brakes it could be master cylinder has a problem and rebuilding (or replacing) it might be necessary, but I can't see how a chrome replacement is going to change anything...
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Road Warrior
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 1,800
Likes: 307
From: Houston, Texas
I had my rear brake light switch fail. Pedal got soft then dropped to the floor board with no brakes. It's the cheapest part I ever bought. And when I say cheap, I mean both in price and construction.
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 157,518
Likes: 57,070
From: Michigan 15 Minutes East Of Hell
Your signature says 2011 Ultra Classic... so I'm assuming you are talking about that bike....
I have two Twin Cam Softails and one Twin Cam bagger... Plus I had a prior Twin Cam Bagger, 2012 Limited...
All have forward controls and the rear master cylinders are on the front of the frame... I have 100,000+ miles between them...
All have the OEM rear master cylinder and I've never had an issue with any of them...
Is your mechanic suggesting it's a heat issue....?? I don't understand the advantage of a chrome master cylinder over the OEM black finish...!?
The 2011 was the last year involved in the brake flushing voluntary recall (2008-2011 Touring bikes).... Harley was using a substandard brake fluid that was absorbing a lot of moisture and causing some issues with the ABS valves. They offered a one-time free brake flush, with their new platinum brake fluid... They found many damaged ABS units during that voluntary recall, that the customer had to pay to replace..
Did you have the voluntary recall done...? Have you been flushing your brake fluid regularly...?
If you haven't been flushing your brake fluid, your problem could be high moisture in your brake fluid which lowers both wet and dry boiling temps... That could account for the loss of brake pressure when the lines/cylinder get hot from the engine/exhaust...
If you are up on the recall and regular brake flushing, I would remove, inspect, rebuild or replace as necessary the master and also inspect/ rebuild the calipers, before I would just add a chrome master cylinder to the system...
Something is causing your issue and I just don't see how a chrome master cylinder fixes anything other than a regular master cylinder that needs replacing...
Good luck with your diagnosis and repair...
I have two Twin Cam Softails and one Twin Cam bagger... Plus I had a prior Twin Cam Bagger, 2012 Limited...
All have forward controls and the rear master cylinders are on the front of the frame... I have 100,000+ miles between them...
All have the OEM rear master cylinder and I've never had an issue with any of them...
Is your mechanic suggesting it's a heat issue....?? I don't understand the advantage of a chrome master cylinder over the OEM black finish...!?
The 2011 was the last year involved in the brake flushing voluntary recall (2008-2011 Touring bikes).... Harley was using a substandard brake fluid that was absorbing a lot of moisture and causing some issues with the ABS valves. They offered a one-time free brake flush, with their new platinum brake fluid... They found many damaged ABS units during that voluntary recall, that the customer had to pay to replace..
Did you have the voluntary recall done...? Have you been flushing your brake fluid regularly...?
If you haven't been flushing your brake fluid, your problem could be high moisture in your brake fluid which lowers both wet and dry boiling temps... That could account for the loss of brake pressure when the lines/cylinder get hot from the engine/exhaust...
If you are up on the recall and regular brake flushing, I would remove, inspect, rebuild or replace as necessary the master and also inspect/ rebuild the calipers, before I would just add a chrome master cylinder to the system...
Something is causing your issue and I just don't see how a chrome master cylinder fixes anything other than a regular master cylinder that needs replacing...
Good luck with your diagnosis and repair...
@hattitude
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 10,065
Likes: 5,320
Was this "flushing recall" for the ABS equipped units ... I don't recall a recall on my non-equipped with ABS 2009 FLHTCU ... Thanks
@hattitude
@hattitude