ABS Failure!
Road Captain
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 549
Likes: 0
From: Ft Myers FL
Sounds to me like you are potentially a victim of the "stealership". With only 400 miles on the bike...you would have had to ride the brake constantly (and deliberately) to have a chance of warping it. What the other guy said about a tire (which you shouldn't have done with only 400 miles on it) is possible...but very unlikely unless it either laid on the rotor for a long time, or an elephant stepped on it. If they were trying to get you to pay for this "repair" it was probably a rip off attempt.
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Road Captain
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 549
Likes: 0
From: Ft Myers FL
Sounds to me like you are potentially a victim of the "stealership". With only 400 miles on the bike...you would have had to ride the brake constantly (and deliberately) to have a chance of warping it. What the other guy said about a tire (which you shouldn't have done with only 400 miles on it) is possible...but very unlikely unless it either laid on the rotor for a long time, or an elephant stepped on it. If they were trying to get you to pay for this "repair" it was probably a rip off attempt.
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Cruiser
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 181
Likes: 0
From: Territory of Tucson
I'm really anxious to find out what the Harley techs found out on the OP's bike. Most of the feedback on this thread is basically "hear say" and could also other types of brake failures rather than ABS.
Motor cops in the departments that use Harleys have been riding with ABS brakes long before they were ready for the general public. I would really like to hear some reports on ABS failures from those people. I know that the Las Vegas police motorcycle course uses ABS extensively and really push them to the extreme. Any one who teaches or been on that course or out in the field know of any failures due to ABS? Your feedback would really be important for all of us.
Motor cops in the departments that use Harleys have been riding with ABS brakes long before they were ready for the general public. I would really like to hear some reports on ABS failures from those people. I know that the Las Vegas police motorcycle course uses ABS extensively and really push them to the extreme. Any one who teaches or been on that course or out in the field know of any failures due to ABS? Your feedback would really be important for all of us.
Thread Starter
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Tourer
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 450
Likes: 2
From: Loudon TN. (30 miles from The Dragon)
Well after 12 days in the shop and a lot of anxiety i picked my bike up today. They put on a new ABS Electronic Control Modulator part# 40649-08 on. After a long discussion with the Service Manager it appears that this part can fail and leave you without brakes as mine did. One of the comments made in the shop was that the odds of this happening was probably about the same as a plane crashing (didnt care for that comparison) I test drove the bike in the parking lot for quite a while with some hard stops and starts and the brakes performed as they should. Drove it home...30 miles, no problems. As a side note i looked at the Master Cylinder closely before i left the shop and it dont appear it has been changed. It had some bug guts on the front of it!
Sorry it took so long but im glad to have her home.
Sorry it took so long but im glad to have her home.
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 4,867
Likes: 268
From: People's Republic of Boulder Colorado
Well after 12 days in the shop and a lot of anxiety i picked my bike up today. They put on a new ABS Electronic Control Modulator part# 40649-08 on. After a long discussion with the Service Manager it appears that this part can fail and leave you without brakes as mine did. One of the comments made in the shop was that the odds of this happening was probably about the same as a plane crashing (didnt care for that comparison) I test drove the bike in the parking lot for quite a while with some hard stops and starts and the brakes performed as they should. Drove it home...30 miles, no problems. As a side note i looked at the Master Cylinder closely before i left the shop and it dont appear it has been changed. It had some bug guts on the front of it!
Sorry it took so long but im glad to have her home.
Sorry it took so long but im glad to have her home.
Road Warrior
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 1,296
Likes: 3
From: Cheltenham, UK
Well after 12 days in the shop and a lot of anxiety i picked my bike up today. They put on a new ABS Electronic Control Modulator part# 40649-08 on. After a long discussion with the Service Manager it appears that this part can fail and leave you without brakes as mine did. One of the comments made in the shop was that the odds of this happening was probably about the same as a plane crashing (didnt care for that comparison) I test drove the bike in the parking lot for quite a while with some hard stops and starts and the brakes performed as they should. Drove it home...30 miles, no problems. As a side note i looked at the Master Cylinder closely before i left the shop and it dont appear it has been changed. It had some bug guts on the front of it!
Sorry it took so long but im glad to have her home.
Sorry it took so long but im glad to have her home.
If they replaced the control module that indicates a hardware failure rather than a software failure. One would like to believe that there is a high level of redundancy for critical components and if this is the case they would argue that all backup systems (in the control module I mean now) failed and the design is inherently safe, and that can be the case. If this is the case, I would expect them to issue some kind of checking routine where the integrity of this system can be checked at regular service intervals
Tourer
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 325
Likes: 0
From: Tennessee
Aside from the obvious risk when something like this fails, one of the worst things is that "seed" it plants in your head. For a while, everytime you hit the brake, you'll wonder if it's going to work.
Road Master
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 973
Likes: 1
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Elite HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 4,867
Likes: 268
From: People's Republic of Boulder Colorado
Thanks for the update. Did they give you any written report explaining what had happened and what action had been taken. Way beyond my area of expertise, but it seems inconceivable that a vehicle manufacturer can allow a "known defect" of such safety critical importance continue without some kind of process, ideally leading to a design review + rectification + recall?
Most likely they'll wait till a few people are dead or mutilated for life and they have a few multi-million dollar lawsuits pending before they'll do anything as "responsible" as admit that there's a problem and issue a recall to fix it. They're way to big and important of a company to worry about something as insignificant as a few brake failures here and there.
What WERE you thinking??
Cruiser
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 181
Likes: 0
From: Territory of Tucson
Well after 12 days in the shop and a lot of anxiety i picked my bike up today. They put on a new ABS Electronic Control Modulator part# 40649-08 on. After a long discussion with the Service Manager it appears that this part can fail and leave you without brakes as mine did. One of the comments made in the shop was that the odds of this happening was probably about the same as a plane crashing
However:
First of all, I would never fly in a plane made by Harley!! Harley and electronics never did make a good match, they're still having problems with their mechanical engineering after 100+ years.
Secondly, It is really scary to think that on a critical componet, like ABS brakes, if the electronic control module failed the mechanical/hydraulic component would still work to save your a$$.
Finely, I'm confused as to why we can remove the fuse for the ABS, disabling the electronics and the brakes will work normally. Hopefully someone can answer that one for me.