Well, I hated to do it but felt I had no other choice. My '09 Street Glide, aka "Marilyn" is in the dealer's shop. It just kills me to let anyone else do any type of work to her. But, the warranty's still good till Feb '11 so I feel I should take advantage of it. The problem:

I recently returned from a 3,000 mile journey to visit the H-D museum and Powertrain Operations (Steel Toe Tour) facility in Milwaukee. On the way home, in Cincinnati, the rear brake failed. It was the strangest thing the way it happened. We stopped for the night to get a room. I parked in front of the hotel's office after a 700 mile ride in the saddle. After getting all checked in I hopped on the bike to move it to the room where we would be staying. I only use the rear brake in tight maneuvers (parking lots, etc...) so I immediately reached for the rear brake and the pedal went all the way to the engine guard. No resistance whatsoever... Just a minute before it had been working perfectly as I always use both brakes when straightline braking and had experienced no issues the entire trip. I made all the obvious checks and could find nothing. No leaks, nothing lose, everything looked normal. I began pumping the pedal and got a little pressure but not much. I pulled the fuse to the ABS and also one simply labeled "brakes", and they also looked fine. I checked for codes and nothing was registered. This was a major concern for me as we were planning to ride the Cherohala Skyway and Deal's Gap that Sat on the way home to FL. The next morning as we were leaving I still had no rear brake. Onward we rode. On the way I came across a dealership called Wildcat H-D in London, KY, so I stopped. Great bunch of guys working here at a new dealership (1 year old). I explained to the them the issue and they had me back on the road in 1 hour and 15 mimutes. The tech bled the brake system. He stated he could find no leaks but the fluid looked a bit dirty. I explained that the book calls for replacement of fluid every 24 month and my bike is only 18 months old. He said he knew that but since my bike had considerable mileage on it (24K) that maybe the fluid was a bit dirtier than normal. Who knows, but the rear brake worked like it was supposed to, nice and firm with virtually no pedal travel. The brake continued to work perfectly for the remainder of the trip. About 3 days after returning home I took the bike out for a spin and guess what? Same crap. No rear brake. Once again I checked everything that would be stand out but again could find no fluid on the floor of my garage, or even on the bike. No leaks, pads have only 5K on them, everything looked good. So, against my better judgment, I loaded it up in the truck and took it the dealer. They were slammed and can't get to it till this Thu. I live 120 miles away so went ahead and took it in. I'm without my bike ALL WEEK and it really sux. I'm curious as to the problem. My thoughts are that the Master Cylinder is somehow leaking internally and bleeding off pressure. I think it should be replaced or rebuilt. I told them bleeding it will only be a temp fix and I don't want to have to return 240 miles round trip to finally have it fixed permanently. Hope they listen.

Has anyone else had an experience with their rear (or front) brake like this?

One last thing: since I took Marilyn to the dealer I figured I would go ahead and complain about the HK stereo. Lately the thing's been going to mute for no reason at all. Just driving down the road and all of a sudden the sound goes away. Every channel is quiet. I turn the stereo off, turn it right back on again, and all is fine. I DO have a Biketronics amp installed but I installed it very soon after purchasing this bike and have never had any issues to speak of. I've read on this forum where others have had issues with the HK going to mute. I hope I get a new unit but I realize it's a long shot.

Sorry for the long post.

Cheers!

 

Although not suffering any mechanical failure I feel your pain. Dropped my bike off last Monday and will hopefully get it back Wednesday as it is being painted.

 

Got my bike back yesterday. The rear brake light switch had a small leak. Replaced under warranty and all is good. Something to check on your pre-ride...

 

Make sure to complain on the stereo! I just got a new player to my SG 09

 

Good for You!

 

what about the radio??

 

They couldn't duplicate the problem with the stereo. Go figure. It's muted out three times on the ride home. I'm wondering if it could be the Biketronics amp? It's driving me nuts.

 

if the stereo was working before you installed the biketronics amp, then this should be obvious. is there a way to unhook the amp and go back to the stock way the stereo was hooked up? if so then this would show you what's wrong if the stereo works without the amp. it'd be the idiot proof way to check it i'd think.

 

Mine was stock! I cannot see that the amp should be any problem!

 

Her is some good info regarding your player! Good luck :-)

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...on-radios.html