I have a question for all the gearheads here. Back in July I had my 09 Ultra in the shop for tires and brakes. I went for a short ride (less than 100 miles) with no trouble. The next week I was out for a longer ride. About 120 miles into it the ABS light comes on. I decide to head back to the dealer. I stop for lunch and when I start it back up the light is off. I get back near home and the light comes back on. I take it right over to the dealer and they put in on the computer and say the front wheel sensor is bad. They order the part and when it comes in I bring it back for the repair. I tell them that they must have done something wrong when they had the wheel off doing the brakes and tires to cause this. They tell me that it was just a coincidence. Long story short is we agree that I will pay $75 for the labor and they don't charge me for the part. No problems for about a month. Today I start the bike up and the ABS light is on again. So I'm bringing it back to the dealer. My question is: Am I right about them screwing something up originally or is this all just one big coincidence? Any imput would be appreciated since I have no mechanical know how and sorry for such a long post. Thanks all

 

it could be a coincidence, the light could be on for worn pads, low fluid or other reasons.

If you do not have confidence in your dealer, go to another shop.

if the first case, you had about 200 miles with no ill signs, so it is difficult to say if they screwed something up....looking over the wiring for the sensor

Mike

 

I had a similar problem on my 2010 ultra. Went out on a ride and the ABS light came on. Stopped for lunch, came out, no light. Eventually the light came on and stayed on. Turned out it was the pins in the connector under the front fairing. They were not properly crimped on the wires in the system. Bad thing is when the ABS light is on, the ABS system is NOT functioning.

 

The original failure may have been damage to the sensor when you had the tire replaced, or it may have been a coincidence, it's hard to be sure either way. But... If the light started staying on right after the tire change and it never did it before I'd surely suspect damage to the sensor during the tire change.

Then, it was ok for about a month after replacing the sensor? That is hard to understand. I'd be looking at the wiring as previously mentioned. Although the new sensor could fail in a months time, it's highly unlikely.

You probably know this but I have to ask anyway. The light is supposed to come on when you turn on the ignition. It will stay on (flashing) until the bike is rolling. When you say the light is on now, this isn't what you're talking about, is it? You mean the light comes on and stays on while you're riding?

 

I don't own an ABS Harley, but for every ride on my BMW the ABS light only went out after first application of both brakes. That was fine for me, as I have a junction close to home where I had to stop. Do Harleys have that feature? Worth checking!

 

@2black1s yes it stayed on after the bike got going. @mkguitar I just had the brake pads replaced. Thanks for the imput all. I know ABS systems are complex. My theory is that they did something to the connector during the tire change/brake job which is causing the light to come on intermittantly (ie loose or broken wires inside). After 20000 trouble free miles it seems odd that within 150-200 miles of them working on the brakes now there is brake problems

 

The connector pins could be a problem but I suspect you have a broken wire in the harness. The wires like to break about 5 inches from the connector. I just fixed one that both abs wires were broken.

 

On mine, the wiring broke alongside the neck on the left side. Repaired wiring and no more problems.

 

Same here, mine was ziptied causing stress on the wires at the connector, I cut off the ziptie off and it cured it for a while, then it came back and I've since repaired the connection and have not had a problem since. It was itermittent for almost two years before fixing the problem.