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[skratch]

Have now seen two bikes with the super hard pedal. That's not air.  Air would make a soft pedal.

you might as well call it three.  my wife had the super hard rear pedal on her bike.  happened while we were on a road trip no less.  we stopped at a dealer and had the rear brakes bled and flushed and it helped a little bit.  and only for a little while.  it got to the point where you hit the rear brake and nothing happened.  you pressed harder and harder until wham, the abs would engage.  nothing in between.

in the end, we ended up with a new abs module and rear master cylinder (thanks esp  )  over half paid for and still have 4 more years of coverage.

works good now

[Twolanerider]

Out of all the cars I know of (friends, fleets, whatever) and all the miles they drive I know of less ABS module/pump failures across them all than I do of failures in the small sample size and low mileage example of the ABS equipped Harley bikes.

[grc]

Out of all the cars I know of (friends, fleets, whatever) and all the miles they drive I know of less ABS module/pump failures across them all than I do of failures in the small sample size and low mileage example of the ABS equipped Harley bikes.

Exactly!  ABS failures in the automotive arena tend to be related to wheel sensors and tone rings.  Since those are components that are constantly exposed to road hazards, road salt, and other nasty stuff, some failures are expected.  However, when those parts fail it does not affect normal operation of the brakes, it just disables the ABS itself and the driver receives a warning.  On the other hand, many of the Harley failures have been due to the ABS pump and valve assembly seizing up, and thanks to poor design a failure of that component can result in loss of braking on one or both ends of the bike.  That's why a bunch of folks have a class action lawsuit going against H-D right now. 

ABS is a very old technology, and it should have been a piece of cake for Harley to add it to their bikes in 2008.  But just like with many other pieces of technology they borrowed from the auto industry, Harley found a way to screw it up.  And the best part is that they always play dumb when the failures start, then try to find a way to blame the customers.  In the ABS case they've decided to blame the customers for not changing brake fluid every two years, which they claim causes the problem with seized valves in the ABS system.  As I've noted before, it's rather strange that Harley can't come up with a pump and valve combination that won't fail unless you change fluid every two years, but somehow the auto industry doesn't have that problem and most cars and trucks rarely if ever have full fluid changes performed. 

Jerry

[Stevepow]

Just had to replace ABS module on 2009 CVO Roadglide with 50k on it. Moisture in the brake fluid i was told. What concerns me is there was no indication (light) that the module failed. Stepped on the rear brake right after starting up and moving up the driveway and the pedal was hard like something was binding. Got stopped halfway out into the street. Be careful out there!

[TN]

For anyone that has their ABS module go bad out of warranty and has a dealership replace the module please request the old parts, insist on it as a matter of fact. Like stated earlier, losing braking function due to parts failure of this nature is unacceptable.

Ride Safely


TN