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[Aussie]

Not sure if it me or not but this is my first ABS bike. (Bike has done 80 klms).

Front brakes are great with lots of pulling up power however when I try the rear brakes it seem they don't do anything.
I jacked the bike off the ground and spun the rear wheel pressing on the brake pedal they seem to be working fine. Rear wheel locks up.
Under normal riding I cannot feel any braking and thinking there is air in the circuit!!
I can bleed the brake the convensional way but do I need to use a digital technician as the manual suggests?

[pkl]

From what I understand the ABS, being on the front brakes only, give the rear brakes a softer feel. WHen I had the sensor recall on brakes I was told it needed to be done at HD shop.

[Tannehill Kid]

Had a 08 Street Glide with ABS and they feel a whole lot different on the rear than what the 12 SESG does.  Felt like I had a lot more stopping power on the o8 than the 12.  The 12 feels as stated above a lot more softer.  Thought I might have air in braking system and had the Harley shop check it out.  Hooked up a calibrating tool to the ABS Module and re calibrated it and said it was working as designed.  It still feels very soft and I don't feel confortable with the brakes on this bike.  I will be keeping my eye on this tread so if someone has had this problem and had it fixed please post the fix. 

[Dan_Lockwood]

From what I understand the ABS, being on the front brakes only, give the rear brakes a softer feel. When I had the sensor recall on brakes I was told it needed to be done at HD shop.

All HD's that I've seen have ABS both front and rear.  They are not interconnected in any way though; they work totally independent of each other.

I've had two HD's with ABS, '08 SERK and my current '09 SERG.  Both seem to work very good on the rear brakes.  I did have a sensitivity issue on the rear ABS on the '09 and they did a recalibration of the ECM to calm down the action, which did make an improvement.

I've had occasion to use both front and rear in ABS and they did exactly what they were supposed to do, stop me without locking up the tires.  I've also had to slow down quickly on the freeway and had my front tire ABS activate, but still did what it was supposed to do.

[BigLew55]

All HD's that I've seen have ABS both front and rear.  They are not interconnected in any way though; they work totally independent of each other.

I've had two HD's with ABS, '08 SERK and my current '09 SERG.  Both seem to work very good on the rear brakes.  I did have a sensitivity issue on the rear ABS on the '09 and they did a recalibration of the ECM to calm down the action, which did make an improvement.

I've had occasion to use both front and rear in ABS and they did exactly what they were supposed to do, stop me without locking up the tires.  I've also had to slow down quickly on the freeway and had my front tire ABS activate, but still did what it was supposed to do.

I wasn't sure how to take the OP's post there, but I think you touched on it.  The Harley ABS system should not be confused with a Linked System or a Linked-ABS system.  The HD system is a non-linked ABS system.  If you pull the front lever it actuales only the front brake.  If you press the rear lever, it only activates the rear brake. 

[Midnight Rider]

I have not felt any "softness" on the rear pedal on my '11 SERGU, and I have put the brakes through their paces in a parking lot to get a feel for the ABS.  They work.

Some here who have had the rear brake light switch replaced have reported "softness" after the switch was replaced, but that's because the dipchits at the dealership didn't get all the air out of the system.  Pedal should be firm, not spongey.  Spongey = air.  Digital Tech must be used to ensure proper operation of the ABS system, and to get all air out of the lines.  Now, whether the "tech" at the dealership knows how the f#$@ to use the system properly is an entirely different question.

[Aussie]

Do I need to take bike to a dealer with digital Technician to bleed the brakes correctly or can I bleed the conventional way I always have done.

Does ABS brakes need to be fine tuned (minor adjustment) with a digital technician to get optimum performance?

[cahdbiker]

Aussie, when I took my 09 in for the rear brake light switch recall they bled the brakes manually, and then hooked my bike up to a electronic device  to"calibrate" the rear ABS. My mechanic at the HD dealer  always invites me to call him direct if I have any questions. So when I saw that he was attaching something to my bike after the manual bleed (just happened to be standing there at the time) I made sure to ask him if there was anyway this calibration was  going to effect my ECM because he knows I have Fulsac stage one map. He said no. Everything is fine and bike runs fine same as before. I may have mentioned this in a post a while back, but I thought it was worth mentioning again. CAHDBIKER



Do I need to take bike to a dealer with digital Technician to bleed the brakes correctly or can I bleed the conventional way I always have done.

Does ABS brakes need to be fine tuned (minor adjustment) with a digital technician to get optimum performance?

[grc]

Actually what they have to do with ABS is hook up their Digital Technician equipment to cycle the ABS pump and valves while they bleed the brakes.  Air gets trapped in the plumbing and valves of the ABS system, and old fashioned bleeding techniques will not get that trapped air.  If you take your ABS equipped bike to a dealer for brake service and he doesn't hook it up to the DT for bleeding, you need to insist he do it right or find yourself another place to do business.  This is not new, it is not rocket science, but unfortunately some of what passes for "technicians" at the local Harley stores aren't really qualified to do much more than wash bikes.  

As for loss of braking power on the rear brakes, the ABS should not affect braking power right up to the point where you start to lose traction and the ABS kicks in.  The master cylinder, caliper, rotor, and pads are the same as the non-ABS version, and normal braking should be the same.  If the rear brake isn't performing properly, by all means get the bike checked out by a competent tech.  Could be something in the ABS, could be air in the system, could be contaminated brake pads or rotor, etc.  In other words, basic diagnostics are called for, not guesswork.


Jerry