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Testing my love for Harley....

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  • paulybronco
    paulybronco
    5 years ago
    Well while riding yesterday a went for a handful of front brake to find the lever rock hard and unable to be squeezed. It then went into ABS pumping motion with the ABS releasing/grabbing etc. I pulled over , the lever had returned to normal and i was able to head of again, every now and then a peace of mind squeeze of the brake with no issues. After stopping for lunch and with the bike switched off, the lever responded as per normal. Switch on the key and instant rock hard lever!. Result after some research is that the ABS computer box and ABS  system needs replacing as this has happened to a fair few bikes in USA as well. This comes after the std compensator rattled its self to death and was replaced with a s/eagle heavy duty one and that is now showing signs of failure , the regulator rectifier shitting its self and taking the battery out with it, a further known HD issue in USA that was replaced under warranty back there but unheard of in Aust. On top of having to be towed from Ailie Beach to Mackay when the injection pin snapped off , on top of the gearbox having to be removed to replace a spring that snapped of not allowing the gear lever to return. Ah yes the joys of owning a Harley.....LOL
    Ps There is no warning the ABS system will fail with the light on the dash not alerting you in any way.
  • Jayman6
    Jayman6
    5 years ago
    Quoting paulybronco on 09 Aug 2018 01:54 AM

    Well while riding yesterday a went for a handful of front brake to find the lever rock hard and unable to be squeezed. It then went into ABS pumping motion with the ABS releasing/grabbing etc. I pulled over , the lever had returned to normal and i was able to head of again, every now and then a peace of mind squeeze of the brake with no issues. After stopping for lunch and with the bike switched off, the lever responded as per normal. Switch on the key and instant rock hard lever!. Result after some research is that the ABS computer box and ABS  system needs replacing as this has happened to a fair few bikes in USA as well. This comes after the std compensator rattled its self to death and was replaced with a s/eagle heavy duty one and that is now showing signs of failure , the regulator rectifier shitting its self and taking the battery out with it, a further known HD issue in USA that was replaced under warranty back there but unheard of in Aust. On top of having to be towed from Ailie Beach to Mackay when the injection pin snapped off , on top of the gearbox having to be removed to replace a spring that snapped of not allowing the gear lever to return. Ah yes the joys of owning a Harley.....LOL

    Ps There is no warning the ABS system will fail with the light on the dash not alerting you in any way.

    All I read was “time for a new Harley”
  • paulybronco
    paulybronco
    5 years ago
    Quoting paulybronco on 09 Aug 2018 01:54 AM

    Well while riding yesterday a went for a handful of front brake to find the lever rock hard and unable to be squeezed. It then went into ABS pumping motion with the ABS releasing/grabbing etc. I pulled over , the lever had returned to normal and i was able to head of again, every now and then a peace of mind squeeze of the brake with no issues. After stopping for lunch and with the bike switched off, the lever responded as per normal. Switch on the key and instant rock hard lever!. Result after some research is that the ABS computer box and ABS  system needs replacing as this has happened to a fair few bikes in USA as well. This comes after the std compensator rattled its self to death and was replaced with a s/eagle heavy duty one and that is now showing signs of failure , the regulator rectifier shitting its self and taking the battery out with it, a further known HD issue in USA that was replaced under warranty back there but unheard of in Aust. On top of having to be towed from Ailie Beach to Mackay when the injection pin snapped off , on top of the gearbox having to be removed to replace a spring that snapped of not allowing the gear lever to return. Ah yes the joys of owning a Harley.....LOL

    Ps There is no warning the ABS system will fail with the light on the dash not alerting you in any way.

    Quoting Jayman6 on 09 Aug 2018 03:06 AM

    All I read was “time for a new Harley”

    LOL Lets see.....
  • Jayman6
    Jayman6
    5 years ago
    Quoting paulybronco on 09 Aug 2018 01:54 AM

    Well while riding yesterday a went for a handful of front brake to find the lever rock hard and unable to be squeezed. It then went into ABS pumping motion with the ABS releasing/grabbing etc. I pulled over , the lever had returned to normal and i was able to head of again, every now and then a peace of mind squeeze of the brake with no issues. After stopping for lunch and with the bike switched off, the lever responded as per normal. Switch on the key and instant rock hard lever!. Result after some research is that the ABS computer box and ABS  system needs replacing as this has happened to a fair few bikes in USA as well. This comes after the std compensator rattled its self to death and was replaced with a s/eagle heavy duty one and that is now showing signs of failure , the regulator rectifier shitting its self and taking the battery out with it, a further known HD issue in USA that was replaced under warranty back there but unheard of in Aust. On top of having to be towed from Ailie Beach to Mackay when the injection pin snapped off , on top of the gearbox having to be removed to replace a spring that snapped of not allowing the gear lever to return. Ah yes the joys of owning a Harley.....LOL

    Ps There is no warning the ABS system will fail with the light on the dash not alerting you in any way.

    Quoting Jayman6 on 09 Aug 2018 03:06 AM

    All I read was “time for a new Harley”

    Quoting paulybronco on 09 Aug 2018 03:17 AM

    LOL Lets see.....

    Every now and then you come across a bad luck bike. I reckon you might’ve got one unfortunately. Time to move it on I reckon mate. 
  • Smokey61
    Smokey61
    5 years ago
    My '86 had several issues, all sorted in the end, my '12 has new ones.

    Regulators have been shitting themselves forever. I bought a VDO voltage gauge for the '86 and the '12 has an over/under charge warning built in. They still shit themselves but at least you know straight away so you can replace it before it takes out the battery.

    The '86 was roughly built, the '12 is cheaply built.

    Not fussed on the electronics these days. 

  • mickle
    mickle
    5 years ago
    You joke right.
  • Far Canal
    Far Canal
    5 years ago
    Couple of my mates have Indians and I gotta say I have been impressed with how they go straight out of the box.
    Not ready to ditch the Harley yet though, they are more reliable now than when Shovels were the bike to have and how unreliable were they?.
    Guess you know Harley is on the nose when outlaw motorcycle club members no longer ride them and Easyrider magazine has no mention of them in their pages (if it still exists).

  • paulybronco
    paulybronco
    5 years ago
    While looking at solutions to my brake issues stumbled over this



  • paulybronco
    paulybronco
    5 years ago
    And if you do HD will deny all knowledge any way
  • Ratbob
    Ratbob
    5 years ago
    Quoting mickle on 09 Aug 2018 09:08 AM

    You joke right.

    Having ridden a few M8’s, gotta say my next new bike won’t be a Harley so maybe an Indian could be it, at least they are well engineered, gear drive cams for one.
  • paulybronco
    paulybronco
    5 years ago
    Quoting mickle on 09 Aug 2018 09:08 AM

    You joke right.

    Quoting Ratbob on 12 Aug 2018 10:25 AM

    Having ridden a few M8’s, gotta say my next new bike won’t be a Harley so maybe an Indian could be it, at least they are well engineered, gear drive cams for one.

    Out of the box they are pretty impressive to ride i must admit
  • paulybronco
    paulybronco
    5 years ago
    Well a bit of an update and this effects ALL of us that service our own bikes. HD , after a bit of me having to steer them in the right direction with a Google search, i kid you not ,have conceded that my bike is showing "similar but not the same!" symptoms of the recall bikes but mine is not included as there has only been 1 case in Aust and not on a tourer.......Mmmmm. My bikes drama with regulator and now ABS failure are simply a "strange co-incidence" with the bikes that have had the recalls and charging dramas. The real kicker is the final bit.......even if it was a fault they would not cover me because the ABS module needs to be hooked up to their factory supplied, and not available to the public, everytime the brake fluid is changed. So according to them if that's not done the ABS module has the old fluid still in it causing it to crap its self. Restrictive trade practises act seems to jump out at me regarding that statement. So all of you with 2010-2012 ABS Harleys be warned about the brakes and regardless of how well you look after it and the ABS brake flush has not been done by a dealer......well your on your own.  As an aside and to remain balanced you can purchase a tool that does the same job but its a substantial investment Snap on sell them for $6500. The bike goes in on Friday for the flush, let you know if it worked or not
  • FONTANA302
    FONTANA302
    5 years ago
    The twin scan by Daytona Twin Tech can cycle the abs & more:

    http://www.daytona-twintec.com/Twin_Scan4.html

    I have one & it works great.  Reasonable price as well.
  • Ken in Cairns
    Ken in Cairns
    5 years ago
    What are they charging you Paul if I can ask. I got quoted 140 kist to do the front. I have to do the front master cylinder because it is sticking a little and brake light is staying on, so I'm going to do the calipers as well.
    I was told the fault was caused by not getting the services done and renewing the fluid every 2 years. I pointrd out that the bike was always serviced by  a HD dealer in Brisbane before I purchased it, 1 1/2 years ago, so is that a warranty claim then. The silence was deafening.
    It actually appears that the 2 yearly gluid change is to stop the ABS modules failing, brought in after a spate of failures, as you mentioned.
    Good luck and keep up posted.
    Cheers Ken 

  • JFE
    JFE
    5 years ago
    Hey Ken - Canberra HD replaced my Fat Bob front master cylinder (one year into the warranty) for exactly the same problem you have. Said back then (2016), it is a common issue.
    BTW - brake fluid wasn’t the reason, though the manual is clear it needs to be replaced every two years.
  • PaulW
    PaulW
    5 years ago
    No matter if its a common problem and has a fix (pricey) It still sucks!
  • paulybronco
    paulybronco
    5 years ago
    Quoting Ken in Cairns on 28 Aug 2018 08:59 AM

    What are they charging you Paul if I can ask. I got quoted 140 kist to do the front. I have to do the front master cylinder because it is sticking a little and brake light is staying on, so I'm going to do the calipers as well.

    I was told the fault was caused by not getting the services done and renewing the fluid every 2 years. I pointrd out that the bike was always serviced by  a HD dealer in Brisbane before I purchased it, 1 1/2 years ago, so is that a warranty claim then. The silence was deafening.
    It actually appears that the 2 yearly gluid change is to stop the ABS modules failing, brought in after a spate of failures, as you mentioned.
    Good luck and keep up posted.
    Cheers Ken 

    Cheers Ken been quoted $120 for the flush, and yes HD are claiming that the ABS unit will gum up if the fluid is not replaced every 2yrs
  • paulybronco
    paulybronco
    5 years ago
    Quote source removed.
    Loopie i have to agree nearly every modern bike has ABS as well and they aint shitting themselves
  • JFE
    JFE
    5 years ago
    Quoting PaulW on 28 Aug 2018 11:55 AM

    No matter if its a common problem and has a fix (pricey) It still sucks!

    ..it sucks less when the Dealer covers it under warranty.
  • paulybronco
    paulybronco
    5 years ago
    Quoting PaulW on 28 Aug 2018 11:55 AM

    No matter if its a common problem and has a fix (pricey) It still sucks!

    Quoting JFE on 28 Aug 2018 10:13 PM

    ..it sucks less when the Dealer covers it under warranty.

    I think thats the point thats being missed here in my particular case......UNLESS you have your bike serviced by HD dealer they can and will accept no blame/warranty regardless of the fact that there is a recall of 136000 bikes experiencing the same issue in USA. Lets see what the flush does on Friday. And as mentioned prior this little get out of jail free pass can effect anyone of you with an ABS bike if HD has not done the flush.
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