2008 Harley-Davidson Flhtcu: brake failure

Filed Mar 11, 2020 · Brakes · 60,000 miles · CO

Tl* the contact owns a 2008 harley davidson electra glide ultra flhtcui. The contact received notification of the federal safety agency recall number: 18v076000 (service brakes, hydraulic). The vehicle was taken to greeley harley-davidson and wild west motorsports, inc. Located at (3010 29th st, greeley, co 80631 (970) 351-8150) to perform the recall repair. The brake system was flushed refilled with platinum dot 4 brake fluid. The contact stated that while riding the motorcycle, the brakes failed to operate as designed after the recall repair was performed. The motorcycle was taken back to the same dealer. The technician sought permission from the manufacturer to authorize an additional repair however, the manufacturer declined to authorize a second repair. The contact purchased a replacement part and repaired the motorcycle however, the failure persisted. The failure mileage was 60,000.

Filed Jul 6, 2017 · Brakes · 36,000 miles · MI

While driving home from work on the express way a car changed lanes in front of me to close for comfort. I attempted to apply the rear brake but could not push the pedal down. I swerved and used the front brake to slow down to create space between myself and other traffic. I continued home knowing I only had front brakes. Once home I attempted to push the brake pedal. It would not move. Upon researching this on the computer I found many complaints of this happening to others sometimes the rear brake sometimes the front brake. I took the bike to the dealers for maintenance. What failed was the rear ABS control module. This is the same part listed online by many as failing. One week after taking the motorcycle to the dealer I received a letter from harley davidson informing me that my motorcycle contained dot 4 brake fluid and that it was required to be changed every two years to prevent possible failure. I have owned this bike since new, 2008, and never received a letter from harley before. The dealer confirmed that it was the ABS module that had failed and ordered one. The part that was on my bike is no longer available. (I am assuming because harley knows they are no good). The new part that it has been replaced with will not work on my motorcycle unless I purchase a new electronic ABS electronic control unit also which is in excess of five hundred dollars. When the ABS brakes failed on the highway, they failed in a manner that I had no brakes. Not just no ABS but no brakes on the rear system what so ever. Although harley davidson knows that this part was defective, as it was discontinued and replaced with another part, they blame the consumer by saying the brake fluid was not changed often enough. This was not a gradual failure but sudden. They worked fine that morning. The complete loss of brakes could be fatal.

Filed Oct 11, 2016 · Brakes · 72,716 miles · DC

At the end of august 2016, I was riding my 2008 harley davidson and without warning, my rear brake failed. Thank god, I was in a parking lot, not on the main street. I took it down to the dealership and it took over two hours of labor to figure out that it was the ABS unit that failed. Even the technician was surprised that the ABS light never lit to indicate a failure. I found it strange that ABS failure will disable the braking system. I had an ABS failure on a car before and both system are independent. I am a canadian, and I did report to transport canada the ABS unit itself is $1000, with labor and misc parts, the bill came over $1800. It took over a month to get my motorcycle back, the ABS part was on back ordered. Thanks for your support.

Filed Aug 6, 2016 · Brakes · 64,000 miles · VA

Rear brake line was worn thru and loss of brake fluid and use of rear brake. The failure was due to the clutch cable in contact with the rear brake line. The vehicle had 64,000 miles at the time of the incident. The failure was when approaching a red traffic light and I was to make a right turn. The stop was made using the front brake.

Filed Nov 6, 2013 · Brakes · 53,912 miles · FL

While traveling on an interstate and exiting on the off ramp, I experienced a catastrophic front brake failure caused by a malfunctioning ABS module. The front brake could not be applied. The brake lever was frozen as if it were welded in place.. There was no previous warning prior to this time. I was able to stop the bike using the back brake only and not by a large margin! After the incident the brake lever remained frozen and I have not repaired the problem yet. After a lot of head scratching I was able to determine that the ABS module is not allowing any brake fluid to pass through. This causes the brake lever to freeze.