Brake Failure

[jonnie comet]

............Whilst we are on the subject of brakes..............

I had a test ride on a 1200 G.S. on Friday ( servo A.B.S. ) I have never ridden a 'bike with such mega grabby brakes, at low speed. Are they all like that, or was it just that 'bike ? My 1150 has servo A.B.S brakes, and they are nothing like the 1200's.

ARE they all like that ?...............

 

[Chris Terry]

I thought the same but you soon get used to them. I don't think they are grabby just good.

 

[jonnie comet]

yeah, I suppose so.............

I must be getting old.........slowing motorbikes down use to be a lot simpler............

 

[HMR]

Faliure statistics

I meet a lot of R12GS owners and over the last 14 months I have seen six cases of brake failure, or potential brake failure, on the R12GS.

Two of them was the problem with the hand guard touching the brake lever and the brake light was staying on.

Four of them was created by the owner while refitting the left hand side front brake calipher. It is EXTREMELY important that the wiring from the ABS sensor comes out in between the the two screws holding the calipher! Else the wire may touch the brake rotor, rub through the isolation, and create an intermittent shortcut that will confuse the ABS system.

The picture is from my own bike - i did the mistake myself!

 

[FortyZA]

I find this all very interesting to say the least. I must remember this when I change my front tyre for a more off road tyre. The last thing yoyu need is to have no brakes while riding. Thanks for the pic as it is a great help.

The inputs on this topic have been great and informative and should assist other so that they do not suffer the same fate / mistakes as the rest of us have. Keep the suggestions coming and lets all have safe trouble free riding.

 

[sjwb]

I think that the engineer who 'signed-off' the brake modualtion (along with the one who 'signed-off' the engine tune) need to be sent to Coventry.

 

[ianm00]

Shep

Same problem as me, only it happened in France,last Thursday.ABS lights kept coming on every three or four applications of the brakes,turning ignition off & on reset it.

Took it to Pidcock's today.
The wiring loom out of the ECU had rubbed through on the frame.Two of the wires made intermittent contact giving me the problem.

Only took 3 hours to find and put right !!!

Goyl,

Im having similar problems where did you loom rub on the frame? I want to check mine in the same place.

Thanks for your help

Ian

 

[Andy Davies]

I think that the engineer who 'signed-off' the brake modualtion (along with the one who 'signed-off' the engine tune) need to be sent to Coventry.

Ahh, fond memories of my home city!

Andy
(now in Argyll)

 

[goyl]

Shep/Ian

The wiring had rubbed on a frame bracket under the tank.
The ECU is mounted vertically under the tank. a large scart type connecter is on the front right of it. the wiring loom approx 12mm dia runs from this to the right in a loop.

the damage was about 100mm from the scart connecter. The loom was just making contact with a bracket. It had rubbed the paint off the frame. no damage to the loom was visible until, it was disconected from the ECU and twisted to have a look at that side.

The Abs light came on for the first time at about 16k. Pidcock's had a look at the fault log, it showed low battery? bike running at 4k revs? Told to come back if it happened again.

It happened again 4k latter in France on the way to Spain. i came back i didn't like the thought of playing in the mountains with residual brakes, bad enough on ordinary roads.

Sorry no pictures. I will try to post next week when i get back in the country ABS permitting

 

[Howard Millichap]

I think that the engineer who 'signed-off' the brake modualtion (along with the one who 'signed-off' the engine tune) need to be sent to Coventry.

Jaguar wouldn't want him there!

 

[Howard Millichap]

I'm shocked at reading about wiring rubbing through on bikes that are under a year old. I know the airhead wiring loom goes up in smoke occasionally. It happened on mine, but at least it took over 10 years to break.

 

[tricolourforever]

Why be shocked Howard? Its part of the character you get when you buy a 12GS. Who needs brakes after all?

 

[ianm00]

Shep/Ian

The wiring had rubbed on a frame bracket under the tank.
The ECU is mounted vertically under the tank. a large scart type connecter is on the front right of it. the wiring loom approx 12mm dia runs from this to the right in a loop.

the damage was about 100mm from the scart connecter. The loom was just making contact with a bracket. It had rubbed the paint off the frame. no damage to the loom was visible until, it was disconected from the ECU and twisted to have a look at that side.

The Abs light came on for the first time at about 16k. Pidcock's had a look at the fault log, it showed low battery? bike running at 4k revs? Told to come back if it happened again.

It happened again 4k latter in France on the way to Spain. i came back i didn't like the thought of playing in the mountains with residual brakes, bad enough on ordinary roads.

Sorry no pictures. I will try to post next week when i get back in the country ABS permitting

Goyl,

Thanks very much for this information I will check mine. I had an intermittent fault with the ABS (red triangle & Brake failure flashing). The dealer was diagnosing the problem & it disappeared when they removed the tank! Its bee OK since but I would like to fix what ever the problem was!

Thanks

Ian