Brakes Failed Today!

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Re: CONFIDENCE ????

Dr.ABS Brake said:
Steve,

how can YOU have confidence after what happened to YOU? Do you trust YOUR brakes now?

At advrider.com the survey shows:

13 complete failures = Approx. 6%

Now, let me guess, you did not vote, did you?

Dr.
Click to expand...

If they put me a brand new servo unit on the bike I guess I have to start rebuilding my confidence.
Maybe I should do a poll on whether any one in my situation on this board would have any confidence.
Hopefully lightening won't strike twice.

Steve B
 
Stella said:
So much exaggeration, so many stories, I say Bollocks, it's all being vastly exaggerated....The last thing that goes through my mind when I jump on my servoed evo braked Adv is the possibility of a brake failure......I just want to ride.

You're like a bunch of :eek::eek::eek::eek:ing old ladies sometimes.......pissing your pants at the slightest noise.

Stop carping on about it fer :eek::eek::eek::eek:'s sakes, there are so many risks that outweigh this by so many times it's not worth bloody worrying about!!

Bunch of tossers!
Click to expand...

I just want to ride too. More than you'd know.

But what would you have done if it had been you riding without brakes, say doing 70 or 80 mph and maybe on a bend? Would you ride the bike through the dealers window or get on the phone and rant to Watchdog in protest? Or maybe you'd expect some sympathy from other riders on here god forbid you ended up in hospital because of them failing.
I have never said it's a problem for all GS riders (I too don't belive in statistics) only that in puts doubt in your mind.
I hope this never happens to you but please don't belittle the comments on here as simply "getting our panties in twist" .

Take care and ride safe

Steve B
 
Not really aimed at you Steve..it sounds like a shit experience you had and certainly not one I'd enjoy-

I'm talking more about all the doomsayers and bandwagon jumpers who pop up and get all panicked, when you are to my knowledge only the first or second person this his actually happened to here.

With 3000+ members, if it was a significant problem, you'd have thought there would be more people acually suffering real failures.

People jumping in and dropping figures like 6% in to the thread don't help anyone; that wasn't 6% of GS's have had brake failures as the implication was, it was a totally misleading thing to put in.

People are too willing to moan and get things all out of proportion, that's what pisses me off.
 
Looks like my 'bikes the same as Mike's.....single spark, with servo's. Do the brakes worry me ? Too right they do. I remember when I first bought it and was pushing it around the garage, thinking " ignition off.....no brakes......what if....etc.....etc.....". Maybe there is a degree of scaremongering going on, but can anyone honestly say that if they had the choice, of the various systems available, they would choose this one. I wouldn't, and won't. If I should ever buy another GS ( very likely ) and if I can spec it without ABS and servo's, and all the other things I have managed without over god knows how many years, then I will. I would much rather take my chances without all these gizmos.....and I have heard all the " one day you might just need it " arguments.........for me at least, I would get rid of that braking system tomorrow
 
I love the servo brakes BUT I'm obviously concerned about the failures. They appear to be relatively few but, as the National Lottery has it, "it could be you".

So today I followed other peoples' advice and tried the brakes without the servos (by switching the ignition off).

There is actually a lot of residual braking. Note: This is on a 1200; as Johnny Boxer has pointed out, the 1150s are different and worse.

However, for everybody who has servo brakes, go and test them on a quiet road without the servos on.

I tried several speeds up to 70 mph. The first time I tried (at about 40mph) I thought I was going to die but then realised I was stopping. By the time I had tried the third or fourth time, I was getting pretty confident and realised the bike could be stopped quickly. Its not the eye popping deceleration of the servo version but it was still reasonably good (certainly would have knocked spots off any of the bikes I owned in the seventies).

But if they had failed on me and I hadn't had todays experiment, I would have been petrifed at the very least. Having now tried it, I'm reasonably relaxed. I know I have to squeeze hard AND use both brakes.

So please folks go and try it so, if you do have the dreaded failure, you know what its going to be like, what you have to do and what can be achieved. (1150 owners may need a long runway for this :D ).

Paul
 
Stella said:


With 3000+ members, if it was a significant problem, you'd have thought there would be more people acually suffering real failures.
Click to expand...

But how many have servo brakes -
 
I' m following this with interest as I have a new Adv. coming in June. In "The long Way Round", after welding at Claudio's bike in Mongolia the problem is "don't have any brakes at all" I assume that by welding with the battery connected they fried the sevo, causing it to fail. From this do I take that if a problem causes the srvo on my bike to fail that I
 
OOPS!! Don't know what I did but I posted too soon (It's happening more as I get older! So can I expect a servo failure on my new bike (if it happens) to have the same result i.e. no brakes at all? Has any one raised this with BMW themselves? and if so what was the answer? I find the prospect of an elactrical failure causing total brake loss alarming to say the least!
Bigmixer
 
Since my last post I have e-mailed BMW about my concerns. I will keep you posted when (if) I get a reply
Bigmixer
 
Brake Failure

I note that in my case, the failure was caused by the omission of the lock washers on the bike's battery terminals when first assembled, causing the circut to disconnect at 3000 miles. Are there other vehicles that depend on electricity for braking? I note also that my front brake lever may not have been in proper adjustment, perhaps reducing the amount of residual braking available. But from my perspective, the design of this system is profoundly flawed.
 
:confused: If I changed the spec. of my as yet undelivered 1150 Adv. to non ABS would it still have a brake servo?
Bigmixer
 
Bigmixer said:
Thanks Ming, I think spec. will be changed ASAP!
Bigmixer
Click to expand...

I think that there are some mis-understandings here. If there is an electrical fault that causes the servo not to function then you still have residual braking - this should still be sufficient to stop the bike but will need much greater lever pressure to get the same amount of braking force as when the servo was working.

I don't think that it would be lgeal to have braking sysytem that failed totally if there was an electrical fault. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.
 
When Claudio's frame was welded in "The Long Way Round" I assume the fault was electrical (caused by electric welding) Ewan's comment was "don't have any brakes at all" and they deemed the bike unfit to ride further. That sounds like total failure caused by an electrical problem
Bigmixer
 
I have servo'd ABS on my bike and am very happy with them .

THESE HAVE NEVER LET ME DOWN.

gonna try switching the bike off while rolling to see for myself :D

hope the power steering doesent fail too;)
 
Wake me up when we get to the beginning again -

why don't the folks asking the questions and doubting the problems of the servo, do a search of " brake servo" -

Get comfortable, and have some food and water nearby, and we'll see you all next week :D :D
 
Spoke with CW in Dorchester on Saturday who confirmed that BMW have told them to replace the whole servo unit following the failure codes I passed on from the initial diagnostic check.
Unfortunately I still have a bit of wait for them to fit me in to do the work but at least there's light at the end of the tunnel.
Just stewing at home now at the good weather I've missed.

Apologies if this subject has dragged on a bit but I just wanted to vent my spleen somewhat after nearly crapping myself when it all went wrong.
I'm planning a year away riding across Canada and really don't want a repeat of this episode. I just want to concentrate on the riding and hopefully the bike will look after the braking.

Take care and ride safe

Steve B
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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