Servo Brakes

[MIKA]

Looking for some advice on the heading.

Coming back from Ullapool yesterday on my 2005 servo assisted ABS GS and stopped for coffee in Lochalsh.

All seemed to be going well until started the bike again and the brake failure light was flashing like mad and there was no servo assistance for the brakes.

Friend said he thought my tail light had looked very bright and found the brake light was stuck on and traced the fault to the rear brake light switch (dont know if there was a bit of dirt stuck in it or not but after a couple of taps it started working again).

Started the bike again and there was still no assistance. Came to terms with the fact that I was going to have to get the bike home without the servo working and probably have a stupid repair bill to get the brakes working again so put my gear back on, started the bike and this time it had servo brakes but there was not the usual motor noise.

Bike rode home without any further problem and servo is working at the moment but the motor is a lot quieter than it was before and seems to stop running after the initial application.

Question after all that is do you think it is just a matter of time before it fails completely or do you reckon it will be okay to keep using?

Dont really fancy being left without servo assistance as the residual brakes are shite...

TIA

 

[mrsroynie]

Have a look at the adjustment on the front brake lever. It may be catching. It's a fairly common problem and only takes a minute to fix.

 

[alex_rsa]

I think you have found the problem. Give the rear lever a good clean and maybe a bit of lubrication.

The servo brakes are triggered by tiny microswitches on both the front and back levers that require very little pressure to trigger them. Any kind of friction on the lever (dirt, fouled hand guard etc) is enough to trigger the switch.

If the bike is turned on with the brake actuauted it thinks there is an error. A sure sign of this is the brake light being on.

Early servo brakes get a bad review but I bet most issues are the switches.

 

[GSEddie]

I had the same problem the switch needed a good clean and the leaver adjusting then all was fine
Cheers
Eddie

 

[MIKA]

Thanks for the replies chaps.

Pretty sure it has been a bit of dirt in the rear brake microswitch that has caused the problem but no idea how long the servo would have been running and it is this that is the worrying bit.

It is the lack of noise coming from the servo motor that is causing me most concern, is it about to give up?


Cheers

 

[DrFarkoff]

Gotta say Mika that is a "How Long is a piece of string question?"

You just gotta drive it and see what happens

Edit the servo isn;t running when you have no assistance so perhaps it's in your head?

All seemed to be going well until started the bike again and the brake failure light was flashing like mad and there was no servo assistance for the brakes.

If the failure light is flashing when you switch on the ignition and that usually means it has not completed it's self checks and the sticky / partially on brake switch will have been enough to enter a fault as it can'y "see" the brake switch when it is activated and it will disarm the servo assistance

If it does it again play with the switches and if it is a faulty one you will see the lights do their normal thing once you clear the issue without switching off the ignition

Thanks for the replies chaps.

Pretty sure it has been a bit of dirt in the rear brake microswitch that has caused the problem but no idea how long the servo would have been running and it is this that is the worrying bit.

It is the lack of noise coming from the servo motor that is causing me most concern, is it about to give up?


Cheers

 

[stevedude]

2005 GS Servo inoperative

This is what I like about Internet forums, the fact you can come on here and do a bit of detective work before heading off to the dealer to part with £££’s
I was putting my bike away a couple of weeks ago, when I noticed the brake failure light flashing madly and I had no servo. I put it away as something to worry about later and so with the cold finally blown away today, I decided to come on here to check (fearing an expensive outcome) and quickly found what I thought it sounded like a rear brake light switch problem or aftermarket LED rear light issue.

I set about dismantling and cleaning the switch and checking the LED, after putting it back, it was still doing it and with a sinking feeling and thoughts of an inflated credit card balance I suddenly remembered another post that I'd scanned talking about the front brake leaver fouling the hand guard.

Back to my last ride, when this first happened. Sitting at one of the ever present Contra-Flows around Hornchurch, my traffic light went green and I pulled away just as a cock in a transit connect overtook the car stopped at the red on the other side and headed into the contra flow. I pulled to the left, he kept coming but I recognised we both had enough room. But to prove the point he got a blast of main beam/horn and as I moved forward he got a nice whack on his mirror for his troubles... and there lies the answer.

I got home, turned the bike off to go in an open the back gate and when I turned it back on I had the brake failure. Obviously the whack on the mirror had moved the hand guard and it was now (unbeknown to me) fouling the front brake lever.

Back to today, I had a look, yes it was foulding so with a bit of re-adjustment we are all good and the servo is fine again.

Thanks to those who have contributed to this and other brake related threads.

 

[Pukmeister]

Bike rode home without any further problem and servo is working at the moment but the motor is a lot quieter than it was before and seems to stop running after the initial application.

Question after all that is do you think it is just a matter of time before it fails completely or do you reckon it will be okay to keep using?

The front brake lever keeps the servo running continuously when operated.

The rear foot pedal does not, it uses the servo to build enough pressure to hold the bike on the rear brake, then the servo shuts off. It will pulse the servo every now and then if the brake pedal stays down, just to maintain rear brake pressure (you'll feel a small kickback through the rear brake pedal whenever the 'rear' servo pulses).

Give it a try by holding the bike on the rear pedal only for a few minutes, you'll see what I mean.