i thought I would take the bike out mid week for the first time this year, well it wasn't going to rain now was it now I have heard of ABS problems and have largely dismissed then given that I have never experience a issue. Tonight however I attempted to brake into a corner at relative speed and no brake, my natural reaction was to let go and pull again whilst opening my throttle and then applying more brake than I needed, now this sounds like uncontrolled panic and to be fair for a moment it was. Anyway I continued albeit with my confedece shot to pieced only to have it happen again. Is this the dreaded ABS issue or was the hot and humid conditions along with 7000 miles on the same brake fluid a factor, either way I don't want to ride around corners agai for a while
doesn't sound good, not the hot weather because I went to Willingham woods Yesterday at a reasonable speed and no problems. NO brake sounds more like the ABS problem we hear about, rather than air/spongy brakes?
Hopefully someone with an ABS blade will be able to confirm, but I read up on this some time ago and seem to remember that it's related to heat only on the ABS models due to the ABS unit being mounted near the exhaust manifold and causing issues either on very hot days or when the bike gets really hot through use.
Just before I bled the system on my c-abs bike a couple of years ago (Needs it doing again now as 2 years are up again) the system would be fine for awhile but as soon as I had been filtering through slow moving traffic in the summer (but not using the brakes but the cooling fan kicking in all the time) I would get the dreaded lever nearly back to the grip. A quick release of the the brake and back on again gave normal non-abs brakes. I would get the level back to the grip issue during spirited ride but that took ages before it happened but in hot traffic, it would happen within 10-15 mins easy. As Muffking has said, the front power unit is hidden behind a heat shield sandwiched between the exhaust down pipes and the engine. Heat soak has to be an issue, I covered mine with heat reflective tape to help. After carrying out a full bled of the c-abs system, I had no problems with heat related issues whatsoever. Here is a picture of my bike showing where the front power unit hides, just above the oil filter;
Thinking the same thing bud a few little niggles you can live with but going into a corner grabbing fresh air tends to get the backside twitching, I will stick to the old school method i think
From my experience heat is not the issue, I suffered total brake failure on both hot and cold days, and short and long distance into the journey. When you get no brakes at all, I found the lever just hits the bar, no resistance at all, its as if the stroke simulator was not active and the ECU did not recognise the lever movements, once it happens one or twice you learn to ride around it, I always found that on release on reapplication of the lever the brakes would always work. This is totally different to the 'feathering issues' that you get in slow speed filtering where the lever slowly collapses back to the bar, the fact that Honda now quaintly call a feature of the design. (The cynics would say that's because they know they cannot fix it). The one thing I found in all these issues over my 2 years and 25000 miles of ownership is that it only ever affected the front brake Whilst I accept that some owners never experience these issues, it is due to the inconsistency and unexpected total brake failure scenarios that leave a massive question mark over the Honda system, and IMO make the unit so questionable I would never touch one with a barge pole again.
I was riding like i stole it yesterday on my abs outside temps 35 + engine temps 108+ and no issues, abs performing superbly making me look like a hero (or twat)...... But my brakes are constantly serviced, regular bleeding, caliper/ piston/ disc servicing..... Plus i have an updated abs ecu and k-techs. Check the ecu for error codes .Ensure your friction surfaces are in good nick, pistons are not seized, discs are not warped and floating. Flush the fluid using the conventional bleed( if you can then the full bleed)
It's odd that I have had no issues with the bike in 3years and 8000 miles so I will start with a fluid change. It proably due one anyway to satisfy the service book, however I'm never happy about Grantham honda putting a spanner on the bike? Go on let's have the joke,s spanner behind the bars What time were you at ww simon, I thought you worked on a Wednesday evening or I would had asked you out on a date
Was on Tuesday Carl, took a week of work for a bit of R&R and that includes Blade riding among other things lol Wed was too hot for me mate
4 year old brake fluid could easily have a high enough water content to give the symptoms you describe, it would be interesting to have it tested. I wonder if the ABS problems are due to the fact that it is a long winded job to change the fluid and the proximity of parts of the system to the exhaust/engine heat
Though the bike is 4 years old and the brake fluid will be contaminated with water due to hygroscopicity this should not affect braking unless under extreme braking where sufficient heat is produced in the brake system to boil the water and release air bubbles as steam into the system. There is clearly a design fault with the Honda ABS which sadly Honda won't admit.
You are right Dave, but some heavy braking and the proximity of the part shown above will create some serious heat
Up at honda today for my MOT and whilst I was there I ask about the cost of changing my break fluid, wait for it!! £360 yes you heard correctly £360 I don't genarally swear but WTF Why can't I do this myself???
You can do. There are a couple of guides on here somewhere for doing ABS blades as they changed it from MY 14 or 15. Think it's a couple of hours work from what I remember reading.
