Brake Failure

[curlesw]

Hi All, need some help on a problem:

 

Bike: 2005 RT

Mileage: ~58,000

Problem: Flashing "Brake Failure" "and "red triangle", brakes work as expected under normal condition

Recent maintenance: Front tire changed ~ 750 miles ago (2 months)

Observations:

1) ABS sensor is touching front ABS ring

2) very minor "rub" in ABS cable from previous rubbing (25,000 miles ago), maybe 1/16"

3) front and rear brake fluid good

4) noticed front of bike would "shutter" when applying front brake at slow speed...started about 3-4 days ago.

 

I assume I have damaged the front ABS sensor, seems to make sense. I'm not sure why or how the ABS sensor came in contact with the wheel ring as I have changed the front wheel multiple times and never had this occur.

 

I'd appreciate your thoughts on the matter.

 

Thanks.

 

v/r

Wayne C.

No VA

 

 

 

[Ponch]

I had a brake failure light last year that was from the sensor cable grounding out on the rotor. After cutting the tie wrap, taking the sensor out and wrapping electrical tape around the cut, reattaching the sensor and repositioning the cable and tie wrapping, it hasn't been a problem. I still have to bring it in to be replaced under warranty, but I haven't had the time to ride to Gina's to get it done. Now that I am moving to Arizona, I don't know where I will go to get it fixed. May be Victory BMW?

[lawnchairboy]

pretty sure there was an ABS sensor cable reroute service campaign some years ago, did you have that recall work done?, just curious.

[Ponch]

pretty sure there was an ABS sensor cable reroute service campaign some years ago, did you have that recall work done?, just curious.

 

I didn't, obviously, but it's covered under warranty as I bought my 2009 in 2010.

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

Problem: Flashing "Brake Failure" "and "red triangle", brakes work as expected under normal condition

Recent maintenance: Front tire changed ~ 750 miles ago (2 months)

Observations:

1) ABS sensor is touching front ABS ring

...

4) noticed front of bike would "shutter" when applying front brake at slow speed...started about 3-4 days ago.

 

I assume I have damaged the front ABS sensor, seems to make sense. I'm not sure why or how the ABS sensor came in contact with the wheel ring as I have changed the front wheel multiple times and never had this occur.

 

If the steering shudder definitely is real (as opposed to just a question in your mind, i.e. "hmmm, is the front end shaking?"), then you should not ride again until you sort this out, as the symptoms quoted above all indicate that there may be a problem with how the front wheel was reinstalled on the bike after the recent tire change.

 

The biggest concern is that the tone wheel is actually touching the ABS sensor. If the sensor hasn't shifted (and it probably hasn't, if you didn't remove it and its bolt is still snug), then the front wheel has become offset laterally from its original location.

 

Check carefully: is the axle screwed in all the way, and the pinch bolt snugged up, and is the spacer installed on the axle between the hub and the left fork slider?

 

If you can't spot anything from a thorough visual inspection, I'd recommend removing the front wheel (as for a tire change), and after inspecting all the relevant parts, reinstalling the wheel again. Before you put the brake calipers back on, check the sensor-to-tonewheel gap, and pull the wheel left and right to see if it's somehow sliding on the axle (it shouldn't be).

 

Let us know what you find out...

[dirtrider]

 

Morning curlesw

 

In looking at the way the wheel is spaced & what controls the tone ring to sensor air gap about the only two possibilities for the sensor to touch the tone ring is:

 

-The tone ring was bent during the tire installation.

 

-Or, the L/H wheel spacer was omitted during the wheel re-install or somehow the wrong wheel spacer came back after the tire change.

 

LOOK CAREFULLY to make sure the L/H wheel spacer is there & installed correctly. Then as Mitch mentioned see if you can move the wheel sideways on the axle.

 

If that wheel spacer is missing, or you have the wrong one, that would allow the sensor to touch the tone ring & also allow the brake disks to not center in the calipers therefore either wearing the brake pads out, or causing undue brake pad/rotor heating, or other brake disturbance. That might be that brake shuddder or shaking you are feeling when braking.

 

 

--What usually happens is that L/H spacer sticks in the bearing seal just enough to stay with the wheel until tire change or traveling to the tire changing facility. Then it falls out un-noticed at some point.

 

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

-Or, the L/H wheel spacer was omitted during the wheel re-install or somehow the wrong wheel spacer came back after the tire change.

 

This was my main suspicion.

 

If that wheel spacer is missing, or you have the wrong one, that would allow the sensor to touch the tone ring & also allow the brake disks to not center in the calipers therefore either wearing the brake pads out, or causing undue brake pad/rotor heating, or other brake disturbance. That might be that brake shuddder or shaking you are feeling when braking.

 

Each front caliper has pistons on both sides of its rotor. If the pads are near the end of their life, then the pistons have a lot of room to retreat into the calipers, meaning there's a lot of room for the wheel to shift laterally while still not causing any undue friction/binding at the calipers. But it's possible that the wheel has shifted so much that the pistons on one side or the other (of one or both calipers) have bottomed out, in which case things could bind up in a bad way.

 

 

[curlesw]

Thanks for the responses guys...I'll check tomorrow after work and let you know what I find out.

 

v/r

Wayne C.