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NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

1 crash reports0 fire reports0 injury reports

Service Brakes complaints

1 reports

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7,000 miles · May 22, 2017

Service Brakes

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I ALWAYS TEST MY BREAKS AND BREAK LIGHTS BEFORE I DRIVE,MY BIKE GO TO HD DEALER 2 X A YEAR TO REFRESH AL OIL AND DOT4,THEY PUT NEW ABS SENSOR ON MY BIKE THE ABS WAS NOT WORKING,BUT THE NORMAL BREAKS WAS WORKING PERFECT. AFTER THEY PUT THE NEW ABS SENSOR I DRIVE 300 KILOMETER THE ABS LIGHT IS OF THAT MEANS ITS WORKING,I DON'T FEEL ANY DIFFERENCE.DRIVE MY V-ROD LUCKY ONLY SLOW ON THAT MOMENT ,I HAVE NO WARNING LIGHTS AND MY BREAKS STOP WORKING 0 BREAKS,IM SO LUCKY THAT IM ALIVE ...I LIVE 2 DAYS FROM DEALER A WAY,SO I HAVE TO FIND PROBLEM,THERE WAS 0 OIL ON THE CALIPER I CAN BLOW AIR IN BREAK HOSE AND FEEL IT COMING OUT ON THE OTHER SITE OF THE BIKE CALIPER HOSE THAT I TAKE OF ASWEL,BUT NO AIR GO UP, TEST MY MASTER CILINDER LOTS OF PRESSURE BRAND NEW ORIGINAL HD,I CALL HD DEALER AL OVER THE WORLD TO FIND OUT THE PROBLEM,THEY NEVER HERE ABOUT THIS.NOW I GO ON THE INTERNET I FIND OUT THE HCU IS THE PROBLEM HD IS THE ONLY ONE IN THE WORLD THAT IF THIS BREAK THERE IS NO MORE DOT4 GOING TO CALIPER IT MEANS YOU HAVE 0 BREAK WITH OUT ANY WARNING ,I TEL YOU I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT HD DON'T INFORM CUSTOMERS AND DEALERS ACT LIKE THEY DON'T KNOW,IN THE SAME TIME I CAN KILL MY SELF AND MANY HD DRIVERS. I TRAY TO BUY NEW PART I ASK IS THE PROBLEM SOLVED NO ITS SAME PART NR THAT MEANS NO CHANGES ITS SAME AS WHAT THEY PUT ON MY BIKE WEN THEY BUILD 2009. I SEE MANY ALREADY COM TO NHTSA ITS NOT NEW STORY,I ONLY WANT TO KNOW WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO SO I AM SAFE TO DRIVE MY BIKE ? IF HD DEALERS SAY WE DON'T KNOW THIS PROBLEM,AND ITS SAFE,BUT I DRIVE AND I HAVE 0 BREAK WHAT CAN I DO ? I DON'T WANT TO SELL MY BIKE I CAN'T LIVE WITH FEELING SOME ONE CAN KILL HIM SELF WEN BREAK STOP WORKING AGAIN, I HAVE MANY VIDEO THAT I CAN SENT LATER IF REEDIT BUT I KNOW YOU HAVE ALREADY,I DON'T WANT MONEY CORD CASES I WANT TO DRIVE MY HARLEY SAFE WEN IT HAPPENS I DRIVE IN CITY I DRIVE 30 KILOMETER PER HOUR

NHTSA ODI #10991078

Official recalls

18V076000 · Service Brakes, Hydraulic:antilock/traction Control/electronic Limited Slip; Service Brakes, Hydraulic:fluid

Jan 29, 2018

Harley-Davidson Motor Company (Harley-Davidson) is recalling all 2008-2011 Touring, CVO Touring and VSRC motorcycles equipped with anti-lock brakes (ABS), including Road King (FLHR), Road King Police (EFI) (FLHP), Road King Police (EFI) (FLHPE), Electra Glide Standard Police (EFI) (FLHTP), Electra Glide Classic (EFI) (FLHTC), Electra Glide Ultra Classic (EFI) (FLHTCU) and Street Glide (EFI) (FLHX), 2008 VROD (VRSCAWA), CVO Road King 4 (FLHRSE4), Night Rod (VRSCDA), CVO Ultra Classic 3 (FLHTCUSE3), Night Rod Special (VRSCDXA), 2008-2010 Road King Classic (EFI) (FLHRC), 2008-2009 Road Glide (EFI) (FLTR) and Electra Glide Standard (EFI) (FLHT), 2009-2010 V-Rod (VRSCAW), 2009 CVO Ultra Classic (FLHTCUSE4) and CVO Road Glide 3 (FLTRSE3), 2009-2011 Night Rod Special (VRSCDX) and V-Rod Muscle (VRSCF), 2010 CVO Ultra Classic 5 (FLHTCUSE5) and CVO Street Glide (FLHXSE), 2010-2011 Electra Glide Ultra Limited (FLHTK) and Road Glide Custom (FLTRX), 2011 Road Glide Ultra 103 (FLTRU103), Street Glide 103 (FLHX103), Road King Classic 103 (FLHRC103), CVO Ultra Classic 6 (FLHTCUSE6), CVO Road Glide Ultra (FLTRUSE), Road Glide Custom 103 (FLTRX103), and CVO Street Glide 2 (FLHXSE2) motorcycles. Deposits may form on components within the brake system if the DOT 4 brake fluid is not replaced for a prolonged period of time beyond the 2-year maintenance schedule specified in the Owners Manual.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: These deposits may cause a valve within the ABS Hydraulic Control Unit to stick, reducing braking ability and increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Harley-Davidson will notify owners, and dealers will flush the entire brake system with new Platinum Label DOT 4 brake fluid, free of charge. The recall began on February 14, 2018. Owners may contact Harley-Davidson customer service at 1-800-258-2464. Harley-Davidson's number for this recall is 0171.

Additional source detail variants (2)

Service Brakes, Hydraulic:antilock/traction Control/electronic Limited Slip

Consequence: These deposits may cause a valve within the ABS Hydraulic Control Unit to stick, reducing braking ability and increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Harley-Davidson will notify owners, and dealers will flush the entire brake system with new Platinum Label DOT 4 brake fluid, free of charge. The recall began on February 14, 2018. Owners may contact Harley-Davidson customer service at 1-800-258-2464. Harley-Davidson's number for this recall is 0171.

Service Brakes, Hydraulic:fluid

Consequence: These deposits may cause a valve within the ABS Hydraulic Control Unit to stick, reducing braking ability and increasing the risk of a crash.

Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗

NHTSA investigations

PE16009 · Sudden Brake Failure - Motorcycle

Opened Jul 6, 2016 · Closed Apr 23, 2018

Status: closed (inferred from source dates) · Service Brakes, Hydraulic:antilock/traction Control/electronic Limited Slip:control Unit/module

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this investigation in July 2016 based on forty-three (43) Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQ).During the course of this investigation ODI received a total of 145 VOQs related to the alleged defect on the subject motorcycles.Owners allege they experience a sudden and complete loss of brakes on one or both wheels.To better understand the cause of the braking issue on the subject motorcycles, ODI requested NHTSA's Vehicle Research and Test Center (VRTC) conduct inspections and testing of affected vehicle braking systems.Through its work, VRTC determined that deposits were forming on the valves in the Hydraulic Control Unit (HCU) of the Antilock Braking System (ABS). These deposits could prevent the proper function of the HCU and render the brakes ineffective.To understand why deposits were forming in the HCU, Harley Davidson completed an analysis of the Dow 460 brake fluid used as original equipment on the subject motorcycles and determined that it had stability issues if left in the brake system for an extended period of time.Harley Davidson found that if a brake fluid flush was not conducted as outlined in the owner?s manual for the motorcycles, and was left in the system for a period of time beyond their recommendation; deposits could form in the HCU.Through further testing, Harley Davidson identified an alternate, commercially available, brake fluid that did not have the same stability issues as the original fluid and could stop the proliferation of any current brake system deposits.ODI sent Information Request (IR) letters to Harley Davidson and Dow Chemical (the supplier of the brake fluid on the subject motorcycles) to collect information about the subject bikes and the alleged defect.Harley Davidson responded in full on Sept 30, 2016 and Dow responded with a confidential submission on October 25, 2017.ODI analyzed the information contained in both IR responses and concluded that motorcycles manufactured during Model Years (MY) 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 were failing at a rate greater than their peers.Based on this analysis and the brake fluid study conducted by Harley Davidson, a group of motorcycles was identified that were potentially affected by the instability of the original brake fluid.2008 marked the introduction of ABS on Harley Davidson motorcycles and a change in the Dow 460 brake fluid used in the 2012 MY vehicles provided the bases for the scope of the affected population.With recall action 18V-076 taken by Harley Davidson this investigation is closed as further use of agency resources does not appear to be warranted.The ODI reports cited above can be reviewed at: https://www.nhtsa.gov/ using the complaint identification numbers attached to this resume.