2009 HARLEY-DAVIDSON Vrscf

The contact owns a 2009 Harley-Davidson VRSCF. The contact stated while riding approximately 20 MPH and attempting to stop the motorcycle, the contact stated that the front brakes were functional however, the rear brakes failed to operate as designed. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was diagnosed and repaired; however, the failure persisted. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 19,000.

MY ABS BRAKES QUIT WORKING. I COULD SKID THE TIRES. ALSO, FRONT BRAKE LEVER INTERMITANTLY FREEZES. CONCURRENTLY, I RECEIVED NHTSA SAFETY RECALL 18V-076 FOR BRAKE SYSTEM FLUSHING. 4-13-2018, I TOOK THE MOTORCYCLE TO SOUTHEAST HARLEY-DAVIDSON FOR H-D RECALL NO. 0171. AFTER THE H-D FLUSH, I WAS TOLD ABS BRAKING STILL NOT WORKING AND A PAID DIAGNOSTICS WOULD BE REQUIRED TO DETERMINE THE PROBLEM. HARLEY-DAVIDSON CLAIMS THAT THE BRAKE SYSTEM SHOULD HAVE BEEN FLUSHED AND FLUID CHANGED EVERY TWO YEARS! WHAT OTHER VEHICLES BRAKE SYSTEM REQUIRES THAT MUCH ATTENTION? SHOULD H-D BE RESPONSIBLE TO DIAGNOSE THIS PROBLEM FURTHER AT THEIR EXPENSE? 5-9-2018, THE BRAKES ARE STILL INTERMITTENT AND DISFUNCTIONAL. THIS IS A VERY SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE!

THE FUEL SENSOR HAS FAILED TWICE, THE FIRST TIME CAUSING ME TO RUN OUT OF GAS WHILE ON A DESERT HIGHWAY (OVER 100F OUTSIDE). FORTUNATELY THERE WAS NO-ONE BEHIND ME THAT MIGHT HAVE HIT ME FROM SUDDEN DECELERATION. AFTER THE FIRST INCIDENT, I REPLACED THE SENSOR WITH THE SAME PART NUMBER FROM HARLEY DAVIDSON. ODDLY, THE SAME PART NUMBER IS A DIFFERENT CONFIGURATION THAT THE ORIGINAL (INDICATIVE OF A DESIGN ISSUE BEING CORRECTED ON-THE-SLY). THE SECOND FUEL SENSOR WORKED WELL FOR ABOUT 1 YEAR, THEN IT TOO FAILED. BECAUSE I WAS AWARE OF THE PROBLEM (MANY, MANY SIMILAR STORIES ON THE V-ROD ON-LINE FORUM) I DID NOT RUN OUT OF FUEL. RUNNING OUT OF FUEL ON A FUEL INJECTED VEHICLE CAN CAUSE ENGINE DAMAGE. IT IS ALSO DANGEROUS BECAUSE OF THE RAPID DECELERATION THAT OCCURS ON MOTORCYCLES (ENGINE BRAKING) WITHOUT THE WARNING DRIVERS EXPECT OF A BRAKE LIGHT.

THE BOLT THAT HOLDS THE SHIFTER AND LEFT FOOT PEDAL BREAKS, ALLOWING THE FOOT PEDAL TO ROTATE DOWN AND BECOME UNUSABLE AND ALSO ALLOWS IT TO COME OUT AND BECOME FOD ON THE ROADWAY. WHEN THIS HAPPENS, THE RIDERS LEFT FOOT FALLS TO THE PAVEMENT. MINE HAS BROKEN TWICE, BOTH TIMES AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. AFTER THE FIRST INCIDENT, I REPAIRED USING THE SAME DESIGN EXCEPT WITH A STRONGER BOLT. THE SECOND TIME, I ALTERED THE DESIGN AS CAN BE SEEN ON THIS YOUTUBE VIDEO I MADE TO HELP OTHERS. HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=O6SDDFQILG8. IF YOU WATCH THROUGH THE FIRST 1:20 YOU WILL SEE EXACTLY WHAT THE PROBLEM IS AND THE RESULT. THERE IS A HARLEY VROD FORUM ON-LINE THAT DOCUMENTS MANY SIMILAR INSTANCES. THIS IS JUST A POOR DESIGN AND THERE IS AN EASY FIX. SHIFTING TO THE NEXT HIGHER GEAR SEEMS TO BE WHAT FORCES THE ISSUE AS A RIDER WILL PULL UP WITH THE TOE AND THAT ACTION IS REACTED BY THE HEAL.

WHILE EXITING MY DRIVEWAY AND ATTEMPTING TO USE THE REAR BRAKE PEDAL, I FOUND THAT I COULD NOT PRESS IT AND HAD ONLY THE FRONT BRAKES. I FOUND THAT WHILE THE MOTORCYCLE WAS STATIONARY IF I FORCED THE PEDAL ALL THE WAY DOWN, IT WOULD WORK NORMALLY, BUT WOULD SEIZE UP AGAIN WITHOUT WARNING WHILE RIDING. I TOOK THE MOTORCYCLE TO A DEALERSHIP FOR SERVICE, AND THEY RECOMMENDED CHANGING THE REAR BRAKE PADS, WHICH I DID. THEY THEN CALLED BACK LATER STATING THAT THE "ABS MODULE" NEEDED TO BE REPLACED, WHICH I COULD NOT AFFORD AT THE TIME. CURRENTLY THE REAR BRAKE PEDAL CAN BE DEPRESSED, BUT IT HAS NO EFFECT WHATSOEVER. THIS IS APPARENTLY BECAUSE THE ABS SYSTEM IS INTEGRAL TO THE BRAKING SYSTEM, WITHOUT THE ABS MODULE WORKING, RATHER THAN HAVING BRAKES WITH NO ABS, THERE ARE SIMPLY NO BRAKES AT ALL.

WHILE DRIVING ON A SURFACE STREET APPROXIMATELY 40MPH I WAS CUT OFF. APPLIED BOTH FRONT AND REAR BRAKES. ABS ENGAGED NORMALLY. WITHOUT INCIDENT BUT AFTER THAT THE FRONT BRAKE LEVER BECAME EXTREMELY STIFF. AND ONLY GOT STIFFER UNTIL IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO GET ANY STOPPING ACTION ON THE FRONT WHEEL. ..UPDATED 02/10/17 *BF THE ABS ACTUATOR WAS REPLACED, NORMAL BRAKING RETURNED. APPROXIMATELY A YEAR LATER AGAIN ON SURFACE STREET AT APPROXIMATELY 10 MPH THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME BEGAN TO PULL AWAY THEN PANIC STOPPED. I APPLIED BOTH BRAKES, THE ABS ENGAGED. UNTIL THERE WAS A SMALL BUMP IN THE ASPHALT. THEN THE BRAKES RELEASED THEN RENGAUGED.....THE INCREASED STOPPING DISTANCE CAUSED ME TO REAREND THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME. I CAN FIND EXACT DAYS BOTH INCIDENTS OCCURRED IF NECESSARY. FOR NOW I'M USING AN APPROXIMATE DATE FOR THE FIRST INCIDENT. *TR

I NOTICED THE ENGINE OIL LIGHT FLICKERING AFTER THE ENGINE IS WARMED UP. I DECIDED TO TALK TO MY LOCL HARLEY DEALERSHIP AND THEY INFORMED ME THAT IT WAS A KNOWN ISSUE AND COULD CAUSE ME TO WRECK IF THE ENGINE SEIZED. AS A QUALITY ENGINEER BY TRADE, I INVESTIGATED THE ISSUE AND FOUND SIMILAR COMPLAINTS FROM OTHERS ON VARIOUS HARLEY FORUMS. THE ISSUE IS THE TRIPLE SPROCKET BOLT BACKS OUT DUE TO POOR DESIGN AND CAUSES LOW OIL PRESSURE CONDITION AND OVERHEATING. IF THE ENGINE SEIZED ON ONE OF THESE BIKES WHILE RIDING, THIS COULD CAUSE THE REAR TIRE TO SKID RESULTING IN A FATAL CRASH. IF THERE WAS NO CRASH AND YOU WERE ABLE TO SAVE YOURSELF FROM FALLING, YOU WOULD HAVE OVER A $6000 REPAIR TO REPLACE THE ENGINE. I HAVE FOUND MULTIPLE CLAIMS ONLINE FOR THIS ISSUE AND WOULD VENTURE TO SAY, HARLEY DAVIDSON IS ALLOWING A DANGEROUS KNOWN ISSUE HAPPEN.