2012 Yamaha XT1200Z

At 12 years old and 34,500 miles the rear brakes began feeling soft and eventually traveled to the bottom and the rear brakes stopped working. Front brakes worked normally. Several attempts at bleeding the air out of the rear system only resulted in safe operation for a few days. Eventually the rear brakes stopped working after each air bleeding attempt. The problem is the ABS pump has failed and the combined braking engagement admits air to the rear braking system when the combined braking is engaged through the ABS pump. The only fix is replacement of the ABS pump with a new part at $1,900 retail ($1,600 street price), using a used unit ($450 or so), or repairing the old unit ($550 with shipping to France). I elected to repair the existing unit with a company in France as the bike is out of warranty and several other Super Tenere owners have reported Yamaha is not offering any coverage under warranty or goodwill. I installed this myself and the repair costs would have been much higher had a shop been paid to diagnose and repair this defect. It is probably a $3,000+ repair from a Yamaha dealer The bike was well maintained and brake fluid has been changed every few years as recommended by the manufacturer. This is a know issue and these critical safety systems should function for the life of the vehicle with normal maintenance and use.

On 15 JUN 2023, my Super Tenere experienced total loss of rear brakes during vehicle operation in traffic, almost resulting in an accident. There was no vehilce annunciation of loss of brakes or ABS failure. Vehicle-specific forums show that this has happened to at least 5 other operators since 2014. The vehicle anti-lock braking system (ABS) pump fails in a manner that allows air ingression in the rear brake hydraulic fluid path, resulting in loss of braking. The vehicle has been serviced (by myself - brake bleed) three times, each time the problem returns. The sole curative measure is replacement of the ABS pump unit, at significant cost. This failure represents a safety system single point of failure in contravention with 49 CFR Section 571.135- Standard No 135; Light Vehicle Brake Systems, under S7.8.3, in which it states that for service brakes on a vehicle equipped with one or more antilock systems, in the event of any single functional failure in any such system, the service brake system shall continue to operate and shall stop the vehicle as specified in S7.8.3(a) or S7.8.3(b). My safety (and others who have this vehicle), and those in proximity to me in the event of a failure, was put at risk by these latent failures. My vehicle has not had this failure confirmed by either the manufacturer or an independent service center (though others have). The vehicle has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance rep or others. Again, there were NO warning lights or indications of the latent failure, or of a fault post-incident.

The ABS pump has failed nearly causing a life threatening incident. This is a known issue with ABS systems on the 2012 and 2013 Yamaha XTZ1200 which are classified as Generation 1 machines. This problem was addressed and apparently remedied on the 2014 - 2023 model bikes comprising Generation 2 machines. Yamaha needs to address this issue and recall every 2012 & 2013 XTZ1200 for ABS pump replacement .

I HAD A TOTAL LOSS OF BRAKES ON MY BIKE. I WAS RIDING IT AND WHEN APPLYING THE REAR BRAKES THE PEDAL WENT ALL THE WAY DOWN AND DID NOT ENGAGE, IT DID NOT SLOW ME DOWN. THERE WAS NO INDICATION OF POSSIBLE FAILURES ON PREVIOUS USAGE OF THE BRAKES. I HAVE TAKEN MY BIKE TO TWO AUTHORIZED YAMAHA DEALERS AS THIS HAS HAPPENED 3 TIME IN TOTAL. THE ABS PUMP IS FAILING AND INJECTING AIR INTO THE HYDRAULIC SYSTEM. THE BRAKES HAVE BEEN BLEED SEVERAL TIMES, THE ABILITY RETURNED BUT IT FAILED AGAIN. EVERY PART ON THE BRAKES HAVE EITHER BEEN REPAIRED OR REPLACED EXCEPT THE ABS UNIT. I COMPLAINED TO YAMAHA NORTH AMERICA AND THEY INSISTED THAT THE ABS UNIT WAS NOT BAD NOR WAS IT TO BLAME FOR THE AIR IN THE LINES. I DISAGREED BUT BOTH SHOPS DID WHAT THEY SUGGESTED AND REPLACED OR REWORKED OTHER PARTS. NOW AFTER A THIRD FAILURE I ASKED YAMAHA TO ASSIST WITH THE PROBLEM AND THEY TOLD ME THAT IT HAS BEEN TOO LONG AND THE BIKE IT OUT OF WARRANTY. I TOLD THEM THAT THE INITIAL ISSUE WAS OVER 2 YEARS AGO BUT THEY DO NOT CARE AND WILL NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE UPON FAILURE OF THE ABS UNIT THAT I LOSE THE ABILITY TO BRAKE ALL TOGETHER NOT JUST THE ABILITY TO HAVE ABS OR NOT. THERE ARE OTHER BIKES THAT HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM, THE FOLLOWING YEAR (2013) YAMAHA USED A DIFFERENT PART AND I ASKED IF IT COULD BE USED ON MY BIKE THEY SAID NO AND THEY WOULD NOT HELP WITH FINDING A REPLACEMENT PART.