Complete brake failure - Another Update

First topic message reminder :

Wife was driving to work this morning. Swing started vibrating badly and the brakes failed. She was able to pull into a gas station and called me for help. When I got there, I could pull both brake levers right to the grips with no resistance. Dang scary. Lucky she was only going about 20mph. Had it towed to the shop. We will see what they say. It's a 2009 with about 3600 miles. Any one hear of a similar situation?

lcseds wrote:

After work I talked to my wife a little more. Some other strange happenings also. Half way to work, after stopping at a light, she said the throttle response was poor. She cranked the throttle to max to try and get 45 mph out of it. When she released, she said more than engine braking was at work. It tried to stop....quickly. Shortly after that it began to shake. Thinking she had a tire going down, she pulled into a gas station. After checking the tires, the brake levers failed. So I guess it was not as dangerous as I had thought (she was a little upset this morning, so I didn't go for all the details at that time).
No ABS or other warning lights. This should be interesting to hear about as it seems as though the brakes were stuck on leading to the throttle and braking issue. Yet the dead brake levers indicate there may be no fluid. If the fluid was leaking, the brakes should not have been "engaged". And then the wobble, which may be something different. Lot's going on here, some seem related, some don't make sense.
This is the first safety related failure I have had after 25 years of motorcycling and 7 different bikes. We had a 2007 Silverwing for about a year and it was flawless. The 2009 that failed today still has a few weeks of warranty left (if it applies to this situation), so it is at my Honda dealer. Too bad there are two dozen other bikes there now also as the weather in NC, US is finally coming up into the 60's. Many are blowing the dust off and bringing the bikes in for a spring service. Not sure when then will look at ours. I will come back here and report the findings. Thanks for the opinions. It is indeed a little bizarre.

I have a 2003 Honda Silverwing with a Voyager trike kit that I have had for about three years that just did this same thing to me yesterday.

My Wife and I just got back from a fairly long bike trip from Sacramento to Mount Shasta and it really gave the bike a workout keeping up with freeway speeds and mountain roads… But nothing went wrong on our trip thank God.

A few days after our trip I took my daughter out for dinner on the bike. We got their Ok but when trying to leave the place I noticed a huge lack in speed when trying to rev. I checked the parking break and it was not on. I thought at first it was just uneven ground as the trike kit has three in back and the middle tire can get that way at times… so I gave it little thought.

We stopped off at our church to see a friend, but when trying to leave, the bike would not move.

Same symptoms as the original poster had. Whatever I tried, even manually pushing it, the bike was locked into place. The parking break seems very loose when pushing it in and out, but nothing I did would unlock the bike.

For better or for worse I finally gave up and called a tow truck to get me and my daughter home. I cringed when they hooked it up through the back and pulled it upwards, forcing the tires to either grind in place or slowing force move.

When they got me home I helped in getting the bike down. Now, I don't know if it was the force movement, but the bike moved as usual and I was able to ride it to the back of the driveway. The parking break was stiffer as it always had been in the past.

My mind boggles on how this could have happened, and it's made me feel a tad less safe on that bike. Thankfully I ran into this past post that was able to shed some light on the matter.

Question though: What maintenance should I preform on the bike to make sure this does not happen again? Break fluid change? Piston maintenance? I'm at a loss… I am just so thankful this did not happen in Shasta, or on the road.

Honigschmidt wrote:

What maintenance should I preform on the bike to make sure this does not happen again? Break fluid change?

I would do a complete brake fluid change with a Mighty Vac vacuum brake bleeder ... just in case there is bubbles in the line. This removed even the toughest bubble that I could not get out via pumping the brakes.

I would use Honda brake fluid. I tried using a synthetic Valvoline brake fluid ... but later switched back to the Honda brake fluid. I could feel the difference.

Honigschmidt wrote:

Piston maintenance?

I would definitely clean the pistons with a tooth brush, then push them back in carefully.

Then after everything is together lay on the ground with a flashlight and have someone pump the brakes and make sure all pistons are moving to contact the brake pad.

Then go for a ride ... work the brakes good. Put the Silverwing on the centerstand and see if both the front and rear wheels move freely without dragging the brakes excessively.

[quote="honda_silver"]

Honigschmidt wrote:

What maintenance should I preform on the bike to make sure this does not happen again? Break fluid change?

Thanks very much for the tips. I appreciate the insight and help.

Glad to hear this is something that can be maintained.

x

Honigschmidt wrote:

lcseds wrote:

After checking the tires, the brake levers failed.

I have a 2003 Honda Silverwing with a Voyager trike kit that I have had for about three years that just did this same thing to me yesterday.

bigbird wrote:

First of all, what Bill recommends has unfortunately nothing to do with your parking brake.

Correct it deals with the brake levers failing which is far more critical then then parking brake failing.

bigbird wrote:

Also, I suggest never touching any brake components, especially a cylinder or piston, with a toothbrush. There's too much risk of destroying a highly machined smooth finish.

I have done the same for my cars and never had a problem ... and I keep my vehicles for their entire life.

I consider the risk of brake failure to be greater than the risk of cleaning the cylinder in place with toothbrush bristles. If you have a compressor you could use light pressure from compressed air ... though you would have to make sure you do not blow out the cylinder and dust boots which could be worse.

This is clearly one we ought to keep an eye on. Thanks for posting!!!