Well the fact that my dealer had to have multiple attempts to get it bled correctly, replaced the abs ecu, all at Hondas cost, all out of warranty, and the brakes still fail. The bike has been offered up to them for any testing required via VOSA and it's not been taken up, I can only deduce that they are s*it scared they might actually have to admit there is a problem. It's unbelievable that in this litigious world, that a vehicle is having multiple braking issues and unexpected brake failure and the manufacturer's subsidiary will not test it in an attempt to improve safety. I think that tells everyone about Hondas contempt for their customer base.
Wow first off sorry to hear of the problems with the ABS bikes guess what people are saying about dealers ring true when I was in discussions with my dealer over an ABS model they said they had never had a problem with any of their bikes guessing that now this is a commercial line everywhere? I decided to stick with my 09 non abs in the end as to be fair the bike hasn't put a foot wrong and I will just adjust my speeds accordingly in winter when the weather and road surfaces are pants. Whilst I don't have any useful information to input here I am grateful and thankful for all the comments in this thread makes me feel like I made the right decision to stick by what I have.
Folks, I am normally the sort of guy who likes to have a good laugh and take the mick, but this ABS blade problem is beyond a joke. I would like to say I am one of the lucky ones (mines a non-abs) but I feel genuinely sorry for those who are having problems with their ABS blades/600 rr's. Your bike is your pride and joy so I understand something like this would seriously piss you off. Dealers must be in a difficult position as if they used it as an excuse if you tried to part ex it for a non ABS it would be admitting fault. The poor bloke who has just discovered that it occurs with his SP must be seething. Can or is there any possibility you could return your bike and just ask for your money back? They need to address this problem/fault/mistake now or I will not be buying another blade and this one I have now is my seventh.
Just out of morbid curiosity here but is there anything that Trading Standards can do about it? Reason being is that back in 2005 I had an issue with a Brabus Roadster the ABS warning light was constantly showing and despite numerous trips to mercedes they still couldn't find the fault. The believed that the car might be leaking water so wanted to change all of the seals and in doing so managed to cover the interior with glue. I went nuts they then wanted to change the ECU by this point 6 months had gone by and the problem had still not gone away. I logged a case with trading standards who informed me that unless the dealer had fixed the problem within 6 months (this is what they deem a reasonable time frame) then I was entitled to exchange the car for another one of exactly same spec colour etc or a full refund. Something to do with the Sales of Goods Act 1974 I believe. Not sure but could be worth you logging the fault with Trading Standards now so at least you have a case reference number and give that to the dealer when they are fixing your bike. The case stays open until you tell Trading Standards the outcome and if you are happy or not to close the case? I used the same thing when the engine on my R1 blew up just after 3k miles and it was 3 weeks out of warranty the dealers wouldn't touch it but because the bike was on finance I went to trading standards who beat up the finance company who in turn beat up the dealership and low and behold I was given a new R1 as a replacement. It can be a long drawn out process but it is free to log a case with Trading Standards and they will act on your behalf should you wish to press the issue of a replacement for say a non ABS SP or a full complete refund. Not sure if that is of any help to you mate might be worth a shot costs nothing to ask them?
Is this worth someone contacting the Watchdog tv programme team, as it doesn't seem like anyone is getting any answers from a company as big as Honda on their own.
I hope the OP gets satisfaction from the dealer on this; I understood the SP had a updated, race derived version of C-ABS! My C-ABS seems to be working very well at the moment (I have had problems in the past), but with my bike out of warranty, I have done my best to learn how to maintain the system. I rode the bike on Sunday & have to say the brakes felt strong & dependable. The thing is though, due to past experience, I don't trust it; it has really taken the shine of an otherwise great bike for me. I have already decided to remove the system if it ever happens again; so far as I understand, its a simple process which involves installing conventional lines. The redundant components can be left if place or removed. The only downside I'm currently aware of is the yellow abs light will remain lit all the time; I could live with that.
I've posted this before but it has happened once at +165mph, my ABS just seemed to really reduce my braking just like major brake fade. No lights, no lever to bars. Luckily it was on a track day and the strait had a massive run off. see here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te6c1Evpfps#t=109 I come in at about 2 mins. At this point I'm max on the anchors, watch the other braking around me as a reference. Went to see a a suspension guy after this and he softened my suspension a tad and it didn't happen again for the rest of the day. Since then I've bled the brakes a few times (and upgraded the forks) and it has never happened again.
Very sorry to hear all these tails of woe, but if people do remove the ABS system do you tell your insurance company as it will be a modification, and if you don't tell them and crash they could blame the modification ????
It does stink of a cover up given that abs has been on their models since 09 and they still haven't got it right? Considering that I had a 10 plate S1KRR and the abs on that was spot on never once had an incident with that. Kentblade - Do you have a copy of a report or anything that you have generated with the fault? I have a friend in the Motorcycle press who rides a Daytona 675R so not in a pocket of Honda so to speak in fact since the 3rd Class ruling in MotoGP the other day he's been pretty livid with Honda to be honest. If you want pop me a PM with the details or a copy of your report I can pass it on to him to see if he can get it any coverage at all. Can't make any promises but I will try my best...
Sorry to hear about the problems and hope it gets fixed quickly and properly. Sadly given people's recent dealings with Honda I am not surprised and I am going to believe it
hmmm, I'll be keeping a close eye on my decals this weekend at delivery. There were 2 things I didn't like moving to the C-ABS in 2012. The immediate weight penalty and the mentioned peculiarity at low speed with the brake pressure. At the track the system behaved fine but puttering through traffic it would suddenly drop off and no amount of lever pumping would bring it back. Then suddenly the lever firmed up I think the heat down here exacerbates the issue. I was going to get braided lines had I kept it. Fortunately down here we're only receiving non-abs SP's which I am very happy about.
I've spoken to my friend in the press he is going to pass on details of some direct contact of his one of them is at MCN hopefully we can get this brought to light by somebody in the press before somebody gets hurt. If anybody wants details of these contacts please PM me for their info and I will give you their details.
Oh!... I'm so glad a went with analog braking!... Good old fashion manual pressure, lever direct to pads! My apologies now as I don't mean to offend but I feel the c-abs is little more than a marketing sales pitch ploy and a gimmick! Now I am not saying it doesn't work I'm not saying that at all!... But at the launch there was massive hype! An amazing system? Then it was said it's not much cop on track causing the bike to run wide (rear brake flattening the bike before the corner) I just don't think it needed on a litre sportsbike but an adventure bike that's different story! I have real concerns about it's failure at speed! I have never had a lock up no matter how hard I've pushed and I don't take the Blade out in ice or snow etc! So I feel I don't need it! It's expensive to maintain and owners have all claimed that the abs light has flickered on them! Making them feel if they didn't have it they would have been off! But that could be easily programmed into the system by Honda to make you feel justified for needing it! I've no doubts I will be bombarded by those for the system! It just my opinion and how I feel about it! My apologies again but feel quite strongly about all the problems that seam to be popping up with the guys that have it when I just don't think it's needed! I would rather rely on my judgment than a electronics to bring me to a halt! Sorry again
Trev I agree the whole abs brake assistance safety thing probably isn't needed on bikes but major influences such as the EU told bike manufactures good few years back now that they would be making it mandatory that all bikes be fitted with the same sort of safety features that have been fitted to cars (where possible) this led to the manufactures scrambling to find or develop abs systems that are small enuff to work on a bike. Now Most manufactures opted to go for a pre designed & build system such as the popular tried and tested Bosch system found on many European bikes and tweak it to suit the particular model its being fitted to but Honda decided they wanted to one up the completion and go on there own and develop this fly by wire concept so the rider wouldn't be able to feel the abs operating like you do on cars or the other systems available at the time! In doing so I feel Honda rushed this through deveopment and stuck it on the blade and it's baby brother just so they could say they were first to have a production fly by wire abs system on a bike! If it worked so well and has no issues why hasn't it been deployed on the other Honda abs equipped fleet of machines? They have since spent every year tweaking with the ECU software revisions and the system still has the same issues and problems now that it did when it was first released 5 years ago but any mention that the system is flawed is quickly dispatched and covered up, to the point that Honda told VOSA they are unaware of any previous instances where they have been told about the lever coming to the bar or the brakes just not being there upon first pull of the lever. Yet people have invoices and paperwork showing that Honda warranty have authorised the replacement of various components (sometimes multiple system components of which there are only 5 main ones in the abs system) but the company line still remains "we have not seen or heard of that happening before!" from the customer service staff! I still can't understand why when Jims's bike was taken away for months for testing why wasn't the people who could replicate the fault over and over again not asked to attend the testing to show Honda and others attending how to replicate the problem so they could see and deal with it rather than just sending the bike away to more techs who just get handed a bit of paper saying test the brakes as the lever comes to the bar, and try they might but are unable to get the lever to the bar! Or if they did it was reported back as fine and the bike then shipped back to its owner without any alteration to fix the problem! Unless Honda didn't was to really want to find and highlight the fault!
I have tweeted a guy from MCN to ask what he knows, and will direct him here if he decides to follow up on it.
So sorry to hear about your SP. I have a 2010 and the lever came back to the bar at 240 kmh! Lucky for me it was at the track and there was plenty of run off for me to slow the bike down and stop shaking. What happened was as I approached my braking marker, I started to apply the front brake but then realised I was still too early so released and then got on the brake hard. And that is when the lever came all the way back to the bar and I found my balls in mouth. It had happened a couple of times before at slow speed in traffic so the honda service center loaned me a 2013 abs ecu to see if the problem gets solved. Obviously not. Since then I unplugged the power supply to the abs units, the abs ecu, installed non abs brake lines and stuck a Mickey Mouse sticker over the blinking abs light on the dashboard. At least I know exactly how the brakes are going to work when I enter a corner.
