My bike is now 3 years old 8000 miles and up to last week I would have said abs but after a couple of corner incidents this week I'm not so sure? It. Is also noteworthy that honda want £360 to change the fluid on an abs
I love a gambler, spends 12 large, and then hopes it works, top man. The reality is that with some ABS Blades all you have is hope when approaching a queue of traffic
I absolutely ADORE my anniversary edition with Non ABS...all Im saying is I wasn't so keen on my 2010 with ABS. Its such a gamble but i personally would pick up the phone and get the easier to service and old fashioned NON ABS version and then just start SMILING YOUR ARSE OFF!
I called the dealer today and no bike sale men working although the chap I spoke to said changing spec should be possible if I phone early Tom morn.. I getting regrets now not a nice feeling tbh
I've got the 2014 abs and had no problems at all. Whilst some may have had problems there must be a reason why Honda and vosa do not see (what on the surface would appear), to be a catastrophic safety failure as a problem. The 2004 blade had a recall because there was a chance that a fuel line could be damaged after the tank was lifted, so why wouldn't they recall for something as serious as brake failure?
If Honda had a recall for an ABS problem they would have to have a solution to remedy the problem. That could mean replacing all ECUs etc and could be very expensive. I don't have an ABS bike and so can't say I have had a problem with it, however if I was in the market for a new bike it would not be one with Honda C-ABS on it. There might not be a problem and we are only seeing a relatively few problems, but Honda's response hasn't been the best and as said why haven't they fitted it to more models? Also why haven't other manufacturers gone for a similar system?
Honda make parts for Honda bikes, most other makes use Brembo who will sell their system to any manufacturer that's prepared to pay for it! The reason it's not on more Hondas is due to the cost of the system.
To answer your question sp1n99, VOSA was fed a Honda UK prepped bike, not a customer machine that had issues.......go figure yourself. Honda press bikes failed whilst on test by journos.......they put it in print and reported it.........when those journos were contacted they refused to discuss it.......go figure again....how do they make their living? One journo at a respected weekly publication put his head above the wall and asked for guinea pigs to write in with their experiences, then they were going to hold a test day with these owners with failed bikes..............a number of us sent in our details and experiences............then silence.....again go figure.......the conspiracy theory grows, maybe he is in a Siberian salt mine by now on an all expenses paid one way trip, maybe funded by a far eastern motorcycle manufacturer. Why didn't Honda recall the RR4-RR7 bikes that has mag sumps eaten away by galvanic corrosion and were left with oil flinging up all over the rear tyre....I cant even figure that one, and left their loyal customers to pick up the bill gain. They have form in this area of admitting mistakes.....its called f**king arrogance. Lastly Honda do not make all the components on a bike, they work with suppliers to design and manufacture them, hence you will find Tokico calipers on a number of different Japanese makes, Honda are an assembly operation by and large.
Bosch do the wizardry on other bikes not Brembo who provide the calipers. Honda went alone thinking they could do a better job!
I suspect this one will run & run. I had the brake failure issue; imo triggered by feathering the lever (brake a little, release a little but not all the way, brake a little more). I was in traffic on both occasions when it happened & was using the brake lever to adjust speed (as you do). I decided to learn how the system works & how to maintain it; this was 3-years ago & touch wood, I have not had a repeat. I also stopped feathering the brake lever; now I brake & release fully, then brake again. I'm not sure which change has had the most benefit, but the first time I did a full bleed, the front power unit contained a lot of air. When is works; I think it is a great system. When it doesn't, it changes how you feel about your bike & how you ride. I have always said that if it happens again, I will remove the abs system; its an easy fix; all you need are standard brakes lines from the MC to the calipers.
It's quite possible as abs is mandatory on all 125+ motorbikes from 2016. They obviously don't want to get caught out with unsold, non-abs bikes going into next year.
Ok, so the manager of John banks. He spent a good 10 mins telling me that the honda system is all fixed now and how that anybody with complaints would be owners of the ealier bikes 12 plates and older and that the problems had been ironed out. I asked what the issue was and he said that they have a revised ECU?? That nobody on here seems to know about.. strange Anyway I said to him can you still supply me with a non ABS tri colour and he said he could. So I said thanks for taking the time to explain it all to me but I want to change my order to non ABS just for my piece of mind. So it's still all go.
John Banks, would that be the Busy St Edmunds one? I was in the on Saturday first thing. Where abouts are you?
