5 owners submitted all their details direct to then, as yet no more movement. Make that 4 now as I have bailed out. I hope they do see it through, but with 2 publications not even responding to e mails, I do wonder if they have all been got at by someone. TBH the omens are not looking good.
Hi to anyone reading - It is July 2020 and I have 2016 blade SP fitted with the ec Cabs system which I bought with a trade in last December. Long story short I have the problems recounted on this site.. Works fine at speed but, drop down to low speeds and a red light at junctions and the lever goes soft which is followed by a snatch stop and a flashing abs light. With light flashing I have roughly 50% pressure at the lever and scooter level brakes. Ignition turned off and on and the bike resets ... What to do? My excellent bike shop have contacted Honda and yes everything is wonderful and the bikes would have been recalled if there was a problem ... yeah. By passing with an HEL kit has been mentioned but, it is expensive ... previous posts appear to be circa 2014 - did anyone get a resolution to this? Thanks in anticipation Steve
Steve, Sorry to hear of your issues mate, and I must admit your post on this long dead thread has made me read it all again and it’s bought back some memories and some names from the past that no longer post on here. I am guessing the issue has bought you to this forum looking for answers, exactly the same reason I signed up in 2012. As far as the campaign went, the final status was this, all the bike journos that either reported issues or showed an interest in taking this up and testing members bikes disappeared into the ether, never to again to respond to e mails or respond to voicemails, not going to name and shame as I have all their names still, but let’s just say I never purchased another publication they were involved with, IMO they were decent people, but ultimately they make their living by coexisting with the manufacturers, so draw your own conclusions. VOSAs technical guru was incredibly helpful and supportive, but ultimately I was shocked to learn that even when there was a potentially serious safety issue, there was a point when a manufacturer become uncooperative they were toothless, and even the VOSA engineer had a personal heart to heart with me, that was and has remained private by agreement, that made me realise this would never get resolved in a way that would bring satisfaction to the owners. Finally Honda, what can we say now, yes they produce bikes with a working ABS system but it’s not an Honda system is it? which given all the publicity they created around it at its launch and the constant noise they made about its brilliance, anyone looking from the outside in would probably question why they ditched it after such a short period and bought a system from a German company that don’t make motorcycles is anyone guess. For my part, my dealer was brilliant, worked tirelessly to resolve the issue and finally put me on a new 14 plate Blade without ABS and made the financial transition as painless as he could, so I ended up with a bike I could trust but my faith in a manufacturer broken forever. I would never had sold the bike privately as I would not have slept at night, so I walked away with a clear conscience as the dealer was fully aware of all the issues. The bike I owned did not surface for sale at said dealers again for a long time, and if you check it’s MOT history now, has hardly covered any miles in 6 years and it’s MOT expired a year ago, so could be a multitude of reasons why, who knows. So there you have the history of the campaign, to my knowledge there was never a resolution from the manufacturer as they never admitted there was a problem, and the official line was always rider error. I guess all the owners at that time either ripped the system out or bailed out as I did, I am not sure if any of them are still posting on here, but if they are I am sure they will add their stories to this. For me after 40+ years of motorcycling, it’s the only bike that I honestly felt would end up killing me through no fault of my own, and after the bikes I’ve owned and the style I have ridden at certain points of my life, I had come close to that point through my own failings enough times to make me wonder how ironic it would be if a system that was designed to make it safer would end up being the undoing of me, think I posted at one time, it was like playing Russian roulette and 5 chambers had already fired blanks and the gun was coming back to me. If you ever read the story of how the original Blade was developed and how Baba-san bought in Euro test riders and why, then you will understand why Honda were never going to admit anything was wrong with the system, it’s just ingrained Japanese corporate culture IMO. Sorry as this won’t actually resolve your issue, but suffice to say not every owner on this forum suffered issues, and again this forum is only a snapshot of owners as not every owner is on a forum, so knowing the true scale of the issue is impossible.
Hello and thank you for the quick, comprehensive and well written response to my post.. Yes, it feels like Russian roulette - I have the 2 options replace the system or move her on ... I will probably replace the system. My first Honda after countless years of riding and she is a class bike except the brakes ... no surprise about manufacturers not doing the right thing - I will not buy another Triumph after mechanical defects that I had .. BMW are the best for warranty recalls and back up at least until the recent past.. I joined the forum as a new but, interested owner and discovered the brake issues shortly after ... CV19 stopped me doing much about it until now.. I will remain and your helpful response is a ray of light in this saga - thank you Steve
Just a personal opinion, but with the benefit of hindsight, I would have ripped the whole bucket of shite out and that would have been the end of the issue. I purchased without any thought to the braking system a few days after my RR6 was nicked and I needed wheels for commuting urgently as I knew the whole insurance process would take weeks or months. Worst decision I have ever made on a bike purchase. The 14-16 Blades are fantastic and with the added benefits of the wheels, brakes, and suspension the SP is a great bike, so if it was mine, I’d rip it off and enjoy what is a great bike, added benefit is it loses countless kilos of flab and you can bleed the brakes in minutes rather than hours or days, and know at the end of it they will work first time and every time. For what’s its worth, and again only a personal theory, the whole operation relies on a stroke simulator sending an electronic message to the ECU that you are pulling the lever and also gives the artificial feel of resistance on the lever you get from a non ABS system, the amount of riders who complain the lever collapses back to the bar with no resistance and the bike does not brake but on release and reapply works normally suggests to me there is an issue between the sensor and signal not reaching the ECU, unfortunately and no criticism of the dealer techs who worked on them is that they were just as much in the dark as the owners, there were multiple layers of failures with the introduction of this system, from the original ECUs being faulty and too small a memory to upgrade leading to the flat battery issues, to suspected heat on the front power motor causing the failures and the time it takes trained factory techs to bleed the system and so on and on, looked at from a distance, the whole design was complete corporate arrogance to say we can do it better than anyone else, I think history has proven that was not the case and it lost Honda a lot of loyal customers in the sports bike category. The ABS fiasco has been reported around the world on multiple forums and websites, it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to work out where the issue lies, and IMO the suggestion constantly pushed out by HMUK at the time of all this being rider error is a disgrace and a insult to their loyal customers. Just one last point, you said bypassing it with a HEL kit was expensive, look at it my way, do you want go out and every time you ride it have that nagging doubt in your mind the next time you pull the lever it might not stop, as that’s what I had multiple times from motorway speeds, in the end you get quite blasé, and let off and go back on, but maybe one day that won’t work....who knows, and that £100 for 3 brake lines just might be the last thing that goes through your mind....just saying it the way I see it.
I tried to insure a 14 plate Blade that had it's ABS removed earlier this year. Tried Bennetts, explained why someone would do this and it's just a conversion to "non ABS" it went to the underwriters and they wouldn't even quote me on it because of the "modification" Anyone actually told their insurance after removing ABS ?
