I have a 2010 C-ABS and have owned it for 6 months now and i use it for commuting to work a lot of the time and in all weather conditions. I haven't experienced fault mode but have had excessive travel on the brake lever (not quite back to the bar) which since I've stopped myself feathering the brakes has disappeared, Ive just put it down to a quirk of that system.
Anyone with a MY 2012 got any feedback as I believe the system had a fair update on this model? (Barney, get out there in the wet and pop me a few 3 second wheelies then as the wheel comes down, lay it down hard right or left and nail the front brake on!) Don't worry about crashing, it's all for the greater cause!
I had a big fault with my non ABS Hayabusa. The complete front brake system suddenly didn't work at all while I was driving........and when I had to brake. Some how, I managed to stop the bike without having an accident, I was more than lucky on that day.
Only pulling yer leg Paul. I wish I had that feeling again of waiting for a new bike to be delivered.
Same with me on my 59 c-abs, only happened whilst feathering whilst filtering, just use a dab more rear and bought some asv's and adjusted to ensure they never pull right back to the grip.
Exactly the saem on my 2010 ABS, commute daily, and occasionally get longer travel just before coming to a halt when feathering, you soon learn to ride around it and stop doing it. For me the main issue, is just the same as it was with cars when ABS started to become popular, nowadays in a car, no consideration of braking hard and locking up like the old days when I grew up!, if you plug up a lot of miles on an ABS bike, its just human nature that you ride to the way the machine feels, when you jump back on a non ABS bike you suddenly realise that you have been braking a lot harder on the ABS...simply because you can in all conditions...just have to retrain the brain a bit.
Yep, last 3 bikes have been Honda C-ABS, commute in all weathers, not that I rely on it but it has saved me a couple of times were otherwise I would be kissinf the balck stuff. My roadcraft is pretty good but you can't always second guess some of the other numpties on the road
well mine went back to Dobles today after throwing another fault code at the weekend, Im pretty fed up with this now. The bike is only 6 months old and this in and out of dealer is costing me time, money and my work holiday. I will definately not buy another ABS model personally..I have already spoken to the sales dept about buying it back in exchange for a non abs version. Ill let you know how this story pans out when I get me bike back.
Sorry to hear of your continued woes Zippy; I hope it gets sorted to your satifaction soon. I changed the fluid on mine at weekend & to my surprise, quite a bit of air came out. Looking at the nipples etc, it is obvious that others have worked on it in the past. My levers are now pretty solid at standstill & I have the overide switch installed to switch it off if prefered; just need to get out & try it. As a point of interest, I would like to see a poll (don't know how to do it myself) to gauge a % of abs owners who have had problems; something like Do you own a non-abs? Do you own an abs? If you own an abs, have you had problems with it? Its easy to find people on the net who have had problems, but I am guessing the percentage must be very low when compared to the number of bikes out there.
An update on the zipster machine: According to Dobles it seems that the god awful winter road salt has not only been helping corrode my ABS nuts and bolts but has also seized up my callipers (pads to the pots to be exact) and that a good pry apart and massive clean will see the end of my ABS woes (dont forget that they also bled the entire system of air stating that was causing the error faults). I also complained about the early corrosion of my abs nuts etc and a patch of corrosion on my exhaust, well to my surprise at the request of Dobles, Mr Honda has agreed to replace the exhaust system. So as soon as that gets in to Dobles Theyll fit and shes all mine again. I also got them to fit some BT023s which will offer me a bit more mileage and more grip than the bald Qualifiers Ive worn out. Hoping to get it back for saturday, got to train down to pick her up though! pictures of faults and corrosion after 6 months via the below link - password is 'dobles' CANON iMAGE GATEWAY
Yep same corrosion on mine particularly the abs brackets bolts and the underside of exhaust can, same as in your pics, 2010 bike but was unmarked and unused in wet conditions when I bought it last July at 4K miles, a few months salt and its starting to look like shite, don't make Hondas like they used too, never seen one go this bad this fast before.
Just in case Im not the only idiot in the paddock... I learnt something from Dobles that I have never heard before, apparently by washing down my machine because of the winter road salt Ive made things worse!? Why? i hear you cry because 'apparently' by using warm water Ive helped advance the corrosion! apparently mr Road salt loves warm water as it adds crystallisation. so if your washing your bike down from winter shite, use the freezin cold stuff to avoid nastiness. hope it helps the other numskulls like me
You are right there its sort of well known and perhaps should be included within the English section of the manual .Me I get home let it cool and then give it a good hose down and then a spray of muc off and a hose then a warm soapy sponge down and another hose .never any issue .Where folks come unstuck is when you get home and can't be arsed and park it up and then wash it 2days later (too late its already rotten ).
Douse the mofo in FS365 after every wet ride, it kills the corrosive effect of salt. Like Dobles said warm water in winter is a no-no, it just dissolves the salts and spreads it everywhere( and amplifies the effect). I also use Sdoc cleaner, spray it on before a wash, it also kills the corrosive stuff and adds a protective layer. That said surprised it caused your callipers to sieze, if that was the case most car owners would be having problems. Us bikers are a little more meticulous on the cleaning front.
