Harley Davidson V-Rod Forum banner

WARNING!!! Failure Rear brake Nightrod Special 2008

64K views 69 replies 51 participants last post by  Cwinne22 
#1 ·
WARNING!!! Rear brake Nightrod Special 2008

I will tell you something can be very useful about your safety.
Some day ago, going back home, I braked with the rear brake, nothing, it did not work, I pushed more times, nothing, the bike did not stop, the rear brake was not working.
At the last minute I used the front brake, I was going very slowly and at few centimeters form my automatic gate, ok I stopped the bike.The sensation was terrible, really scaring.

In some situation I use more the rear brake, in the traffic etc.

This is what's happened:
I checked the bike, the rear brake, and I found out the oil coming out from the start of the oil pipe, exactly at the start of the rear brake oil pump.
The assistance come and with surprise they found out the problem.
The oil pipe (it is metal made), from the start of the oil pump, was touching the exhaust manifold, the heat fused the pipe, and after 1000 Km the oil came out.
Check that the rear brake oil pipe does not touch the exhaust manifold

The bike is a VRSCDXA Nightrod Special 2008, it has 1.000 Km, it seems that the 2008 models have this problem.
Take care and go to your dealer for checking that there is no contact with the rear brake oil pipe!
Contact me for any question.
 

Attachments

See less See more
1
#27 ·
Welcome, and thanks for the heads up on the breakline.
 
#29 ·
Ok, at the end, the brake line was replaced with a new one, but this time with more distance between exaust and brake line...let'hope ;) ... 1 cm more or less.
The assistance from the dealer was excellent.

I would have appreciated a letter form H-D :deal: ...anyway...
 
#30 ·
Just checked my line and it is rather close but not fused or close enough to become fused from what I can see. I will be having mine in for the 1K run and will have them check it out.

When breaking always however use both breaks. As stated in earlier post most of your breaking comes from the front break. You must have come from dirt bikes like me where you just jack the rear break all the time. ;)
 
#31 ·
Thanks for the heads up! After reading this thread I checked mine too. I can slip a finger between the line and the exhaust, so it seems ok for now. I'll keep an eye on it. But it seems that much heat in close proximity to the brake line can be detrimental to braking anyway. What do I know though? I don't engineer 'em, I just ride 'em! ;)

STRAN
 
#33 ·
Thanks for the heads up guys ..... this is what forums are all about !

I just checked my two week old DX and guess what, 1/8th" clearance only between the pipe and exhaust. As a temporary measure I slightly loosened the fitting at the master cylinder and rotated the pipe down, it now sits right against the frame with over 1/2" of clearance. I will be bringing it up with the dealer though.
 
#37 ·
I just checked my 1 day old (took delivery today) DX and it was the same as yours! I also moved it out about 3/8" away from the hot pipe. This should be enough.

(TheNomad - Thanks for passing along the information!!! )

Just a word of caution, when you loosened the fitting, you may have let some air bleed into the system so you may want to have the brakes bled. If you apply constant pressure on the peddle and your foot sinks, you have air in your lines.
 
#34 ·
If the MOCO won't do anything about this, then we all need to contact the NTSB & they will force a fix. Even if the line doesn't burn, the fluid can boil & make the rears usless. This looks like an idea of an industrial engineer whose job is to cost reduce, & have no clue about product function.
 
#35 ·
Grazie Nomad - ME HA SALVATA CULO! Yup went out to the garage and my line was touching the pipe. Was able to adjust/bend it off for a good 1/4 air gap now. If that sucker wasn't metal - I'd of been walking long ago.

Amazing how someone so far away can help...I love the internets.
 
#40 ·
The rear brake failed on my 07 VRSCAW during a 4 day rideout in Wales, resulting in a fire from brake fluid igniting on the hot exhaust. It made riding the hills and valley's in pouring rain more interesting, though I can't say it really caused any great drama.

The Oxford UK dealership fixed it under warranty (it was their ex demo bike) although the warranty had expired. I expected nothing less, as this had potentially serious safety implications and strongly feel there should have been a Factory recall on this. Oh yes, I had the fuel sender unit failure as well!! The replacement is not always 100 percent reliable either.

Brian
 
#41 ·
is there a bulliten number or a part number for the new style?
 
#43 ·
ttt for new style pn
 
#44 ·
Slightly off topic, but braking with just the rear brake, other than for slalom work in traffic, is asking for it anyway.
 
#47 ·
I had the rear brakes fail on my 07 Night Rod, my problem was a faulty brake lite sensor, In 24K miles I have had to replace it twice, the first time hydraulic fluid was leaking through the sensor causing the brakes not to work, the second time I had to replace it it was not leaking, but discontinued triggering the brake lite when applied.
 
#48 ·
common failure. There is an aftermarket direct replacement that is "beefier". The manufacturer of the part suggests coating the exposed threads with RTV or such to help reduce the amount of moisture being absorbed through there which they believe is the reason for the high rate of failures.
 
#51 ·
2008 Night Rod Rear Brake Failure

This seems to be a serious issue. I have a 2008 Night Rod Special 6,000 miles when the rear brake failed - cause was rear brake light switch electrical terminals melted and leaked all of the brake fluid, there is only minimal cleareance between the switch and exposed exhaust maybe 3/8". Turned complaint in to HD with no credible action. Also checked on car-safety.com, they also have multiple cases of this occurance.....This is serious someone is going to be hurt and HD, so far, doesn't seem to care? Any suggestions
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top