'06 RT whizzy brakes query.

milleplod

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I've just bought this bike to replace my written-off 1200ST - it has the earlier, 'whizzy' servo brakes. I'd intended to have the system removed at the back end of the year, the ST didn't have it, and it seems overly-complex and expensive to sort should it go wrong......which brings me to my question! I have searched, honest, but couldn't find an answer, feel free to make derisory comments if I missed it.....:D

Anyway, the bike's been riding fine, no issues, no warning lights. I've been in the garage today, fitting a Garmin powered mount - I found the GPS socket, connected an adapter to the mount's wiring, plugged it in, put the Zumo in the mount......turned the ignition on.....no power to the mount would you believe, but that's another story.....the servo made its little whizzy noise, and I caught the brake lever with the back of my hand, making it whizz a bit more. Ignition off, check wiring and connections.....ignition on, short whizz.....red 'brake failure' light comes on and flashes once a second. Not noticed it doing that before. Switch off, back on, same again, its flashing all the time, and when engine's running, there's no warning triangle though, that goes out.

Have I buggered something up? Or does that warning come on every time and go out once the bike's moving....I can't recall? Yes, I know I could go out for a run, but I can't be arsed to put the gear on! Handbook says it means 'ABS function unavailable in at least one brake circuit'

Pete
 
Why would you remove the abs while it works?
I have the servo brakes and find them excellent. Just flush the brakefluid if you dont have documentation as of when it was done last time and repeat every second year.
Enjoy the comfort and safety of the abs system.

If you want to bleed the brake system and dont know how, google jvbproduction. Jim does a service dvd specific for the bike which shows and talks you through the process (among other service work).

The abs allways shows the warning light at engine start. It has by then run through its self check cycle but waits to verify that the wheel sensors work. Once you ride of, the wheel sensors give the signal of the moving wheels and the self check is completed...the warning light disapears.
 
Why would you remove the abs while it works?
I have the servo brakes and find them excellent. Just flush the brakefluid if you dont have documentation as of when it was done last time and repeat every second year.
Enjoy the comfort and safety of the abs system.

If you want to bleed the brake system and dont know how, google jvbproduction. Jim does a service dvd specific for the bike which shows and talks you through the process (among other service work).

The abs allways shows the warning light at engine start. It has by then run through its self check cycle but waits to verify that the wheel sensors work. Once you ride of, the wheel sensors give the signal of the moving wheels and the self check is completed...the warning light disapears.

Well, it was my idea to do it prior to my annual ride through France to Spain - having only ever done the run over the last 20-odd years on ABS-free bikes, the thought of being stranded with ABS failure on a servo-bike, and so at the tender mercies of French or Spanish dealers, fills me with dread! :)

I've been a fan of Jim's instructionals for years, will look up the brake fluid flush one. :thumb2

Pete
 
Why would you remove the abs while it works?
I have the servo brakes and find them excellent. Just flush the brakefluid if you dont have documentation as of when it was done last time and repeat every second year.
Enjoy the comfort and safety of the abs system.

If you want to bleed the brake system and dont know how, google jvbproduction. Jim does a service dvd specific for the bike which shows and talks you through the process (among other service work).

The abs allways shows the warning light at engine start. It has by then run through its self check cycle but waits to verify that the wheel sensors work. Once you ride of, the wheel sensors give the signal of the moving wheels and the self check is completed...the warning light disapears.

The problem with servo brakes is that when they work well and are powerful. But when they fail you have virtually no brakes at all. Jjh
 
The problem with servo brakes is that when they work well and are powerful. But when they fail you have virtually no brakes at all. Jjh

That was also a concern! :) I read somewhere that, without the servo, you get around 20% of usual braking force.....gulp, that could be an arse-twitching experience! :eek:

I've just been on the phone to a local, old-school mechanic, to ask if he could do a fluid flush/change - 'no problem' says Eric 'you should get that servo system removed, I've done no end, got a box of 'em in the back'. £200 all-in, everything working properly afterwards, no warning lights......its the future! :D

Pete
 
Id say 10%. Personal experience. It does seem stupid to remove a perfectly working system but it makes sense. Their at least 10 years old now. JJH
 
Ta!.....mind sort of at rest now! Mind you, its 'only' £400 to have the worry permanently removed, so I can see me doing it sooner rather than later.

Pete

The bike will brake ok with a failed ABS so why not wait until it packs up?
 
The bike will brake ok with a failed ABS so why not wait until it packs up?

No it won’t. That’s the point of getting rid. If the brakes worked when the servo failed there would be no point of doing a servoectomy. Your advice is wrong and dangerous. JJH
 
No it won’t. That’s the point of getting rid. If the brakes worked when the servo failed there would be no point of doing a servoectomy. Your advice is wrong and dangerous. JJH

Everything I've read points to seriously reduced braking force when the servo packs up. The owner's handbook refers to, in the case of failure, 'only a residual braking function is available.....and you must apply a higher pressure in order to apply the brakes....and lever travel is longer'. That seems to understate it a bit! :eek:

I'm more than inclined to have it removed!

Pete
 
Pete you can test your residual braking by simply turning off the ignition when you are on a nice straight bit of road

It will give you an idea of what they would be like if they failed

p.s. drop me a line if you want to do a removal
 
I rode a mates 1200 with a failed servo before I removed it for him.
The problem wasn't the residual braking.
It was not knowing what you were going to get when you used the brakes.
You would squeeze extra hard,expecting residual braking and about go over the handle bars as the servo decided to cut in.
Or expect the servo and not get it, and a strange mixture of both.
It was so bad I removed the perfectly working system off my own bike straight after I did his.
 
I rode a mates 1200 with a failed servo before I removed it for him.
The problem wasn't the residual braking.
It was not knowing what you were going to get when you used the brakes.
You would squeeze extra hard,expecting residual braking and about go over the handle bars as the servo decided to cut in.
Or expect the servo and not get it, and a strange mixture of both.
It was so bad I removed the perfectly working system off my own bike straight after I did his.

Do you offer the service...?!! If so, I'm in! :D

Tbh, I never thought of it doing an 'on-off' sort of failure.....that sounds really scary! :eek:

Pete
 
Last week I added two more servo/abs modulators from customers bikes to my huuuuuuge pile of removed units. The only the reliable about them is their unreliability............ Removing them from an RT is a fecking pain,getting into the instrument cluster, arrrhhhhhhgggggg
 


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