NHTSA Complaint #10903400 — 2010 HARLEY-DAVIDSON FLTRX

COMPLETE REAR BRAKE FAILURE, NO WARNING. STOP-AND-GO RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC ON THE INTERSTATE. I WAS GOING ABOUT 30 MPH AND TRAFFIC AHEAD WAS SLOWING. I PRESSED THE REAR BRAKE PEDAL AND IT WAS STUCK... WOULD NOT MOVE. ABSOLUTELY NO REAR BRAKES AT ALL. LUCKILY I WAS ABLE TO REACT QUICK ENOUGH TO GRAB THE FRONT BRAKE TO AVOID AN ACCIDENT. I NURSED THE BIKE THE LOCAL HARLEY DEALER AND THEY KNEW EXACTLY WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS, ABS CONTROL MODULE FAILURE. IN FACT, A BIKE PULLED OUT AS I WAS THERE WITH THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM. THE PART IS CURRENTLY BACKORDERED SO THEY SENT BOTH US OUT THE DOOR WITH KNOWINGLY FAULTY BRAKES BECAUSE THE PARTS TO FIX IT ARE UNAVAILABLE. I UNDERSTAND PART FAILURES. BUT, THE FAILURE OF THE ABS SYSTEM SHOULD NOT CAUSE A COMPLETE BRAKE FAILURE. THIS COULD HAVE BEEN VERY SERIOUS. A LESSOR EXPERIENCED RIDER WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO AVOID AN ACCIDENT.