S50 Brake problem!!!

Q

QueenOfChaos

New member
Well I laid my brand new bike down today and as expected I'm a bit pissed but the reason has me even more so.

For the second time I pulled on the brake handle and NO BRAKES! The first time it happened luckily I had time to make adjustments to get them to work by pumping them several times. I took the bike back into the dealer that same day and they said there was air in the brake lines but they had bled them and removed the air and the problem should be corrected. Well this time same problem but I was actually traveling slower so I didn't start to brake until later and with no brakes it came down to me and bike go out into traffic or just the bike. Instinctually I dropped the bike into first gear and tried to lay on the rear brake as much as I could which essentially put the bike in a slide which without front brakes is extremely dificult to control, all in all it worked though allowing me to lay the bike down and bring it to a stop a little less than a foot out of the intersecting lane of traffic still causing some drivers to swerve but other than a few minor scrapes I escaped without bodily harm. The bike on the otherhand didn't fair as well it tore off both front and rear signals and bent the foot peg up into the gear shift.

So now heres my question for all of you what recourse do I have now? One I don't really feel safe riding the bike anymore since this is the second time this has happened. And two I feel like since the accident was caused by faulty equipment(that the dealer already inspected and said was fixed once) that either the dealer or suzuki should be responsible to fix the damage?

Please let me know your thoughts I plan to call my attorney in the morning too to see what he thinks but also wanted some ideas from some people on here as to how I approach the dealer with the problem. Thanks.
 
Good luck with that. It does seem logical and fair. Just having an actual lawyer's name to drop might be very helpful.

Now to the real problem: If there is no fluid leak (the fluid level is still OK) and the failure was a collapsed lever with no resistance then there are only two possible causes. 1) The caliper(s) fell apart. or 2) The master cylinder is bad. Most likely #2.

Don't buy their bull crap answer a second time. Air in the lines does NOT cause total brake failure AND air does not GET into the lines if the system is in good working order.

On the last Kaw I owned, the master cylinder went bad at about 1,000 miles. Thankfully, it had a secondary safety on the piston and wouldn't fail completely but the lever would mush down about half way before catching. I had to argue with 2 different dealers over a 6 month period before they replaced the master cylinder and fixed the problem.

And can't leave without saying this: You should get in the habit of using BOTH brakes ALL the time for a variety of reasons; mostly situations similar to what happened to you but caused by different reasons.

Good luck with your repairs!
Glad YOU came out undamaged. (Guess I'm assuming that).
 
Glad you are OK. I agree, a bad master cylinder is probably the culprit, or maybe a leaking bango bolt- it does not take much air to screw the system up, so you might not get a noticable fluid leak. Or it may be a simple as something in the fluid blocking a tiny passage in the master cylinder, like a tiny piece of gasket. A brake ssytem is pretty simple, so fixing it should not be a problem.
I'd definately find a new dealer though.
 
Ah that totally sucks!!!

I'm glad you weren't seriously injured. I'd have an independent mechanic check it over and give a report on the brake system. Then take it to your insurance company with the information from the mechanic and have them make the claim back from the dealership that failed to set up your bike correctly.
 
So the bike has been at the dealership since friday and so far no real word from them. When I call they say they are still waiting to hear back from suzuki but yet they also tell me they haven't been able to duplicate the brake failure I was experiencing and they will let me know when they know more. My attorney has advised me with the wait and see approach but how long do I wait?
 
Sorry you laid it down. Happy you were not seriously hurt.

Other comments:
1. Why did you instinctually lay the bike down? Even with rear brake only...I would expect the bike to slow down faster/better when brakes were slowing down the wheel, rather than the bike sliding across asphalt.

2. How long you wait will be up to the attorney...if you're to use his services. However, "since Friday" isn't really that long. Likely, they smell $ in repairs and want to see what they can say is broke that you'll want to replace. They could also just be waiting for Suzuki headquarters to approve or not approve repairs...which seems to be the case.

3. How much time between:
A) them "fixing" brakes and your 2nd mishap?
B) you using brakes w/o problem and your 2nd mishap?
 
1. Well really I wouldn't say so much that I laid it down rather I bailed off and pulled it down at the last second to first keep myself from entering traffic in the intersection and two try to keep the bike from entering as much as possible. I had already slowed the bike significantly with a a down shift and the rear brake but it wasn't quite enough so I basically at the last second tried to stop the bike manually by pulling the bike over as I came off. So ya I almost had it completely stopped it just had slightly more momentum than I had stregnth to stop it and traveled only another 3-4 feet from where I came off(pretty much just the distance it took to fall over) unfortunately that distance took it just far enough out into traffic I could've got hit but luckily the first car swerved and I was able to pull the bike back out of the lane before the next one came by. Luckily my wife was behind me in my truck when it happened so I didn't have to worry about the traffic behind me but I think it might have shook her up more than it did me. I hope this makes sense its kind of hard to explain and details are tough cause it all happened so fast.

3. a)the first brake problem was "fixed" with about 30 miles on the bike, the accident occured at just over 500 miles. b)I've barely owned the bike a month so this has all taken place in less than that amount of time.
 
Oh I also want to say thanks for all of you guys concern that I made it out safe. Which really is my main concern here the damage to the bike is minimal it just broke off both turn signals and bent the foot peg a little bit. My main concern is getting the brake problem fixed so this doesn't happen again and so I can feel safe riding it again. Them fixing the damage is just reassurance that they fully inspected the problem and corrected it with my knowing that they wouldn't want to have to pay the cost of fixing it again.
 
There's another possible cause that I didn't see mentioned. If the rotor is warped, the oscillation will gradually open the slave cylinder by spreading the pads. This would result in a soft lever, requiring several pumps to correct.
 
Well so much for having a reputable dealer, mine sucks! So ya got the bike back today the dealer says they were unable to find any problems with the brakes so they aren't going to fix anything for me and Suzuki says since the dealer couldn't find anything there's nothing they can do either. I guess I'll have do do like the old saying goes if you want it done right you have to do it yourself! However, the dealer did give me the full write up on everything they did and and it seems pretty through so I'm not sure really where to start. ERRRR so far this transition into the world of cruisers is not going smoothly!!!! Been riding motorcycles for over 10 years and never have experienced a problem like this on any of the dirt bikes or sport bikes I've owned! Thanks for all the help though guys!
 
You need to talk to your attorney again. Then try a different dealer. I went through this before with my bike. One dealer's "service" department was about as qualified to work on bikes as I am. Not very. Try another dealer and see if a different set of eyes can find something wrong. Oh, and trailer the bike there.
 
:plus1:
Contact the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Tell them that your bike has tried to kill you.....twice.....because of brake failure that the dealer and Suzuki can't seem to fix. THAT should get some feathers flying.

Start here:
http://firstgov.gov/
 
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