60mph front brake failure 06 Dyna

[banquo]

Got a rear puncture last night (scary moment), so had the wheel off tonight. The rear pads have started delaminating, and there's a load of either corrosion or bubbling adhesive where they join the backing plates. There's still plenty of meat on both pads, so it's not as if they've reached hte end of their life...
If I can find the address of the government body that deals with this , I'll post them off to them, with a copy of the correspondence on here. It's all very well posting on here, and it's good for people to know, but nothing's going to happen unless it's made official. Can't say I've got much faith that anything will come of it, but you can only try....

[banquo]

As sent to VOSA:
"Dear Sirs,
I am writing to inform you of what appears to be defective brake pads supplied by Harley-Davidson for a wide range of their motorcycles.
This has been reported extensively and repeatedly on a forum to which I subscribe, and I now have a personal experience that gives me the incentive to write to you directly.
What has been reported is the friction material detaching from the backing plates, resulting in complete brake failure, and a potentially life threatening situation.
I had cause to remove my pads today, during wheel removal, and find there are signs of delamination, with significant cracks in the friction material.
As this is a serious safety issue, I feel it should be dealt with, and I would appreciate it if you could let me know if I should forward the pads to you for appraisal.
Motorcyclists are vulnerable road users, and brake failure, even under normal conditions, to say nothing of an emergency situation, could lead to loss of life, not only of the rider and potentially their pillion, but also to other road users or pedestrians.
I believe this is cause for a full investigation, and for a safety recall, as to fail to take appropriate action may lead to fatal consequences, if in fact it has not already done so.
I look forward to hearing from you about this serious matter, hopefully with some urgency.
Yours faithfully,
J. G. Beatson"

[banquo]

I've taken some photos of the pads, and identified the manufacturer as Hayes Brake
Unlike Harley, they have contact e-mail addresses, so I have sent photos to them for comment. Being a US Company, and litigation being what it is, I don't really expect a reply, but you never know...
Photos later; got locked out of photobucket after forgetting the new password they imposed on the account...

Here they are now:












You can see that there was about 3.5mm of pad left - from memory, I think the book says to change at 1.5mm.
Just checked - it's 1.02mm....

[Gib]

Nice one, Banquo - good pics too. Did you send it to
:- VOSA Vehicle Safety Branch, Croydon St, Bristol, BS5 0DA? They're the specialist bods that run the vehicle safety defect scheme.

[banquo]

Hi Gib,
Found an e-mail address on their website, so trying that first. Thanks for the address though, cos I'll follow up by mail if I don't hear from them.

[Mike Benis]

Well done, Jake. That might just send the bean counters reaching for their calculators..... I hate the littlde ******* ever since they got rid of the taper roller main bearing...

[banquo]

Some things in life are very predictable, and this is one of them:

Dear Enthusiast - Jake,
Thank you for your recent inquiry regarding HB Performance Systems products, specifically our motorcycle products. Unfortunately, HB Performance Systems is unable to directly assist you, as our contractual obligations dictate that we operate through the equipment manufacturer. We would, however, ask that you visit your local Motorcycle Dealer for their direction regarding your inquiry.
Best regards,
Customer Service
HB Performance Systems, Inc.

Nothing back from VOSA after 2 weeks, so it's refreshing to know that they take the lives of those over whom they can exercise some much needed protection so seriously. I have chased, but I suspect that this, like so many other Goivernment websites, is one of those which includes e-mail addresses which don't include that vital component of someone at the other end to read and respond to them...

[Gib]

Hi Banquo, sorry VOSA hasn't got back to you. Couple of things you can do - one is to write to the address I gave you before; the other is to go to your local VOSA enforcement Office - you can find the address, phone number and so on on any MoT station notice board. The person who will deal with it will be your local Vehicle Examiner anyway. They're pretty much switched on - a lot of them are into bikes and would probably enjoy coming out and having a look-see. If you're thinking of going to the office, give them a bell first...

Cheers and good luck.

[banquo]

Cheers Gib; keep you posted.....

[banquo]

Well, I had my reply from VOSA today, after sending them the pads last week. A quick response: so quick they phoned whilst I was belting down the M6 in the rain on Friday, so I couldn't call him back until today.
I'm sure you will all be as relieved as I am to hear that the condition of my pads is quite normal, and no cause for concern. He has shown them to two of his colleagues, and they agree. Some delamination around the edges, and loss of adhesive is apparentlu OK, and they have seen this loads of times. I'm told I shouldn't worry, as even if the friction material becomes detached, the backing plate is made of pretty much the same material (really?), and the brakes will still work, albeit very noisily, which will alert me to the fact the pads have gone, and even if the backplates wear away, I'll still have the pistons bearing on the disc, so that gives belt and braces security (his words). Call me a fool, but I think going for the brake, and having the pedal hit the stop as I career into the back of a truck with only one brake to play with might alert me a bit sooner (albeit briefly, before life is snuffed out).
He tells me he would be quite happy to ride his BMW K series with pads in that condition, and so my intention is to refit them, and run them down to the service limit of 1.02mm. Of course, as the pads have broken up more than that away from the backplate, some of the pad will be fresh air bearing on the disc, but apparently I don't have to worry about that.
He seemed very concerned about the inspection interval, which is set by the manufacturers at 2500 miles. I thought it was at the 5000 mile service interval, but he has spoken to H-D's UK Service Manager, who confirmed it was 2500 miles. In that, he is correct, but at that interval the pads are only to be checked for thickness, and not removed from the bike for further inspection. In fact, there is no routine inspection of the brake pads other than checking the thickness of the friction material. However, unless you strip the pads from the calipers (which is not part of the scheduled maintenance) all you will detect is the thickness of the remaining friction material, and I only found the cracked up material because I had to take the pads out to change the wheel. I check my pads for thickness about once a month, or whenever I wash the bike, which is about 1000 miles intervals in the summer months, and I was going to keep them in there for another few thousand miles, as they had about 3mm of meat left on them.
So, the VOSA conclusion is, don't worry if your pads are breaking up, inspect the thickness every 2500 miles, as recommended by the manufacturer (but maybe you need to actually remove the pads, even though the manufacturer only recommends measuring the pad thickness) but if by doing so, you find the pads are delaminating and the adhesive is giving way, then that's no reason for concern, and you can just keep on riding until you reach the minimum pad thickness recommended by the manufacturer, which is 1.02mm in my case.
I'm sure you will feel as reassured as I do.
Frankly, I was more than surprised at the response, but you could hear the, "Oh God, here's another one of these amateurs whingeing on about things he doesn't understand again." in the tone. "Why don't they just take their bloody machines to the main dealer, and get them looked after by the professionals?"
To those of you out there who do use main dealer servicing, and don't do anything yourself, remember to get yourself booked in every 2500 miles for a pad inspection....
Next time, I won't waste my time.