Team-BHP - Royal Enfield Himalayan ABS: Front brake jammed on the move!

I think the service departments often tell the costumer simple, made up stories because they think the average costumer wouldn't understand what the real problem is if they go into any real detail. Somewhat like a doctor telling a person with carpal tunnel in their wrist that they "have a severe irritation".

The most likely candidates for the problem is the master cylinder is not releasing the pressure when the lever is released or, the ABS brake modulator valve and its electronic controller is defective.

Other than a faulty ABS system, the likely cause of this malfunction is a sticky set of caliper pistons. Or a sticky piston in the master cylinder. Changing the hose will do nothing to fix the issue if this is true. A faulty hose? Intermittent flow? That should cause the brake not to work. What could the fault in the hose be anyway? If it is leaky, the brakes simply wont work. If it is kinked, the brakes will not work effectively when you apply them in the first place.

My suggestion to you is to insist on replacement of the entire front brake assembly.

Whatever the outcome of this attempt to fix by the service center, please attempt to recreate the situation in a controlled environment and test everything thoroughly before normal use. You could ride on an empty street with the front brake partially engaged to heat things up at first and then mimic a start-stop situation. Chances are the brakes will lock when you ride with the front brake engaged itself, ride slowly and smoothly with due caution and expect them to lock up at any time. Don't try this during turns or on a road surface with compromised grip like on a road which is sandy or wet.

Dunno if faulty piping can be dismissed. With new ABS unit installed, re-plumbing might have been done, and the chance of a kink in the line is plausible. A restriction in the return flow, perhaps.

ABS units usually modulate the release of pressure, I assumed. Dunno if it can hold.

Anyways, good luck and do a proper panic stop check before riding off when you get it back.

Cheers

Ride Safe

Quote:

Originally Posted by gthang (Post 4508719)

Dunno if faulty piping can be dismissed. With new ABS unit installed, re-plumbing might have been done, and the chance of a kink in the line is plausible. A restriction in the return flow, perhaps.

A kink in the hose would logically cause the brakes to be sluggish and ineffective when first applied and then perhaps cause a sluggish release.

Wants to add on a supporting incident -

A riding group buddy who works in a Royal Enfield showroom happnes to own the ABS Himalayan. We had gone out on a ride a couple weeks back. In the middle of nowhere his rear break gets jammed for no reason, since this guy is a highly skilled rider he controls his bike and comes to a stop. The brake is stuck for around 15 mins while we try our shenanigans and then magically releases. We decide to head back and guess what the whole thing repetes itself two more times while we are on the way back home.

The next day when he gets his service people to check his bike, they are clueless and as of date they still don't understand what happened. They give a weird explanation that the break disc heated up to an extent to expand in size and thus the calipers held on to it. We were riding sedately enjoying the scenery so if the disk heats up in normal circumstances where is the safety while riding the bike? And the second time it happened was immediatly after we had stopped for lunch so the bike was rested for a good while.

Now if this is the explanation given to their own employee and still not offering a solution despite giving them a couple months I shudder at the tought on what they must be feeding to normal customers who walk in with their greviences.

Glad you are safe since you were on a busy stretch of the road.

I had a similar misadventure when I was riding back my bike after getting all the fluids changed. My front brake locked up after I was in crawling traffic for 10mins. The bike would not move an inch but thankfully I was in a busy street and parked by the side of the road. I thought it was due to the service centre not bleeding the brakes properly. I called RSA and got the bike towed. But when the truck arrived, the bike could easily be pushed and rolled on to it.

Never got a a clear explanation except that pads are worn out and just got them replaced. Never faced the issue again and had forgotten until I read this thread. Hope you get clarity on what exactly caused it.
P.S - Mine isn't a himalayan

The only reasons I can think of for getting these brakes jammed:

1. Poor/ no lubrication of the caliper pin which means brake pads don't release properly.

2. Master cylinder piston getting stuck in 'pressed' mode and not returning back due to faulty push-back spring or torn piston seal.

3. Extremely high heat buildup due to brake pads rubbing against the brake disc, which *might* affect the retractability of the caliper piston.

Hope they get into the root cause of the issue.

Regards.

Hi All,
Here is the latest update. RE seems to have taken this issue seriously but on con side my bike will be held up for few more days in workshop for detailed RCA :Frustrati.

Here is summary of my call with RE Engineer today.

RE is working now with service center to analyze this issue.

RE has provided various checklists to service center and waiting for report.

As suggest by members of this group, the break fluid intermittent supply story is no longer valid and clearly denied by RE

RE is suspecting on wheel break assembly but only after thorough checkup by the service center this will be confirmed.

The break fluid hose is sent to RE Chennai center for further analysis.

I will post once final update is available.

Hi All,
Got back my bike today clap: after 15 long days of waiting. RE Engineers in person visited the workshop on Friday and inspected the vehicle.

Today the head Technician from HSR Motors personally came down to drop my bike. He said that the return path of hose pipe was getting blocked causing a delay in release of brakes.

Anyway I am constantly following up with RE and I will share the report as soon as I get it.

Meanwhile I am planning to test my bike on BLR roads. Only on getting a clear report from RE, I will start long rides.

Hopefully no more brake jams please:.

Unfortunately, i have faced a similar issue with my REH abs too. When i suddenly slam the brake and let go (a strong blip,) the brake remains engaged for a short while longer. the braking power up front is not strong enough to lock the tyre and cause ABS to engage. The duration the uncontrolled brake hold happens for is not fixed. Once i slowed down from 30kph to 15kph and bike was freewheeling after, while another time, the bike came to a halt all the way from 40kph. My tests were done on familiar and empty roads. This is a scary thing for sure.

Can other ABS models owners check this too? I will write to RE about this.

Cheers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdiw (Post 4513821)

Anyway I am constantly following up with RE and I will share the report as soon as I get it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by naturaldisaster (Post 4527510)

Can other ABS models owners check this too? I will write to RE about this.

Cheers.

Can you all share the RCA or the report for the benefit of other REH owners?

Thanks!

Interestingly, there have been a few cases of the GIXXER 150 ABS having the same issue, where the user grabs the brake and the lever doesn't return for whatever few seconds, giving a heart in the mouth feel to the user.

Now, it can be due to grabby pistons or an improperly bled system. I haven't experienced such in the ABS equipped bikes I've owned till now. But, this does give one a harrow feel of what ifs and buts.

Nevertheless, it's better to get checked, grabby brakes on a two wheeler is far worse and dangerous than having brakes that are low.

Start off by inspecting your calipers, modulator and waiting for your report.

Cheers!
VJ