That's not a bad idea, I hadn't thought of the moisture issue and warranties. My bmw had an abs issue where the brushes in the motor froze, but it didn't trip a code until I was braking on a wet surface and no ABS. Now I activate the abs like that periodically during maintenance just to check, but that abs system is notorious for that particular fault. Do you know of harley having that issue as well?

 

There is no cheat. These are not AMF era Harley’s. If you buy an ABS equipped Harley, new or used and choose not to do the maintenance correctly, my first suggestion is to sell it, you’re a threat to everyone on the road as well as yourself. The maintenance records are not secret. They come with the bike. Lots of crazy talk about jamming on the brakes. Like many things, learning something before talking goes a long way towards having folks seek your advice. That or many laugh. I know I do.

FWIW, my own experience is I hear the clicking of ABS versus any feel in the brake pedal as I was steering/looking at where I was going. Now I don’t trip on that IF it’s working. I also do my level best to not be in a situation where extreme braking is necessary. SA is vital on two wheels.

 

When you do your brake fluid flush with the scanner do you leave the bleeder valve on the calipers cracked open and pump the master to flush fresh fluid thru? can not find a video that shows how they flush the system with the scanner connected.

 

tbh, i haven't flushed the brakes myself. i've taken the bike in to the dealer for the complete flush. i just use the scanner to activate the abs module. i could do it myself, but i don't mind paying $175-200 every couple of years to let the dealer do it. i believe the digital tech has a different procedure, but with the tool i have, you would flush the brakes as normal, then do the activation, and then flush them again if desired.

 

The ones I've worked with, not Harley, says don't activate the brakes while the abs is being activated for the flush. I'd imagine you activate the abs and that puts fluid into the lines while sucking in fresh fluid from the master. After that's flush again and all the old should be out?

 

I'm in the flush and then ride to activate the abs camp. The main reason to flush the brakes is to get rid of the fluid contaminated with high water content. In my opinion, if you do regular maintenance activating the ABS in any manner will mix the fluid left in the module with the fresh fluid. Even if your old brake fluid has a high moisture content the small amount in the module should get diluted to an acceptable level fairly quickly.

As a bonus, as a part of keeping your riding skills sharp, you should be familiar with how your brakes respond when ABS is activated. One of the hardest things I have ever done is try to lock up the front wheel on purpose. Alway done on loose road surfaces. It works quite well, still scares me though.

 

I get the idea, of doing it often, so that any small amount still present gets flushed next time. You then have to have disciplinbe to do it more often than nomal. But again I still wonder about what is left in ABS module. Maybe I should practice more, but I don't make it a habit of coming to a skidding stop.

 

Well. it won't skid. One thing I've done from time to time is take a bike out after a rain, because it's super easy to engage ABS on a wet road. This is easy for me because I'm in a small community with little traffic. I'll do a few runs 20-25 mph and engage the front and rear. I usually do the wet practice to coincide with the bike needing a wash.

Doing this in a controlled, safe manner is good for my own skillset as well. I've done a lot of "panic braking" in practice. When that car pulled out in front of me in the video above, the training kicked in & took over. I was on those brakes immediately, I trusted the ABS, and I didn't panic, because I've done it before. Just not with a 3,000 pound object in front if me. I did think we were going to hit. There was about 2 inches to spare.

 

Local dealer quoted me around $300 for brake/clutch bleeding. I found an Indy that had proper equipment (worked at dealer for 20+ years) who did brake and clutch bleed for less than $100. Non-ABS bikes I do myself.

 

One of these is probably in my future
ITM HD1 ABS Flush Utility (J1850 equipped/4 pin bikes) – Information Technology Mercenaries LLC (infotechmercenary.com)