2009 Harley-Davidson FLTRSE3 Recalls & Complaints

Incident: September 20, 2017 · Filed: January 7, 2018

FRONT BRAKE LEVER IS FROZEN, LEVER WILL NOT PULL BACK. DOES NOT ENGAGE FRONT BRAKE CALIBERS. BACK BRAKES WORK FINE. LUCKILY NOTICED PROBLEM AT LOW SPEED! IF I WAS MOVING FASTER, COULD'VE REAR ENDED TRUCK ON HIGHWAY (I-4) IN FLORIDA WHERE SPEEDS REACH 80-90 FLOW OF TRAFFIC. BIKES IN MY GARAGE STILL UNFIXED.

Incident: October 14, 2016 · Filed: November 4, 2016

STARTED OUT DRIVEWAY AND TRIED TO STOP AT STREET BUT REAR BRAKE PEDAL WOULD NOT WORK. WAS ABLE TO STOP WITH FRONT BRAKE. TOOK TO DEALERSHIP AND WAS TOLD ABS MODULE WAS MALFUNCTIONING. THERE WAS NO ABS LIGHT INDICATING MALFUNCTION AND COULD HAVE BEEN A POTENTIAL ACCIDENT IF STREET WERE BUSIER. FROM VIEWING COMPLAINTS THERE ARE MORE THAN A FEW INCIDENTS OF THIS PROBLEM.

Incident: April 23, 2016 · Filed: April 29, 2016

HYDRAULIC BRAKE MODULATOR (HD USES TERM HYDRAULIC CONTROL UNIT, OR HCU) WITHIN THE ABS SYSTEM IS FAILING ON MANY BIKES CAUSING BRAKE SYSTEM TO SUDDENLY FAIL, RESULT IN NO BRAKES. THIS HAS OCCURRED AFTER THE BIKE HAS BEEN SITTING, OR WHILE UNDERWAY, NO WARNING OF ANY KIND IS DISPLAYED PRIOR TO THE TOTAL LOST OF EITHER THE FRONT OR REAR BRAKES.

Incident: March 31, 2016 · Filed: April 14, 2016

I OWN A 2009 HD ROADGLIDE CVO WITH 34,000 MILES. I RECENTLY ROLLED THE BIKE OUT OF THE GARAGE AND HEADED DWON THE DRIVEWAY AND DISCOVERED THAT MY REAR BRAKE PEDAL WAS VERY HARD AND I HAD NO REAR BRAKE. I TOOK THE BIKE TO MY DEALER AND THEY DIAGNOSED IT AS THE ABS MODULE WAS BAD. I HAD NOT ABS LIGHT FLASHING OR NOT CHECK ENGINE LIGHT. NOTHING TO INDICATE THAT THE ABS WAS NOT WORKING. THIS FAILURE CAUSED ME TO NOT HAVE ANY REAR BRAKE. I FEEL THIS IS A MAJOR SAFETY CONCERN BECAUSE NOT ONLY DO YOU NOT HAVE REAR BRAKES YOU HAVE NO INDICATION THAT THE ABS IS NOT WORKING UNTIL YOU TRY TO APPLY THE BRAKE. MY DEALER SAYS THE ABS MODULE ARE ON BACK ORDER. THIS MAY INDICATE A DEMAND FOR THE PART DUE TO HIGH FAILURE RATES. I CONTACTED HARLEY DAVIDSON AND THEY TELL ME THEY ARE NOT AWARE OF ANY ISSUES WITH ABS. INTERNET RESEARCH SAYS DIFFERENT. SEVERAL CASES MENTIONED ON HARLEY TECH TALK AND OTHER FORUMS. I AM REQUESTING THAT NHSTA INVESTIGATE THIS ISSUE AS A POSSIBLE SAFETY RECALL. THIS COULD HAVE RESULTED IN A FATAL ACCIDENT HAD I NOT REALIZED THAT I HAD NO REAR BRAKE BEFORE LEAVING THE SAFETY OF MY DRIVEWAY.

Incident: September 24, 2015 · Filed: October 2, 2015

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 HARLEY-DAVIDSON ROAD GLIDE FLTRSE3 MOTORCYCLE. WHILE ATTEMPTING TO ACCELERATE, THE THROTTLE MALFUNCTIONED AND DECELERATED WITHOUT WARNING. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER. THE TECHNICIAN DIAGNOSED THAT THE PLUG AND HARNESS ON THE THROTTLE NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 20,000.

Incident: April 30, 2014 · Filed: May 22, 2014

PARKED THE MOTORCYCLE IN THE EVENING. NEXT MORNING WHEN GETTING READY TO GO, DISCOVERED THAT THE REAR BRAKE PEDAL WOULD NOT DEPRESS. LUCKILY, THE SPEED AT THE TIME WAS ZERO MPH. NO BRAKE FAILURE INDICATOR LIGHT WAS PRESENT. DIAGNOSED THE PROBLEM TO THE ABS SYSTEM. THE ABS SYSTEM HAS FAILED IN SUCH A WAY THAT THE MOTORCYCLE HAS NO REAR BRAKE. ONLY THE DEALERSHIP CAN WORK ON HARLEY ABS SYSTEMS. THIS FAILURE COULD BE CATASTROPHIC. ABS SYSTEMS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE DESIGNED TO "FAIL SAFE". THIS ONE HAS FAILED RENDERING THE MOTORCYCLE WITH NO REAR BRAKE. SEARCHING THE INTERNET, I'VE DISCOVERED SEVERAL INSTANCES OF EXACTLY THE SAME ISSUE, SOME WITH REAR BRAKE FAILURE AND SOME WITH FRONT BRAKE FAILURE. IN EACH CASE I FOUND, THE PEDAL (OR LEVER) WOULD NOT ACTUATE THE BRAKES. *TR