[woverby]

So, I have oil stains on my garage floor from brake fluid. One of the seals has obviously failed. I am not asking how to fix the problem. What I am curious about is how many others have had problems with your hydraulic front brakes leaking? My bike is a 2017 RGU with 44K miles. Is this common? It this perhaps why Harley went back to mechanical front brakes?

 

[dbell66253]

Harley didn’t go back to mechanical front brakes, they went back to a mechanical clutch. The brakes are still basically the same. As far as calipers, I have a 17/also and replaced my left front caliper about 2 years ago, but I don’t believe it’s a common problem. I really haven’t heard about too many people having problems. I replaced mine with a used one from a parts place, less than 1/2 what the dealer wanted.

 

[woverby]

Harley didn’t go back to mechanical front brakes, they went back to a mechanical clutch. The brakes are still basically the same. As far as calipers, I have a 17/also and replaced my left front caliper about 2 years ago, but I don’t believe it’s a common problem. I really haven’t heard about too many people having problems. I replaced mine with a used one from a parts place, less than 1/2 what the dealer wanted.

Thanks for the correction.

 

[woverby]

Harley didn’t go back to mechanical front brakes, they went back to a mechanical clutch. The brakes are still basically the same. As far as calipers, I have a 17/also and replaced my left front caliper about 2 years ago, but I don’t believe it’s a common problem. I really haven’t heard about too many people having problems. I replaced mine with a used one from a parts place, less than 1/2 what the dealer wanted.

How much did the dealer want?

 

[ChromeSpark]

My '16 has 55k+ and no issues, FYI

 

[smitty901]

I have never had a HYD brake leak on any bike that has had them. My 2017 had 40,000 on it when it went to salvage yard. others have ha 70-80K on them.
Are you sure it is a piston seal?

 

[Big_gary]

Like Smitty said , I never had a caliper leak other then was mechanic error . 😆

 

[woverby]

I have never had a HYD brake leak on any bike that has had them. My 2017 had 40,000 on it when it went to salvage yard. others have ha 70-80K on them.
Are you sure it is a piston seal?

Not sure if it is the piston seal or not. I do know it is brake fluid that is leaking. I still have Cornerstone ESP coverage so I will take the bike in to the dealer (vs fixing it myself), once I can get a path out of the driveway around the snow, hopefully next week. Meanwhile, I have a small plastic bucket for catching the dripping fluid.

 

[Rob-B]

Not sure if it is the piston seal or not. I do know it is brake fluid that is leaking. I still have Cornerstone ESP coverage so I will take the bike in to the dealer (vs fixing it myself), once I can get a path out of the driveway around the snow, hopefully next week. Meanwhile, I have a small plastic bucket for catching the dripping fluid.

Gaskets / Seals with a warranty?
Interested to hear how that comes out.

 

[Thermodyne]

The Harley approved repair is to replace the caliper. They do not sell the pistons, seals, boots, or transfer port oring. Just new loaded calipers.

That introduces the issue of unbalancing the front brakes. New caliper on one side, old caliper on the other. And needing differing amounts of pressure to make the pistons move. The new caliper may need less pressure to apply the pad to the rotor. But the old caliper may not retract the pad completely away from the rotor. That's why on dual disk, what you do to one side you also do to the other side. But I seriously doubt an insurance company will see it that way. To be sure, you will want to make sure the pads do not get mixed.

Past that, get your old parts back. Its not that expensive to rebuild that old caliper. And be sure to report it to NHTSA. Its becoming a fairly common issue on bikes with a few years on them.

 

[woverby]

Gaskets / Seals with a warranty?
Interested to hear how that comes out.

Hadn't though about that, fair question.

 

[S.McArthur]

Are you 100% sure its a caliper and not a fork seal? Run your hand/rag up the back of the forks above the calipers as high as you can go.

 

[Big_gary]

Are you 100% sure its a caliper and not a fork seal? Run your hand/rag up the back of the forks above the calipers as high as you can go.

Last time I did that , I got smacked😁

 

[woverby]

Last time I did that , I got smacked😁

@Big_gary, just saw your post. Good point about possibly being the fork seal. I'll check.

 

[woverby]

Are you 100% sure its a caliper and not a fork seal? Run your hand/rag up the back of the forks above the calipers as high as you can go.

You were indeed correct Sir. It is a fork seal. Thanks for your response to my post!

 

[S.McArthur]

You were indeed correct Sir. It is a fork seal. Thanks for your response to my post!

Time to upgrade your suspension!!!
It's not hard to fix, you can do it yourself. If you need some pointers, just reach out. But if you are a dealer service guy, you are due for a rebuild anyway (I think it's 50kmiles), they should put new seals/hardware/oil in.

 

[woverby]

So, I had both sides rebuilt since close enough to the 50K. Also had to replace the left fork tube as it reportedly was "worn" and would continue to leak. Wow, $1600 with $800 of that for labor. My ESP paid for the left side rebuild and the left tube replacement, so not as painful as it could have been. Still, the Dealers in the area are really gouging these days. Labor rate is $149/hour now.

 

[NCPiper]

Wow...for that money, I am thankful I can DIY a Russ Wernimont (RS-1F) premier suspension and still come out ahead.

 

[woverby]

Wow...for that money, I am thankful I can DIY a Russ Wernimont (RS-1F) premier suspension and still come out ahead.

Indeed. If I didn't have the ESP coverage, I would of looked for an upgrade myself.

 

[S.McArthur]

So, I had both sides rebuilt since close enough to the 50K. Also had to replace the left fork tube as it reportedly was "worn" and would continue to leak. Wow, $1600 with $800 of that for labor. My ESP paid for the left side rebuild and the left tube replacement, so not as painful as it could have been. Still, the Dealers in the area are really gouging these days. Labor rate is $149/hour now.

Ouch.