Canadian Rear Brakes - Complaint Department

Joined
Jun 3, 2013
Messages
19
Location
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Bike
2007 ST1300
Good Canadian Buddies Eh!
My SMC has failed and it's going to cost me a boat load to repair I imagine.
Just left my Honda dealership and they had another ST with the same problem waiting for parts.
All over this forum there are articles about this problem.
I read on another forum that the Gold Wing had exactly the same problem but because of enough complaints, they managed to get a recall based on safety issues.
So I went looking on Transport Canada's website.
I filed my complaint today. Join with me and maybe we all can eventually save a buck or two.
https://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/Saf-Sec-Sur/7/PCDB-BDPP/fc-cp.aspx?lang=eng
Cheers Eh,
Greg
 
Joined
Nov 10, 2007
Messages
1,608
Age
61
Location
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Bike
1&2 2005 ST1300ABS's
STOC #
8562
Pack Jack,
Excellent idea.
Also, see what the guys say at the Honda dealership where you brought your bike to and ask them if they feel our brake SMC is similar to the recalled one on the GoldWing.
There is a guy from Portland, OR recently that had his rear brake locked up on an ST and his brake hose caught on fire.
 

Saint Joe

Joe
Joined
Nov 24, 2008
Messages
94
Location
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Bike
'12 ST1300A
I filed my complaint today. Join with me and maybe we all can eventually save a buck or two.
https://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/Saf-Sec-Sur/7/PCDB-BDPP/fc-cp.aspx?lang=eng
Cheers Eh,
Greg
Been there, done that. Bike had less than 10K Kms on it at the time. I wrote my complaint from a rider safety perspective.
What if my brakes had locked at highway speed in an attempt to miss a deer, or something?
I was "lucky" in that mine locked solid in the city in the wee hours of the morning when there wasn't much traffic out.
Locked solid enough that I had to trailer it home.

Joe
 

Reginald

cyclepoke
Joined
Jan 5, 2008
Messages
727
Location
Georgetown, Tx
Bike
ST1300
STOC #
8898
My problems were with the shop more so than Honda.

My brakes were locking up, but I caught it before they did. The front wheel would spin only a 1/4 turn with a forceful push. My pivot bearing on the SMC was the main culprit; the cylinder itself was corroded (still working though); and the shop had not flushed the PCV (proportional control valve). The pivot bearings had delaminated and locked up. I cleaned them up; sanded the inner race of the bearing with a scotchbrite pad; packed the bearing with grease; and packed the boot on the cylinder with brake grease to keep water out. I flushed and cleaned the brakes. All's well now with over 13,000 miles this year. My expenses to repair totaled less than $25. This year I'm investing in a vacuum bleeder so I won't need assistance with someone pumping the brakes.

My shop was not taking care of the SMC. My shop failed to flush the PCV. Yet, I had paid them to perform a break service -- the SMC is part of that. Many folks on this forum find the shops skipping the PCV flush which alone can cause the brakes to lock.

Check the threads on this forum and perform the maintenance yourself, you might find some of the same issues I had. The instructions on this forum are very helpful and enabled me to perform the maintenance. There's also a thread on replacing the whole assembly and one on fixing the SMC. I don't remember the exact cost but it was near $100 to replace. If you use the shop, it'll be the labor that's expensive and then they might not do it right! That's my experience.
 

magnaryder02

Justin
Joined
Mar 13, 2009
Messages
55
Location
Tucson, AZ
Bike
ST1300
Pack Jack,
Excellent idea.
Also, see what the guys say at the Honda dealership where you brought your bike to and ask them if they feel our brake SMC is similar to the recalled one on the GoldWing.
There is a guy from Portland, OR recently that had his rear brake locked up on an ST and his brake hose caught on fire.
He should file that one on the American site. I think i counted 4 complaints between 03-07 about the brakes.
 
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