Front brake lock up crash

[GreetSlide808]

I witnessed something very disturbing today while riding with our club. A member was riding a 2010 cvo sg and on a slight downhill turn his front brakes locked up and he crashed. It was a violent crash but he was able to ride on with a few bruises and scrapes. When we picked up his bike off the road we noticed the brake lever had no tension at all. It easily pulled all the way to the grips. Anyone know what would cause this? If he was travelling at highway speeds I dont think he would have survived. We were only moving at about 30mph when this happened.

 

[Miklo]

I would think that if the brake lever had no tension, either their was air in the system, or fluid was low. Regardless of any issues, improper breaking will cause them to lock up.

 

[ridercoach]

Not sure I understand. Did his brakes lock up on that downhill turn without him touching the lever? If so, I never heard of that. Now, improper brake use sounds like the culprit. The lack of tension is probably something that happened during the crash, (leaking fluid, broken cable, etc.).Glad to hear your buddy was not severely injured.

 

[GreetSlide808]

Not sure I understand. Did his brakes lock up on that downhill turn without him touching the lever? If so, I never heard of that. Now, improper brake use sounds like the culprit. The lack of tension is probably something that happened during the crash, (leaking fluid, broken cable, etc.).Glad to hear your buddy was not severely injured.

Ridercoach. He said he gently applied both front and rear brakes at the same time and the front locked up sending him immediately down. I agree with you on the front brake not working after the crash. Probably blew a seal in his master cylinder. Hes ok but really hurting today.

 

[hulkss]

2010 CVO SG's are equiped with anti-lock brakes. So what happened?

 

[GreetSlide808]

2010 CVO SG's are equiped with anti-lock brakes. So what happened?

Still dont know Hulkss. I dont recall seeing abs wires when I was visually inspecting the system

 

[Mojo]

Gonna be interested in hearing what happened in this situation.

 

[GreetSlide808]

Gonna be interested in hearing what happened in this situation.

A couple of people rode the bike before the crash so I don't think there was a problem with the bike itself. He has "returned" the bike to its owner. But I'm afraid to ask what went down when that event took place. Lesson learned? I would say NEVER let anyone borrow your bike. I believe if you let someone ride your bike, you are just as responsible than the guy borrowing it.

 

[Bones]

I don't know the riders experience level, but, is it possible he got the clutch lever and the front brake lever mixed up? Thinking he was quickly pulling in the clutch, when in fact he pulled the front brake....????

 

[GreetSlide808]

I don't know the riders experience level, but, is it possible he got the clutch lever and the front brake lever mixed up? Thinking he was quickly pulling in the clutch, when in fact he pulled the front brake....????

Could very well be the case Bones. We were all traveling at about 25-30mph at the time of the crash. If we were moving faster than that, he would have been hurt seriously.