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Cruiser
Posts: 174
Edmonton, AB | We recently returned from a 6 day tour of southern BC. I was great ride except for one major problem. We were riding 2-up through the twisty hill of BC and had just come down a long steep grade between Castlegar, BC to Christina Lake, BC. After a long day of riding the BC mountain hills we were ready to stop for the night. Came around a turn and spotted a Motel on the side of road. Jumped on the brakes to quickly stop for the Motel entrance and the foot brake just didn't feel right. Grabbed a handful of front brake and got stopped OK. After I checked into the Motel and unloaded the bike I checked to see what was up. The rear brake reservoir was empty and my wife says, "Is there something leaking from under the bike?" Yep, sure enough there was puddle of brake fluid under the bike. Upon closer inspection I found that there was a crack in the brake line where the bracket attaches to the engine on the left side, just inside of the shift lever and at the front edge of the brake line mounting bracket. When I pressed on the foot brake there was fluid squirting from the brake line….not good. After calling the VRA roadside assistance we arranged for a tow truck to take us to the dealer in Kelowna the next morning.  
As I had my digital camera with me I took a couple of pictures of the problem area and have attached them here.
In discussion with the Tech after the repair was done he felt that this may be more than just a fluke on my bike. The way he described the failure was that this particular section of brake line is attached near the battery box and then attached further back on the left side of the engine just inside of the shift lever. The tech felt that the vibration from the engine was causing this section of the brake line to resonate like a tuning fork and the ongoing stress caused the brake line to fail. He also felt that this problem is something that other Vision riders should keep an eye on as he felt that it was very likely that others may encounter a similar problem. He also suspected that we may likely see a recall for this problem at some point in the future.
I may be overly cautious in posting this information here but better safe than sorry. It gave me a good scare when I think about the fact that this failure happened right after we had just come down over a very long, steep, winding hill, riding 2-up with fully loaded bags and an extra bag on the trunk rack. Had the rear/linked brakes failed 10 minutes earlier on one of those hills it could have been much worse.
Pictures show the leaking brake line on the bike as well as the broken brake line after it had been removed.
Please keep an eye on this section of brake line. I would hate to see someone else have the same failure with a worse outcome. I hope this info helps.
(Leaking Brake Line_1.jpg)
(Brake Line Crack 1_1.jpg)
(Brake Line Crack 2_1.jpg)
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 Leaking Brake Line_1.jpg (56KB - 33 downloads)
Brake Line Crack 1_1.jpg (53KB - 7 downloads)
Brake Line Crack 2_1.jpg (45KB - 4 downloads)
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Iron Butt
Posts: 732
Western WA | Definitely something to watch out for Newfie, thanks.
Do you still have around 8000 miles on the bike as it says in your sig line? |
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Visionary
Posts: 3006
San Antonio, TX | Todd,
I am glad that you are OK. I will add this brake line to my pre-flight check list.
Thanks for the information. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 174
Edmonton, AB | Breaker - 2008-07-21 2:03 PM
Definitely something to watch out for Newfie, thanks.
Do you still have around 8000 miles on the bike as it says in your sig line?
Yes, I just updated my Sig line after we returned from our BC trip last evening. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 115
Victoria, BC | Happy to hear that you made it home safely.
Hope you will post pictures & a write-up of your trip.
Did you find you had enough room on your bike to carry everything you needed?
Reg |
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Visionary
Posts: 1290
Ruskin, Fl | I read a post about the same or similar problem when I first joined the group. Something about checking the rear brake line for binding or rubbing or something. I can't find it, but I'll keep searching. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 117
South of Houston Tx | cw1115 - 2008-07-21 5:11 PM
I read a post about the same or similar problem when I first joined the group. Something about checking the rear brake line for binding or rubbing or something. I can't find it, but I'll keep searching.
I think you might be talking about this post http://www.vision-riders.com/bb/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=404&post...
in the tech Reference section |
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Puddle Jumper
Posts: 22
| Glad you caught it when you did. Thanks for the heads up, I now have 16 miles on the Vision but my hopes are still high for some free time soon. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 136
CALGARY ALBERTA | THANKS NEWFIE I will tell my dealer to check it out. |
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Visionary
Posts: 1290
Ruskin, Fl | Thanks RotnRat, that's it. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 174
Edmonton, AB | Lifeisgood - 2008-07-21 3:48 PM
Did you find you had enough room on your bike to carry everything you needed?
Reg
Reg, yes. We did travel light (read....I got one saddle bag for clothes and my co-pilot claimed the trunk.  At least she let me share the other saddle bag with her.) but we were able to carry enough stuff for a 7 day trip. One thing that did help a lot was I added a small bag to the luggage rack. Being able to keep the rain gear and chaps in the top bag meant we could put all our other stuff in the saddle bags and trunk luggage. This was our first ever multi night road trip and I was happy with the amount of stuff we were able to fit on the bike. It takes some change in thinking to realize that you take what you know you will need...not what you think you might need.
Here is a picture of the bag we added to the trunk rack.
Edited by Newfie 2008-07-21 7:51 PM
(BC Trip_66_1.JPG)
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BC Trip_66_1.JPG (59KB - 3 downloads)
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Visionary
Posts: 1484
LaPorte,Tx. | Newfie, glad you and the wife are fine and you got back on the road in a short time. The dealer did the right thing, not many do what they did. I looked at my brake line tonight and I can see where there might be an issue. But in looking at your photo, it shows a little weld slag "tit" where it cracked. That maybe the problem. Looks like the tubing is welded to the bracket and with the little weld "tit, it may have set up some stress in the heat effected zone of the tubing which will reduce the strength of the tube. Anyway, looking further towards the front the tubing runs over the left side floor board mounting bracket, mine is touching that. So also, the mechanic is right, your may have been not touching this bracket so there was quite a bit of vibration. I took some double sided adhesive tap (3M) and put it under mine at the floor board bracket. Now I know it won't vibrate.
Sounds like you had a great trip. I'm leaving on a 5000 mile trip in August, can't wait.  Thanks for the heads up on the problem. |
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Visionary
Posts: 3006
San Antonio, TX | VisionTex,
I am concerned as well about the brake line rubbing on the left side floor board mounting bracket. The brake line could rub a hole in it on the mounting bracket but also electrolysis between the steel tubing and the aluminum mounting bracket could occur if I am not mistaken. I will mention it tomorrow when I take my Vision in for 500 mile service. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 235
Evergreen, CO | Thanks for the heads up!!! It helps keep us ALL safer..I appreciate these kinds of tips, even if my bike does not necessarily have the identical problem, others sharing their issues makes us all more aware of areas to watch out for. Sound like you had a great trip, and wish you many more safe miles and smiles!! |
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Cruiser
Posts: 93
Saskatchewan (hard to say, easy to draw ) | Hey Todd
I think that I may have passed you on that trip! We just got back last Thurs . from a 3800 km rounder through Kelowna, Castelgar etc as well, went through Rockymountain House and into Red Deer where iI had the most annoying chirping from the belt drive - the mechanics in Red Deer were awesome - most help yet on the trip and I went to every one from Lethbridge to Nelson and so on through. Turns out that the drive belt will chirp ( like an alternator belt will ) if dirty or wet after a bit . Recommendation was that I use Ivory soap or just pressure wash off the drive belt. It did it when the bike was cold on startup. Long story short, I used a bar of Lux soap and while it was up on my fancy Canadian Tire bike jack and running in 1st gear, gently rubbed the soap bar on both sides of the belt - viola ( some french girl I think) the chirping stopped and no issues since. Many thanks to your dealership in Red Deer.
Jim
Premium Tour Cherry
Rosetown, Sask. 5000 Km and going strong! |
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Cruiser
Posts: 115
Victoria, BC | Hey Jim, I have a cousin that lives in Rosetown. Used to own the local newspaper and rode a Yellow Goldwing. His name is Daniel (Danny) Page. Do you know him?
Reg |
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Cruiser
Posts: 115
Victoria, BC | Newfie, we do the same thing on the Burgman. My Wife puts all her beauty stuff in expandable bag that sits on the rack. She brings that into the motel while I carry in the GIVI top box, which has all our clothes. Everything else fits under the seat (tools, laptop computer, compressor, tire kit, first aid kit, etc).
We've found from past trips that you usually don't need that much clothing to travel with - if you carry the right stuff that can be hand washed & hung to dry.
In the old days (before kids), we towed a trailer which was awesome for camping with. Nowadays we stay in motels 'cause the Burgman can't tow. I'm waiting to find out from Praxman how the Vision was for towing on his trip.
Reg
(road trip.jpg)
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road trip.jpg (29KB - 2 downloads)
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Cruiser
Posts: 93
Saskatchewan (hard to say, easy to draw ) | Reg
YuP! Taught all his kids, work with Pat , didn't buy his old Velusia!
Did most of the south central BC now but still want to do the Whistler Lillouette run on the Vision. Have not scraped the 'pegs' yet even Creston to Nelson ( east side). Man is that fun riding! I just need to get over my flatlander's fear of falling from way up . I will say hi to Danny from you if that is OK and sorry to continue this on your posting Todd - by the way, that soap trick works but is I think a stop gap only - previous posts talk about adjusting the belt to the left to stop it.
Jim
Premium Cherry and 4 more bikes (with the '79 wing in moth balls) |
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Cruiser
Posts: 115
Victoria, BC | Jim, yes say 'Hi" to him for me. I hope sometime you'll get to Vancouver Island on the Vision. Lots of things to explore on this Island, but be warned - you may not want to go back home (I didn't!).
We finally did the Whistler - Lillooet trip last September. In fact, the above picture of us on the Burgman was taken just NE of Pemberton. Beautiful country and a great ride. Loved staying in Whistler!
Reg |
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Cruiser
Posts: 235
Evergreen, CO | Jim -
Get down on your hands and knees behind the Vision, look at the belt position on the rear of the rear sprocket. If it is hard over against one side (probably right), then your rear wheel is not properly set. Pollolittle had a great write up on how to adjust. I took his advise and adjusted mine in around 30 minutes. All this after two very unsuccessful trips to the dealer/service dept. All you need is a large crescent wrench, a 1/2" wrench or deep socket, and the rear wheel off the ground. It is not hard to do at all. Be methodical, take your time, and you'll be pleased with the results......no soapy stuff nor french girls required.....
Reg & Jim -
I'll be doing Whistler/Lillooet on the last 1/2 of my trip next month. Will also be doing Kelowna and Castlegar. A little nervous about fuel availability, as it looks like some of those roads are twon and population impaired! This will be on my way to Glacir NP in Montana after visiting Washington state, Vancouver Island, etc. REALLY getting jazzed for this trip! |
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Cruiser
Posts: 115
Victoria, BC | Fuel availability should not be a problem in BC. The Burgman has a much smaller fuel tank than the Vision & we've never had a problem getting fuel on our trips. |
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WARNING: Check your rear brake line for a crack
