Thank you FlyingHun!

[PorradaVFR]

Was out for part of the GaryJ ride today and was going up Stage when I heard/felt a rattle from my front end. Didn't like the sound of it and thought "gonna stop to check that out" when the next corner my brake lever goes to the bar. Pedal likewise has nothing. I downshift to 1st and pump the hell out of the brakes and get enough pressure to limp to a stop.

I wave at the last rider in our little pack and he...waves back jauntily. :laughing so I'm left there. Check things out and the pivot bolt is gone. I walk back some 1/4 mile (uphill, natch) to no avail, no sign of it. No cell signal. Damn it.

Then I swear I hear a choir of angels and horns blowing and there's FlyingHun. He offers help and (hooray!) has a few zip ties he gives to me. We both look for a while and he finally accepts my suggestion to ride on. I piece together my brakes and limp home (I think I made quite a few other riders happy with their pace!). Just waiting on a new bolt.

For the record, I used blue Loctite. I KNOW I did. Grr.

Thanks Kurt, you saved my butt! I owe you one.

 

[shouldnthave]

Sweet! I don't think I have had the chance to meet him yet, but he has a great reputation for being a swell guy.

Glad you made it home without a tow.

 

[flying_hun]

You're welcome. Sorry I could not have done more. Glad you made it home. :cool

 

[budman]

Glad you got home safe as well. I went ahead to Pescadero to shoot pics of the group and wondered :wtf when I did not see the Hun. Knew he was sweeping. Glad we got a happy ending.

 

[Lunch Box]

:applause Kurt
Good lookin' out, sir. :thumbup

 

[Lex Talionis]

So, one fastener comes off a VFR and BOTH brakes go away?!

Seems like a very shitty engineering design to me. I've never owned any vehicle that can loose both brakes due to one fastener falling off, never will.

OP better upgrade to red Locktite for that fastener.

Lex

 

[Momo-san]

That Flying Hun fella, he's pretty great :love

 

[horsepower]

Such a good guy.:thumbup

 

[PorradaVFR]

You're welcome. Sorry I could not have done more. Glad you made it home. :cool

You did. More than enough just stopping to check, helping me look was above and beyond. Total class act. Thanks.

Also thanks to the random lady driving by that offered help, then backed up and asked if brake fluid would help. Nice to see people being kind. :thumbup

(Also, yes she was hawt, since someone will ask :laughing )

 

[PorradaVFR]

So, one fastener comes off a VFR and BOTH brakes go away?!

Seems like a very shitty engineering design to me. I've never owned any vehicle that can loose both brakes due to one fastener falling off, never will.

OP better upgrade to red Locktite for that fastener.

Lex

I agree on the premise - but I also suspect it highly unlikely to occur. I did not notice any damage whatsoever and, again, swear I used blue on it...but I can't say that it wasn't messed with or that maybe I set the torque wrench wrong. I had not checked it (or other fasteners) in a long time and that's on me not Honda.

The brake loss was due to it being the bracket for the secondary piston that engages the rear brake when the front compresses (hard to explain). When it came loose it eventually worked the caliper off the disc and it took me pumping the pads together to bring pressure back up enough to stop. It works great, but yeah one bolt away from potential disaster is not ideal. Will absolutely make sure the new bolt is IN there and add bolt tightness checking to my routine.

 

[Lex Talionis]

OP: Thanks for the explanation, you are very lucky you're not injured, it was only circumstance that you're not in a hospital. The way I used to ride, if my brakes failed like yours did, I'd maybe not be alive today. Hell, even how I ride today, almost always very conservatively, failed brakes could kill me. Many thousands of opportunities for me to be dead, I totally depend on my brakes. In this regard we riders are all alike: you, me, all of us.

Shitty engineering on Honda's part, and very surprising, I've previously held Honda engineering in high regard. Honda should have at least put a locking tab washer or some other similar security device on such a critical fastener.

Lex
P.S. Your failure need only occur once at the very worst time, to kill you.

 

[SFSV650]

Which gen VFR, 6th? Can you post photos of what failed?
I'd like to own one someday and will refer back to this.

 

[PorradaVFR]

I was relieved, frankly, that we were riding such a chill pace and that the corner in question was not a tricky one. Yeah, in the wrong spot or at a more sporting pace it could have been hairy or worse. Not at all happy about that.

It's a 6th gen and the bolt that came off is about 2" behind the axle on the left side of the fork. I tried uploading pics but it just spins (on mobile) I suspect the image is way too large

As I noted, short of finding the bolt I can't say it was anything but maintenance error. There was zero sign of anything else but it backing out.

So either I failed to torque to spec, neglected Loctite, someone loosened it (want to assume that's a ridiculous idea) or...something else. I really doubt it broke and the threads are fine so that's all I can figure.

 

[limey]

Anyway you can safety wire the replacement bolt somehow? Glad you were able to get stopped safely. Big kudos to Flyin Hun.

 

[Lex Talionis]

This is a cautionary tale for all of us, not necessarily specific to VFR design insufficiency. Thanks for sharing, OP.

Lex

 

[machete]

Can you put a dab of silicone on the bolt (like AFM racers do), to keep it from backing out as quickly? We put it on our brake caliper bolts, and pinch bolts, etc....

might be something to consider, as a secondary fail safe. :dunno

glad it wasn't worse, and that FH guy, yeah, he is cool. :cool

 

[m0t0_ryder]

After the group stop at Gary's crash site disbanded and everyone headed their directions I did backtrack to see if Al was still out there. (Kurt had told me about the incident when he finally arrived).
I was glad to see that Al was nowhere on Stage which led me to believe he was able to roll albeit at a sedate pace.
Bummer it happened but glad it was no worse than a missing part.

 

[DIY]

So you and Hun got together and had a happy ending..........

 

[PorradaVFR]

After the group stop at Gary's crash site disbanded and everyone headed their directions I did backtrack to see if Al was still out there. (Kurt had told me about the incident when he finally arrived).
I was glad to see that Al was nowhere on Stage which led me to believe he was able to roll albeit at a sedate pace.
Bummer it happened but glad it was no worse than a missing part.

Thanks John, I appreciate you doing that. :thumbup

I'm sorry I missed the group time but I enjoyed the ride segments I did and am thankful there's such a great community of riders. Says a lot about our "hobby" that most non-riders don't understand that we help each other and honor friends lost.
:ride

 

[PorradaVFR]

Ok, here are some pics that I snagged showing the hardware:



When all the bits are in place the caliper rotates on the pivot bolt compressing the piston shown. That engages one of the two pistons on the rear brake (the VFR's linked brake system). When the bolt was lost, the braking action eventually (not sure, but I believe no more than one or two turns later) eventually pulled the caliper off the disc and when I felt no pressure it was the pads on that caliper pressing against nothing but air. Once they made contact (i.e. as I pumped the damn things up) I regained enough braking pressure to come to a stop. Thankfully I replaced the pads not that long ago (~2k miles at most) so they are nice and thick so travel was somewhat lessened.

The two nylon zip ties were enough to hold the bracket in place all the way home, but I made a point of braking as little and as gently as possible, favoring the rear brake so as to mitigate the pressure placed on them. Thankfully got home safely and with the zip ties still in place with no damage I could see.

New bolt and spacer will get here later this week (thanks Santa Clara Cycle!) and I'll make damn sure to triple check all the fasteners with the torque wrench (and re-apply Loctite).

Let this be a lesson to everyone to check your bolts - I usually do it only when putting new rubber on (i.e. 3-5k miles) but even if it's damn rare (first time for yours truly, that's for sure) the potential to have no braking when you expect/need it is not worth it. :thumbup