Royal Enfield 650 (repeated) rear brake failures

adri

adri

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Seems like more and more Royal Enfield 650s are suffering from brake failures, typically in the rear, due to air getting into the ABS system.


What I'm kind of "happy" about, if you can call it that, is that, at least now people are starting to talk about this. Early on when these 650s came out, no one wanted to say a bad thing about them. Even people who needed to see the dealer for multiple warranty issues would still sing their praises and downplay the issues.

I met a RE Interceptor 650 owner at the Flying Squirrel demo day a few years ago who said his bike had been perfect, and then proceeded to tell me about the front brake rotor that needed to be replaced under warranty due to it being warped, and some other issue I can't remember. "But that was covered under warranty." Ok...

chretien.jpg

I know @TK4 also had rear brake issues on his INT650. I know this because he invited me over to ride it, and when I got to his place he casually dropped a "oh, hey, no big deal, but, just fyi, there's no rear brake." 😂 - I don't know if his Royal Enfield's issue is also due to air getting into the system or not.

It seems wild to me that multiple people are getting this issue to begin with, then having dealers diagnose what the issue is, "fix" the problem, only for the same problem to come back. RE seems to be labelling this a common issue and shrugging it off. After all, it's just your brakes, right?

Am I being too hard on RE, or is sub-par quality? I know the 650s are built to a price-point, but the braking system seems like a helluva thing for a manufacturer to cheap out on.
 
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One question, and one observation:
-Do you have a service manual for any RE? What is the procedure for bleeding the ABS module?
-While watching your video, I immediately noticed and disliked the design of the upwards curved banjo fitting on the rear caliper. If gas is somehow getting introduced to the system, it will get trapped there

You might be in a good position to ask people that are having issues to complain to Transport Canada and/or the NHTSA. If RE knows about a problem and is shrugging it off, those agencies will get it sorted out quickly
 
TwistedKestrel said:
One question, and one observation:
-Do you have a service manual for any RE? What is the procedure for bleeding the ABS module?
-While watching your video, I immediately noticed and disliked the design of the upwards curved banjo fitting on the rear caliper. If gas is somehow getting introduced to the system, it will get trapped there

You might be in a good position to ask people that are having issues to complain to Transport Canada and/or the NHTSA. If RE knows about a problem and is shrugging it off, those agencies will get it sorted out quickly
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1) I don't have the service manual. I don't know if the ABS system is user-serviceable, or if you can only bleed the brakes in the lines... some OEMs are friendly about letting users activate the ABS pump to bleed the system, other OEMs you need a dealer tool to do so... No idea what Royal Enfield is like for this.

2) Clearest shot I have of what you're talking about for others to look at without all the text/distractions in the way. Didn't even occur to me that that banjo could be an issue. Good to know.

INT rear brake.jpg

The guy who was shrugged off is based in India, not here, but... I'm not sure if things here are any different... However the other people mentioning also having issues with air in the line seem to be from all over the world.
 
Speaking of people with this air in the line issue:

FUN UPDATE!
Since I posted this video three hours ago, two more people have posted on facebook that they have had this problem before.

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Screenshot 2025-02-22 132904.png

Nice sealed system you've got there, Royal Enfield.
 
I didn't watch the video. If the position of the banjo is an issue would using a vacuum bleeder help. A work around might be to rotate the caliper so the bleeder is on top, a PITA, but it might work.
 
Renboy said:
Replace that banjo with a banjo/bleeder combo. See if that helps fix the problem. For under $20 it's cheaper than a trip to the dealer.
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ReSTored said:
I didn't watch the video. If the position of the banjo is an issue would using a vacuum bleeder help. A work around might be to rotate the caliper so the bleeder is on top, a PITA, but it might work.
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While I agree with both of you that there’s a potential fix…

It’s not on the owner to fix a common failure point on manufacturer’s messed up design. Hell many people buying bikes aren’t mechanically inclined enough to do oil changes let alone start modifying braking systems while maintaining them functional / safe.
 
mimico_polak said:
While I agree with both of you that there’s a potential fix…

It’s not on the owner to fix a common failure point on manufacturer’s messed up design. Hell many people buying bikes aren’t mechanically inclined enough to do oil changes let alone start modifying braking systems while maintaining them functional / safe.
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Option D) All three of you right lol

Edit: Nevermind, just re-read and saw @ReSTored didn't watch my video. **** that guy.
Kidding. All good. I don't even watch them. They're terrible! 😂
 
Another update, it's now getting close to about ten or a dozen or so people that have had their rear brakes fail.

If anyone finding this on google in the future wants to backcheck this claim, you can find most of them:
1) In the original post on facebook Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 | Hello friends, | Facebook
2) In the subsequent post on facebook Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 | Recurring rear brake failure that Royal Enfield calls a "common occurrence" 😳🤦 | Facebook
3) In the comments of the video itself on youtube (link above)

Based on this I'd say it's definitely a common issue...

@TK4 thinks he's sorted his out through a variety of trial and effort that goes way above and beyond what any normal human would do (brake lever weighed down for weeks, master cylinder replacement, etc.)

If it was me and one of my INT650s had started doing this I wouldn't have had the patience to do the work, or the confidence in my machine after the work was done, I probably would have just sold the thing, with a big warning to the buyer to ease my conscious, and not looked back.

Never thought I'd be happy my bikes are almost-all non-ABS this week lol
 
adri said:
Edit: Nevermind, just re-read and saw @ReSTored didn't watch my video. **** that guy.
Kidding. All good. I don't even watch them. They're terrible! 😂
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Boohoo, you're so mean.

Let me put it this way............ Titanic was a fantastic 2 hour movie that was dragged out to 3:14. Toward the end I was praying for a torpedo to sink the ship faster or that both Jack and Rose would be consumed by sharks or swept out to sea so the ^&%^ movie would just end and I could go to bed.

I did start to watch the video, but I go brain dead with extensive narratives and stopped watching. Less narrative, more concise focus on the issue = better videos IMHO. Constructive criticism I trust....................
 
ReSTored said:
Boohoo, you're so mean.

Let me put it this way............ Titanic was a fantastic 2 hour movie that was dragged out to 3:14. Toward the end I was praying for a torpedo to sink the ship faster or that both Jack and Rose would be consumed by sharks or swept out to sea so the ^&%^ movie would just end and I could go to bed.

I did start to watch the video, but I go brain dead with extensive narratives and stopped watching. Less narrative, more concise focus on the issue = better videos IMHO. Constructive criticism I trust....................
Click to expand...
There was a video?

@mimico_polak although I agree that most people are useless they should strive to be less so. To replace a single bolt with another bolt shouldn't even be up for discussion, though sadly here we are. I also agree that people shouldn't be responsible for fixing a poor design, but realistically, it's a single bolt that takes less time than a trip to the dealer. Not to mention you can get them in titanium so you have the added benefit of weight loss. No company makes any product completely perfect, and this doesn't seem to be worth being the hill to die on. Skip Tims for a few days and use the $20 to replace the bolt, move along.
 
ReSTored said:
Constructive criticism I trust....................
Click to expand...
Always appreciated! Thanks :)

Renboy said:
There was a video?

@mimico_polak although I agree that most people are useless they should strive to be less so. To replace a single bolt with another bolt shouldn't even be up for discussion, though sadly here we are. I also agree that people shouldn't be responsible for fixing a poor design, but realistically, it's a single bolt that takes less time than a trip to the dealer. Not to mention you can get them in titanium so you have the added benefit of weight loss. No company makes any product completely perfect, and this doesn't seem to be worth being the hill to die on. Skip Tims for a few days and use the $20 to replace the bolt, move along.
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I see hundreds of customers' motorcycles every year... I would say that, unfortunately, most of them don't even know to change their brake fluid. Many probably don't even possess tools beyond whatever came in their ikea furniture box.

No manufacturer is perfect, sure, but we shouldn't put the onus on the customer to have the know-how and the tools to diagnose and replace an issue, that even the engineers of said manufacturer couldn't sort out.

I'm no engineer. My girl, her father, and two of her uncles are all engineers. They're way smarter than me at this sort of thing. If the plan is for me to have to double-check and correct their work, the ship is not seaworthy.
 
ReSTored said:
Boohoo, you're so mean.

Let me put it this way............ Titanic was a fantastic 2 hour movie that was dragged out to 3:14. Toward the end I was praying for a torpedo to sink the ship faster or that both Jack and Rose would be consumed by sharks or swept out to sea so the ^&%^ movie would just end and I could go to bed.

I did start to watch the video, but I go brain dead with extensive narratives and stopped watching. Less narrative, more concise focus on the issue = better videos IMHO. Constructive criticism I trust....................
Click to expand...
It is simple to speed up YouTube clips to say 1.75% play back speed, perfect for all the ADD suffers.
Just added to you life expectancy...
 
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People: You're too fast!

Also people: You're too slow!

If you're into being told you're doing something wrong, by people who can't/won't/don't do what you do at all, start a YouTube channel. No matter what you do, no matter what you say, you will never have to worry about being right again lol
 
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