$1,900 for replacing ABS unit in SF

Johnson · Feb 12, 2020

Hello,

I have a 2014 ninja 1,000.

The master cylinder front break started to feel really hard.

I went to the service shop since I needed to replace the front and the read pads.
I assumed that they will bleed out the air from the system and it will solve the issue.

The service shop bleed the air out but it didn't solved the problem.
Then, they swapped the master cylinder and it also didn't solved the issue.

They said it's the ABS unit that probably contain air, or needs to be replace.
BTW, the ABS light turn on for the first couple of feet and then turned off, witch is perfectly normal behave.
They also said that if I interested to take the motorcycle without fixing this, I need to sign a paper, since it is very dangerous.

Is it a normal price for ABS unit + labor in San Francisco?

If the unit cost, let's say $900,
A hour of work cost $140,

Is it a 4 hours work?

Thank you

Mark59 · Feb 12, 2020

$1500.00 is what I was quoted, I told the service manager that the bikes brake system was malfunctioning and the abs light was working showing the system operable, the manager called Kawasaki and called me and said Kawasaki was going to provide the replacement pump for free, I was charged $350.00 for brake service.

Johnson · Feb 12, 2020

Mark59 said:
Kawasaki was going to provide the replacement pump for free

Thank you very much for your reply.

Is your motorcycle was under warranty?

I do not see a business justification that Kawasaki will give me the ABS unit for free.

Mark59 · Feb 12, 2020

No my bike is a 2012 it was 6 yrs old when my pump went out.

rcannon409 · Feb 12, 2020

That price is high, but it's probably legit if you replace the abs pump with a brand new one. Much less, for the pump, if you find a used one on ebay.

Is this the first time the break fluid has been changed?

Avintage69 · Feb 12, 2020

Did you already pay for work done before the ABS failure diagnosis? If not then you might be getting a deal.

Johnson · Feb 13, 2020

Thanks everybody for your replies.

1. The symptom is that the master cylinder front break very hard. So hard, that it's actually not safe to ride.

2. According to the service manual, I need to replace the break fluid every 15k miles.
I replace the fluid every time I replace the pads (8k~).

I didn't paid nothing yet. The breakdown is:
$260 for front and rear pads + fluid replace, and bleed air out from the system.
$140 for an hour of diagnostic (bleed air out from the ABS unit).
$60 for 30~ minutes for swapping to another master cylinder front break.

Total: $460.

The desk guy at the service shop said that everything will cost $2300.
So Abs unit + labor is $1840.

What do you mean be "I might be getting a deal"?

I came to the service shop in order to replace the pads AND to solve the issue, but this cost sounds VERY expensive.

Another thing that I do not understand:
If there is a problem in the ABS unit, the light should turn on, no?
And if it's a ABS unit problem, the rear break should also needs to be hard to press?

An important information:
I have an after market master cylinder (with a Italy flag on it).
When I purchased the motorcycle with this after market item, it was soft as butter.

Thinks started to be hard when I replaced the break pads.

BTW, Does 2014 Kawasaki ninja 1000 has an open or close system?

Thanks

Chrispy · Feb 12, 2020

Out of curiosity, how often did you replace the brake fluid ?

Mark59 · Feb 13, 2020

Tell your service manager to contact Kawasaki about the pump, tell him you know of others that has had this issue and Kawasaki provided the pump for free as this is a malfunction of Kawasaki’s system because the lights sequence shows the system is working and it’s really not, that’s a big safety issue.

rcannon409 · Feb 13, 2020

The only control we have over these brake components is the ability to change brake pads and the ability to change the brake fluid. Your bike is a 2014 which means it could have been produced in late 2013 and probably no later than early 2014.

2013 to 2020 is a long time to have the stock brake fluid in the system. In addition to the mileiage figure, Kawasaki also says, in the manual, that this fluid should be changed every 2 years. If a person was following that schedule, your bike would have had a fluid change in 2015, 2017, and 2019. At least 3-4 fluid changes.

It's impossible to say that this would have been prevented with regular brake fluid changes, but the manual did mention this 2 year schedule, and here we are. No matter what, it sucks. No idea if fresh fluid would have prevented this, but it looks suspicious when this didnt happen.

I dont believe a shop would dare work on your bike and leave an aftermarket master cylinder installed. Doing so means they gave their ok and said this matter cylinder was compatible with your stock abs system. No one in their right mind would take this risk. That's something you have to do on your own.

Once you take your bike into a shop, it's pretty tough to micromanage their work. If they say you need an abs pump, I suppose you do.

Johnson · Feb 15, 2020

Quick update:

The service shop called Kawasaki, even without me asking for it, and Kawasaki paid for the ABS pump.
Now, since I picked the motorcycle on Friday at 5:30 pm, the service shop didn't called Kawasaki,
But, Kawasaki may pay for some of the labor, or for all of it.
As for now, I paid for the labor.

Thank you very much for the guy that told me about the Kawasaki covering the ABS unit thing.

This is the power of sharing info!

I will update when I will hear back from the service shop, next week.

Thanks

Night Train · Feb 15, 2020

That's fucking amazing. Great end of the story!

rcannon409 · Feb 15, 2020

That's good news. From here on, I would change the brake fluid, yearly. Who knows if it will help, but it's about all you have control over, and it's cheap to do.

Chrispy · Feb 15, 2020

rcannon409 said:
From here on, I would change the brake fluid, yearly.

I think the early model ABS pumps were more sensitive to corrosion but this should be standard practice for everyone, regardless of year.

rcannon409 · Feb 15, 2020

Chrispy, if Kawasaki is covering abs pumps that are at least 3 or 4 years past warranty, there must be an issue with them?

Chrispy · Feb 15, 2020

Yeah, I think the solenoids and/or the body must have a corrosion issue.

I'm just guessing here but I wonder if Kawasaki is being liberal with the replacements as they are they are simply passing the bill on to Bosch.

Mark59 · Feb 15, 2020

Your welcome Johnson, I had a feeling Kawasaki would provide the pump, I still had to pay around 400.00 bucks for the brake service but that’s a hell of a lot better than having to buy the pump also, Kawasaki come through in that pump issue for sure.

mr.sand · Feb 15, 2020

good to hear about the abs pump, my 2014 bike has 18000 on it and i have only changed the fluid once a few thousand miles ago, every 2 years or 1 year sounds reasonable for sure...

Night Train · Feb 15, 2020

My prior bike was a Triumph and they didn't handle things like this. I'm happier with Kawasaki already.

Volfy · Feb 16, 2020

FWIW, this is one big advantage of buying a Kawi. As long as it's still under warranty, you can buy the factory extended warranty. Lots of online dealers offer healthy discounts. I bought it for my '09 C14 and it paid for itself on one rear wheel TPMS sensor replacement. Since it's transferable, it was an excellent selling point when I sold it.

rcannon409 · Feb 16, 2020

Volfy, did you do your extended warranty through the guy in florida? I did It was Paul? Perry? Pete? something like that.

In general, these warranties are not worth having, but this warranty was through Kawasaki, and it was so cheap that you had to buy it. We had those silly tire sensors and the warranty was way less than one sensor being replaced. I had both of mine replaced, no issues at all.. I know it was under 300.00. Maybe 329.00???? I bought 3 extra years. Are they still available for prices like that?

usually, these are a rip off, but theres a price point where its damn near worth it.

Volfy · Feb 18, 2020

Sound familiar. It's been many yrs, but I do remember it was a guy that works for a kawi dealership that was active sponsor in one of the C14 forums. Its the KPP offered by Kawi, so it's the same as the factory warranty. I agree most 3rd party warranties are not worth getting and mostly just profit add-ons pushed by the dealer finance dept.

Anyhow, there are no shortage of Kawi dealers online offering discounts on KPP. I have a year before the 1yr warranty expires to buy a 48mo extended KPP. It's kinda pointless to buy it too early. I'll wait till a couple months before 1yr ends to get some quotes. Basically, any Kawi dealer can sell it. I know a great local guy here that works at a dealer parts counter, so I'll for sure give him a chance to bid.

rcannon409 · Feb 17, 2020

I cant even tell you how quickly I would sign a check for the 2020, and an extended warranty. If I planned to use the quickshifter, it would be a must have.

Johnson · Feb 19, 2020

Hi guys,

Just a quick and final update: Kawasaki paid also for all of the labor.

Thank you very much for all of the people that share with me their experience.

Have safe rides!

Mark59 · Feb 20, 2020

Happy ending

Johnson · Jan 22, 2022

Two years after, the symptoms got back.
Should I replace the brakes fluid in the rear and the front, or it's useless and I need to contact the service shop again.
Also, what should I tell them? that I expect that Kawasaki will cover the ABS pump and labor again?

rcannon409 · Jan 23, 2022

Where are you at? What sort of climate are you in? I'm just curious.

Being that Kawasaki fixed it, once, I would give the the chance to fix it again. Failing abs is a safety issue,and expensive. If they need to fix it five times, then so be it. I'm not saying the abs pump is a lifetime part,but this is silly. I don't think I would touch it if you decide to take it to them.

Once they replace the pump, I would find a good, used rear caliper and switch over to it. Something is wrong with yours, or it was contaminated. This sounds expensive,but a good, used one won't cost 30.00,shipped. A new line set would also be a good idea. Replace as much of the comprised parts as you possibly can.

angelo112233 · Jan 24, 2022

This thread should be sticky! Thanks for sharing the story on your ABS pump.

$1,900 for replacing ABS unit in SF

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