The 2009 Harley-Davidson Vrscf has 1 NHTSA recall campaign affecting an estimated 174,636 vehicles. Recall repairs are always free at any authorized dealer. Owners have filed 13 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the service brakes. Last updated July 5, 2026.
Recall campaigns
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC18V0760002018-01-29174,636 affected
Defect
Harley-Davidson Motor Company (Harley-Davidson) is recalling all 2008-2011 Touring, CVO Touring and VSRC motorcycles equipped with anti-lock brakes (ABS), including Road King (FLHR), Road King Police (EFI) (FLHP), Road King Police (EFI) (FLHPE), Electra Glide Standard Police (EFI) (FLHTP), Electra Glide Classic (EFI)…
Consequence
These deposits may cause a valve within the ABS Hydraulic Control Unit to stick, reducing braking ability and increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy
Harley-Davidson will notify owners, and dealers will flush the entire brake system with new Platinum Label DOT 4 brake fluid, free of charge. The recall began on February 14, 2018. Owners may contact Harley-Davidson customer service at 1-800-258-2464. Harley-Davidson's number for this recall is 0171.
Complaints by component
SERVICE BRAKES
5
1crashes
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
3
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
2
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
1
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
1
POWER TRAIN
1
Total complaints13
What owners report
Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal
information removed.
“The contact owns a 2009 harley-davidson vrscf. The contact stated while riding approximately 20 mph and attempting to stop the motorcycle, the contact stated that the front brakes were functional however, the rear brakes failed to operate as designed. The contact stated no warning light was…”
“My abs brakes quit working. I could skid the tires. Also, front brake lever intermitantly freezes. Concurrently, I received nhtsa safety recall 18v-076 for brake system flushing. 4-13-2018, I took the motorcycle to southeast harley-davidson for h-d recall no. 0171. After the h-d flush, I was told…”
“While on a ride my rear brakes pedal just locked up therefore I was unable to use the stopping power of my rear brake. After some research it seems that this is a common problem on harley and that abs module frequently fails. This was very scary moment for me on a motorcycle.”
“The bolt that holds the shifter and left foot pedal breaks, allowing the foot pedal to rotate down and become unusable and also allows it to come out and become fod on the roadway. When this happens, the riders left foot falls to the pavement. Mine has broken twice, both times at highway speeds.…”
“While exiting my driveway and attempting to use the rear brake pedal, I found that I could not press it and had only the front brakes. I found that while the motorcycle was stationary if I forced the pedal all the way down, it would work normally, but would seize up again without warning while…”
“I noticed the engine oil light flickering after the engine is warmed up. I decided to talk to my locl harley dealership and they informed me that it was a known issue and could cause me to wreck if the engine seized. As a quality engineer by trade, I investigated the issue and found similar…”
“While driving on a surface street approximately 40mph I was cut off. Applied both front and rear brakes. Abs engaged normally. Without incident but after that the front brake lever became extremely stiff. And only got stiffer until it was impossible to get any stopping action on the front wheel.…”
“The fuel sensor has failed twice, the first time causing me to run out of gas while on a desert highway (over 100f outside). Fortunately there was no-one behind me that might have hit me from sudden deceleration. After the first incident, I replaced the sensor with the same part number from harley…”
Defect investigations
InvestigationPE16009 Opened 2016-07-06 · closed 2018-04-23
Sudden Brake Failure - Motorcycle
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this investigation in July 2016 based on forty-three (43) Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQ).During the course of this investigation ODI received a total of 145 VOQs related to the alleged defect on the subject motorcycles.Owners allege they experience a sudden and…
Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL,
FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 2009 Harley-Davidson Vrscf as of
July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page
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