What Panels to Remove on 2012 RT to Expose Parking Brake Cable and Rotor?

[solidgranite]

The parking brake on my 2012 RT is not working, and I get the "parking brake fault" message, along with the 20 beeps when I turn the bike off. The parking brake is NOT stuck ON, and I can ride the bike, and have normal braking capacity. I've checked the fuses...all okay...and the windscreen goes up and down.

I've read that the (front) cable for the parking brake on a 2012 RT can slip off its wheel (rotor), and be the cause of a "parking brake fault". I suspect this might be the case with my parking brake issue. The cable in the rear will not retract towards the front of the bike when I rotate its wheel/rotor. With the left hand panels removed, the cable can be put back on its wheel/rotor, tested, and adjusted as necessary. My question is: what panels have to be removed to get access to the front parking brake cable and wheel/rotor?

If it turns out that I can't resolve this issue, I'll have to bring it to the dreaded dealer, and they'll charge me enough to pay off the National Debt! Any advice, vids showing panel removal, other possible solutions will be greatly appreciated!!!

[Mikey]

Your cable has fallen off the pulley. You need to strip her down on the right side and most likely clean and lube the cable and pull on the cable with some plyers and grab it by your hands and put it back on the pulley. Just did my friends 2012, just the other day!! If you need guidance, just PM me!

[Peter Aawen]

The parking brake on my 2012 RT is not working, and I get the "parking brake fault" message, along with the 20 beeps when I turn the bike off. The parking brake is NOT stuck ON, and I can ride the bike, and have normal braking capacity. I've checked the fuses...all okay...and the windscreen goes up and down.

I've read that the (front) cable for the parking brake on a 2012 RT can slip off its wheel (rotor), and be the cause of a "parking brake fault". I suspect this might be the case with my parking brake issue. The cable in the rear will not retract towards the front of the bike when I rotate its wheel/rotor. With the left hand panels removed, the cable can be put back on its wheel/rotor, tested, and adjusted as necessary. My question is: what panels have to be removed to get access to the front parking brake cable and wheel/rotor?

If it turns out that I can't resolve this issue, I'll have to bring it to the dreaded dealer, and they'll charge me enough to pay off the National Debt! Any advice, vids showing panel removal, other possible solutions will be greatly appreciated!!!

I've helped sort out a few 2012's with this issue, a while back tho, only I don't recall them being that much different to my 2013 Still, for whatever it's worth, I've just confirmed that the front 'panel hidden' rotor on my 2013 is behind the RIGHT Hand side Panels, just inboard of the Right Foot Plate & Brake Pedal, and on the same side as the rear Parking Brake Actuator on the Rear Disc.

While you're in there, it might pay to check that the little straightish piece of spring steel with a roller on the end is actually straightish and is doing the right thing. The roller it holds is meant to roll around the edge of that rotor as it revolves in order to trigger the micro-switch that activates/de-activates the Park Brake Warning Light, and I've seen quite a few of them get bent if the rotor ever over-rotates. It's usually a fairly straightforward thing to straighten the springy steel bit out enough to put the roller back where it belongs, allowing the micro-switch to work properly again, which in turn means the Park Brake Light once again only displays when it should, instead of all the time or none of the time...

Good Luck!

[solidgranite]

Yup! I pulled off a couple of the right-side panels, and immediately saw that the cable was NOT on the pulley. I did exactly as you suggested...I loosened up the cable at the REAR pulley, then cleaned and lubed the cable at the FRONT and REAR pullies. After getting that cable end into the spot on the front pulley, I stated up the bike, and pushed the brake switch several times. Success! Thanks for your advice. (By the way, I was born and bred in Portsmouth, NH...just across the Piscataqua from Kittery, Maine.)

[solidgranite]

Absolutely right! The front cable had popped out of the pulley. As soon as I got the panels off, it was plain to see. I loosened up and lubed the REAR cable, then pulled the FRONT cable out enough to push it back into the space on the pulley. I lubed it, and made it as straight as I could, and reattached it to the pulley. I tried the switch several times, and viola! The pulley rotated, and did its job! I'm trying to think of a way to keep that cable end in the pulley space permanently because I can see it popping out again. :-)
Thanks very much for your suggestions, and for sharing your knowledge! Ride well!

[pegasus1300]

Just pretend you are doing an oil change only on the right side of the Spyder and pull off those panels. Hopefully you have done an oil change before. If not look in your owner's manual, it will tell you which panels to remove only do it on the right.

[solidgranite]

Thanks! Good suggestion. I've never done an oil change on my bike...always took it to the dealer for a round of annual maintenance. But I'll start changing my own oil and filters next spring. I need to save every $ I can especially since this Spyder is 11+ years old.