Loss of braking on the 2008 Kawasaki Concours 14
Only 2 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When loss of braking gets reported
There are 2 reports of loss of braking on the 2008 Kawasaki Concours 14, 2 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 78,000 miles. It is the 4th most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 23,736 miles | — | — |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $400–$3,000 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
This mode is classified as critical, which means a failure can leave the car unable to stop, steer, or stay out of the way of traffic. It is weighted accordingly in the risk score.
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Tl*the contact owns a 2008 kawasaki concours 14 motorcycle. The contact stated that the front brake rotors warp during application, thus reducing breaking capability. Brake failure can cause an increase in stopping distances, which increases the risk of vehicle crash. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and a technician stated that the components would not be replaced under warranty. As of current date the vehicle has not been repaired.the failure mileage was 12,000. The current mileage was unknown. Updated 09/25/09 *bf
Rear brake ceased to function. Pedal travel to full deflection but no rear brake. Dropped bike at naples kawasaki dealership, and a week later they said it was fixed under the recall mc12-05 (brake rod end). I picked up the bike only to find there was still no brake. This recall did not address the brake failure but pertained to previous issues. I then left the bike at the dealer for correction of the brake problem. They ran tests and could not find any ABS or brake related read outs in the internal diagnosis system. I was told that while they did not know why the bake brake did not work, the only "fix" was to replace the hydraulic unit and all related lines at an approximate cost of $2500.00 (est). After the service manager talked to kawasaki service support, kawasaki said a complete rebuild of master cylinders, brake calipers, and all lines at a new estimate of $4000.00. I called kawasaki support direct and they said that because I could not produce documentation that brake fluid was changed at 20,000 miles, they had no responsibility. The failure of this ABS unit left me with no brake at all. Since the ABS is active only during…
Also reported on the 2008 Kawasaki Concours 14
Other body or interior problem
Other brake problem
Fuel pump failure
Premature brake pad or rotor wear
Headlight failure or clouding
Other engine problem
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 2 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 2 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does loss of braking happen on the 2008 Kawasaki Concours 14?
Across 2 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 25,000 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is loss of braking on the 2008 Kawasaki Concours 14?
2 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.8 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed