Total Complaints
2 filings
HONDA ST1300A · model year
2 NHTSA complaints, and 1 active recall for this specific cohort.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 2008HONDAST1300A carries 2 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 0 crashes, 0 fires, 0 injuries, and 0 fatalities. No NCAP 5-star crash-test rating is available for this model year in the federal database.
Component-level analysis is where model-year complaints become actionable: the top complaint category for the 2008 ST1300A is service brakes, hydraulic with 2 filings. Concentration in one or two component groups is the classic signature of a systemic defect; a flat distribution usually reflects normal aging, warranty complaints, or isolated build-plant variability. This model year has 1 active recall campaign, which means the manufacturer is obligated to remedy the covered defect at no charge for the life of the vehicle — the full NHTSA campaign numbers are listed below.
NHTSA currently has 77 investigation files overlapping the 2008 ST1300A, and 9 remain open. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should pair the counters above with the complaint-by-year trend on the parent model page — a spike in a single year often tracks to a platform refresh, a new transmission supplier, or an updated ECU calibration. Use the related-complaint feed below to read raw owner narratives before deciding whether any pattern here affects your specific use case.
Total Complaints
2 filings
Crashes Reported
0 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC | 2 |
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:HOSES, LINES/PIPING, AND FITTINGS
HONDA IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2008 THROUGH 2010 ST1300 MOTORCYCLES MANUFACTURED FROM NOVEMBER 15, 2007,THROUGH MAY 27, 2010, MODEL YEAR 2008 THROUGH 2010 ST1300A MOTORCYCLES MANUFACTURED FROM NOVEMBER 7, 2007, THROUGH APRIL 6, 2010, AND MODEL YEAR 2009 ST1300PA POLICE MOTORCYCLES, MANUFACTUR
THIS BIKE HAS A 'LINKED BRAKE SYSTEM', SIMILAR TO THAT IN USE BY THE GOLDWING. (IN FACT, THE GOLDWING HAS AN ACTIVE RECALL BECAUSE OF THIS BRAKE SYSTEM.) THIS IS TO REPORT THAT THE LEFT FRONT BRAKE CALIPER SECONDARY MASTER CYLINDER (SMC) HAD ACCUMULATED WATER AND CORRODED TO THE POINT THAT MY REAR BRAKES WOULDN'T RELEASE. IN 2008, HONDA RE-ENGINEERED SOME ASPECTS OF THIS SMC (ESSENTIALLY CREATED A DRAIN TROUGH), THOUGH IT DID NOT HELP. I DISCOVERED THE PROBLEM WHILE PERFORMING A ROUTINE BRAKE FLUID CHANGE AND TOOK MULTIPLE PICTURES. EVERY PERSON WHO HAS SEEN THESE PHOTOS HAVE BEEN HORRIFIED TO SEE THE CONDITION OF THE SMC AND THE PISTON THAT PORTS FLUID TO THE REAR BRAKES. THIS FAILURE UPSET THE HANDLING OF THE BIKE, AND ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS ALMOST CAUSED SEVERAL CRASHES (I INITIALLY DISMISSED THE NEAR CRASHES TO UNSEEN ROAD DEBRIS OR A TIRE PROBLEM). THESE BRAKES ARE NOT SAFE ON THE ROAD OR THE TRACK. MY BIKE IS BEING SERVICED UNDER WARRANTY BY HONDA. *TR
Mileage: 30,800
THE REAR BRAKE ON MY MOTORCYCLE STARTED STICKING/GRABBING AND NOT RELEASING FROM TIME TO TIME.THEN IT STARTED TO HAPPEN MORE OFTEN TO THE POINT WHERE I HAD TO BRING IT IN TO THE HONDA DEALER FOR REPAIR.ON NOVEMBER 5, 2011 THEY RECEIVED MY MOTORCYCLE FOR SERVICE AND IT WAS NOT RETURNED TO ME UNTIL FEBRUARY 9, 2012. THE HONDA DEALER INFORMED ME THE STICKING/GRABBING PROBLEM WAS "FIXED". WHEN I INQUIRED WHAT CAUSED THE PROBLEM THEY COULD NOT TELL ME BECAUSE THEY HAD REPLACED SO MANY DIFFERENT PARTS THAT THEY COULDN'T PIN POINT WHAT THE PROBLEM REALLY WAS. DURING THE THREE MONTHS THAT MY MOTORCYCLE WAS IN FOR SERVICE I DID SOME RESEARCH ON THIS ISSUE AND IT IS A CHRONIC PROBLEM ON THE HONDA ST1300. OVER THE YEARS HONDA EVEN HAD A REDESIGN OF SOME OF THE PARTS USED IN THIS BRAKING SYSTEM BUT TO THIS DAY DENY TO ME THAT IT IS A CONSTANT RECURRING PROBLEM. I REALLY HOPE THAT THE NHTSA CAN TAKE THIS AS A VERY SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE AND HELP IN ANY WAY POSSIBLE. THANK YOU! *TR
Mileage: 600
Inaccurate Rear Passenger Seat Belt Warning Status
Loss of Motive Power
Inadvertent Deployment of Side Air Bags
Engine failure
No Restart After Auto Start/Stop Engages
Data as of 2025. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.