Catastrophic brake failure

[Grmblz]

Hey folks, can anyone shed some light on this? It's part of a conversation I'm having with a member and it occurs to me that the broader community might have some insights into just exactly what happened.
I have been accused of riding my bike like a sports rather than a tourer, old habits die hard I guess,
Anyway, well "F"! me, yesterday arvo (Sunday here) beautiful and sunny but a bit too warm 38c (100f) I decided to go for a beer or two at my local, it's a nice little 20min ride along what you would call an "A" road (here it's called the The Princes Hwy lol) mostly pretty straight with a few gentle bends and a couple of tight ones (not fun on a ducati but great on the touring) 70mph (the speed limit) all the way except for the tight ones.
Anyway approaching one of the tight ones, gentle application of the front brake just to take a bit of speed off, and nothing! wtf? Squeezing harder resulted in the lever hard against the bars, and little to no retardation, crap! Pump it, nothing!
Oh well this is going to be interesting, so with the floorboard folded up sending showers of sparks everywhere, and the back brake not really an option (I actually managed to grind the bottom of the left hand side crash bar) and me hanging off it like I'm Valentino Rossi the double white lines came, and went, fully on the wrong side of the road, and praying there's nothing coming the other way the road straightened up, and all was well, apart from the undies check.
I continued the mission at a more sedate rate (I still had a back brake for what its' worth) and investigation at the boozer revealed blown seals on the right hand caliper.
So after months of chasing a misfire, and just a couple of weeks of finally fixing it she's back in the garage.
Seal kits ordered (from the UK cus there's sweet bugger all here) and the calipers stripped, cleaned, and examined for wear. There's nothing, no corrosion, no bright wear marks, you'd think the pistons and calipers were brand new, I've pulled the seals and for the life of me I can't find a flaw, nothing split, a little hard maybe but not brittle
I changed the fluids about 18 months ago (recommended is every 2 yrs) using factory recommended grade (not manufacturer as it's not available here)
Is our stuff different to Euro gear? dunno.
She's a 2008 30,00ml so 16yrs old low mileage, and I've only had her for three yrs, had the fluids ever been changed from the factory stuff before I got her? Dunno.
The service book is fully stamped but that doesn't mean much when it comes to things like brake fluid changes. I've worked in BMW, Jaguar/Daimler, Audi dealerships, and the only one I've ever been allowed to do FULL fluid changes was Volvo, fwiw.
Sorry for the long story, but this has really got me stumped, I've had leaking calipers/wheel cylinders on bikes and cars, and usually there's a fair bit of warning, but this was just a catastrophic brake fail, and at the worst possible moment.
When twin calipers are fed from a single line, if one goes then it's goodnight Irene.

 

[papanorm]

That's a very scary story and fortunately you are around to tell it. Hopefully your brake is now fixed and ready for the next adventure. Cheers!

 

[concours]

My front bleed screws leaked (and other owners as well).
Cheaply made ****e.
Glad your skills carried you through.

 

[Grmblz]

That's a very scary story and fortunately you are around to tell it. Hopefully your brake is now fixed and ready for the next adventure. Cheers!

Thanks, I'm in Australia, and Triumph parts are in England, so everything stripped cleaned and awaiting arrival of the seals, about a week hopefully. I doubt you will experience anything like this given how new your bike is, it was more for the folks on older machines, I used to be a mechanic on everything from mini's to mercedes over the years, and have never come across anything like this.

 

[Jagster]

Could the brake fluid have boiled, if for example, you had in advertently been covering the brake lever without being aware of it as the pads could maybe have transferred heat into the fluid before you decided to use them for slowing down at the corner?..... Just a thought...

 

[Kevin frazier]

I would recommend change fluid regularly, i went to the 5 as i boiled the 4 fluid before and lost fronts. Take calipers apart before every season of riding or regularly if you ride year around and inspect and clean. Change bleeders. I know most think this is too much or they just dont wont too untill the appointed time in book but brakes are life and death on these big bikes that fly. This is just my opinion and what i do and recommend. If it helps save a rocketeer from a bad moment in life, great. Ive lost the front hoonin and it was a bad moment on the widowmaker so i share this.

 

[Grmblz]

Thank you, but a leaking bleed screw is an inconvenience, a catastrophic failure is/can be a life changing moment.
I'm not talking about a damp caliper, I have a pilots license and out of habit always do a quick walk around check before getting on the bike, so a leak would have been spotted.
I find the throttle quite heavy (the old mans grip isn't what it used to be) so I never cover the lever unless I'm in traffic, and on that particular ride engine braking is sufficient for all but three corners (it was the second one that nearly got me) so boiled fluid seems unlikely, also boiling the fluid usually results in brake loss (ask me how I know) not blown seals.
Interestingly the seals are only applicable to the Touring up to about 2009, did they use smaller brakes thinking the tourers would be ridden more slowly, and most cruisers tend to use the back brake rather than the fronts, did they then put bigger brakes on in later years?
Is it possible the fluid change 18 months ago somehow degraded the seals?
As mentioned it's got me stumped, all I can think of is just plain old age, and possibly under sized calipers aggravating the situation
It's a cautionary tale, if you have a pre 2011 Touring with original brakes, maybe think about replacing the seals.
Thank you all for the comments/suggestions, and take care out there, it's a warzone.