Thoughts on bikes with ABS

[oidirk]

Three of my bikes have ABS and two do not. IMO, ABS is great and throw in the traction control on the Panigale and its just about perfect. The problem I have is when I switch bikes and I forget that the one I may be riding does NOT have ABS and I over-break - get's messy.

 

[renegadebiker24]

My bike has ABS and Traction Control. I can not wait to try it out. I hope I never have to use it, but it is a safety feature that I think is better for me in the long run.

 

[Marbro_za]

I dont think there is all that much difference.
If the bike i was buying had it, it wouldnt stop me from buying the bike.


But i also wont skip over a bike because it doesnt have
Only had 2-3 hairy moments while braking.

 

[CBRHoonigan]

ABS only saves you when you lock up, Traction control will stop the bikes power spinning the wheel, now that is something you should learn instead of just hitting the stop on the trottle just learn to power it out sideways when i road a ducati 899 i turned all the dtc off quite a nice bike, but if you commute to work on your bike traction control is ya boy

 

[Trinith]

ABS only saves you when you lock up, Traction control will stop the bikes power spinning the wheel, now that is something you should learn instead of just hitting the stop on the trottle just learn to power it out sideways when i road a ducati 899 i turned all the dtc off quite a nice bike, but if you commute to work on your bike traction control is ya boy

It is also a rather nice feature to have when you're riding in the rain. Not because you don't have to worry about throttle control, but because it significantly mitigates the risks associated with hydroplaning. Only ever hydroplaned the bike once, it was at night and I never even knew the puddle was there. Going from being straight and normal to being sideways at 70mph is enough to just about soil ones pants. Spent about 20 minutes sitting under an overpass waiting for the shakes to subside after that one.

 

[O8ride]

Slow down, keep your distance, take your time, enjoy the scenery and the journey instead of the speed you get there, and who needs ABS?

Uh oh, not sure I'm typing to the right market

 

[oidirk]

It is also a rather nice feature to have when you're riding in the rain. Not because you don't have to worry about throttle control, but because it significantly mitigates the risks associated with hydroplaning. Only ever hydroplaned the bike once, it was at night and I never even knew the puddle was there. Going from being straight and normal to being sideways at 70mph is enough to just about soil ones pants. Spent about 20 minutes sitting under an overpass waiting for the shakes to subside after that one.

Holy crap - did I hydroplane once and it seemed like it went on forever. I was riding from Jacksonville to Boca Raton and it rains like hell in Florida just about every day in the summer. Well, I hit a particularly heavy downpour on a section of 95 in Brevard County that was under construction. As such, the wheel groves i the road were "off" and I had to alternate between riding in the crown (slippery as hell) or in a LONG depression between the pavement seams. It seemed no matter where I put the wheels I was going through an inch or two of standing water. I faught it for as long as possible, but I had to find a bridge to seek shelter under - that was nuts - very hard to control the bike.

 

[Trinith]

I was on an ancient blacktop highway, the kind with the ruts worn into them that are so smooth they're shiny. It's difficult to see water in those ruts. At night it's hard as hell, at night in a thunderstorm...just give up trying. I spent most of the time on the crown, but being windy (it was west Texas, it's always windy..) it wasn't possible to stay there. That was a hell of a ride!

 

[CBRHoonigan]

 

[RoninK6]

Turn around, don't drown !

 

[LeedsRider93]

I don't have anything particularly against ABS, it saves a lot of people from having accidents. I can't really see the argument for weight making a difference, modern ABS systems don't weigh a massive amount, unlike systems from 10 years ago!

Personally I've never had a bike with ABS. I've got into some pretty sticky situations and never locked the wheels. But it just takes that one time

 

[Shirou]

There is no valid argument against it. It's an unobtrusive safety feature.
As we learn to ride a bicycle, not to fall, no to mis-shift, not to lock the wheels, not to ride without gear, we always end up messing up doing wrong everything at least once. It's human nature and there are thousands of variables into our mind that don't let us be perfect.
The same way we know how to shift, it's second nature and ocassionally we hit neutral instead of second gear. That can happen when braking, we can mess up and end up locking the wheels. The consequence in this case is bike-on-asphalt instead of just a laugh. ABS can save that.
No rider can brake hard and stop in the wet on equal or less distance than ABS assisted bikes. We know how not to lock but we cannot go testing the theory on sand, water, gravel, oil, diesel, banana peels, milk (it really happened) small animals, and everything that the world can throw under our tyres. Having ABS can save our butts on such situations.

 

[Trinith]

. . . we always end up messing up doing wrong everything at least once. It's human nature and there are thousands of variables into our mind that don't let us be perfect.
The same way we know how to shift, it's second nature and ocassionally we hit neutral instead of second gear.

Case in point: Last weekend I was stretching trying to relieve a cramp as I entered a corner at about 50mph in 3rd gear. As I initiated the lean I started to bring my foot back to the peg. At 6'3 I end up doing something like this on every ride that's not local. EVERY ride. Being tall sucks. Anyway, I missed the peg. For the first time in 8 years of riding I stepped on the shifter instead of the peg. Clutchless shift down into 2nd without blipping the throttle. Back end slid like mad and I damn near shat my shorts. How I didn't high-side I'll never know. Shit happens. ABS can help keep you from needing to wipe it off yourself.

 

[CaptainCranky]

A perfect comparison here of same bike slamming brakes on at 100K/Hr in the wet - one with ABS and one without...

 

[dandoolittle]

Personally I've never had a bike with ABS. I've got into some pretty sticky situations and never locked the wheels. But it just takes that one time

Last comment is bang on.

I skidded my Zzr the other day, nothing major and carried on with my day but its one of those, I'll ride in second gear for a second to think about my actions lol

First time in ten years

 

[Marbro_za]

that comparison is scary as fuck

i need training wheels

 

[CBRHoonigan]

Abs is quite hard to get to come on in the dry, the wet ive never ridden though but as shirou said its unobtrusive, you wont notice it at all until its saved you or sent you into the back of a car, Only the aids like traction control and wheelie control are the ones that hinder learning to ride a bike for what it is, coming out of a corner and winding on giving it power lettting it move a little but keeping it controlled on the throttle

 

[LeedsRider93]

The problem with those ABS/non-ABS comparison videos is that nobody brakes like that in real life. You can't treat a bike with no ABS in the same way.

Totally biased.

 

[Shirou]

The problem with those ABS/non-ABS comparison videos is that nobody brakes like that in real life. You can't treat a bike with no ABS in the same way.

Totally biased.

Expert riders cannot outperform ABS in the wet. There's a video about that.
Let me find that video and I'll back in a while.


--- Edit ---
Here it is, it is not in English but the only thing you need to know is that the orange one has ABS, the white one doesn't and both are professional, experienced riders.

Captions:
[TITLE]Braking tests
Over dry and wet roads.[/TITLE]
[TITLE]Does ABS matter on a scooter?[/TITLE]
-Hi, do you know what is the difference between a scooter with ABS and one without when you brake up to the limit?
We are going to test it over a dry and wet road here, in the tracks at the INTA, "Instuto Nacional de Técnicas Aeroespaciales" (National Institute of Aerospacial Technics).
And we're going to try it on two scooters, Kymco Super Dim 305. One has ABS, the orange one and the white one does not.
For the tests, we have two professional riders with scooters that have stabilizer wheels which will avoid them to fall in case they lose control.
In the first test, over dry sliding asphalt, the riders will brake hard as soon as they speed up to 50km/h, we're going to make several tries with the riders switching scooters and we're going to measure the average stopping distance.
After several tries we found that the ABS equipped scooter stopped at 17 meters, the same distance as the white one which doesn't have ABS. There is no difference and both bikes came to a safe stop.
But, let's see what happens on a wet track.
It's clear the benefit of ABS on a wet road, on average the scooter with ABS came to a stop on an average distance of 22 meters and the one without on 29 meters but the important thing is that thanks to ABS the wheels don't lock, don't skid and it's harder to lose balance, even if you're a good rider, ABS can save you, at least, from a frightening experience.

 

[CBRHoonigan]

yehh wet its amazing help, dry you wouldnt realise its their