View Full Version : Would you want ABS on a bike?
Blue_SV650S
15-09-08, 06:26 PM
Inspired by what has been said in this thread http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=117639 I thought I'd put a poll up to see the general consensus ...
Personally I have never ridden a bike with ABS to know how good it is, but for the sake of argument lets assume the bike ABS is as advanced/good as modern cage ABS. i.e. no horrible pulsing of the leaver or jerky fork movements etc just max breaking with no chance of skidding regardless of foot/finger pressure!!
fastdruid
15-09-08, 06:38 PM
On a road bike yes, I'm good enough to brake hard and control it without but for that 1/1000000 chance I'd have ABS if it was an option.
Wouldn't bother on a track bike.
Druid
northwind
15-09-08, 06:52 PM
I want ABS I can turn off, for trackdays and the like. But yeah, good ABS, I would personally give a nut for.
Blue_SV650S
15-09-08, 06:53 PM
On a road bike yes, I'm good enough to brake hard and control it without but for that 1/1000000 chance I'd have ABS if it was an option.
Wouldn't bother on a track bike.
Druid
I'd like to think I know what I am doing, but I'd have ABS AND traction control on track and/or road bike if it were available (and refined)!! 8)
I can't see any reason why not to :-k
Not fussed either way, I'm sure we'd all learn how to manage the bike either way...
ThEGr33k
15-09-08, 07:37 PM
I put not fussed as I have no exp of it. Cant see why it could be bad really. :)
Biker Biggles
15-09-08, 08:08 PM
Yes why not?
Honda have developed a "fly by wire"braking system which should be fitted on bikes soon.
The only downside I can see is added complexity meaning you would have to take it to the dealer for services and repairs.And more cost.
No, thanks.
I'm happy with manual brakes.
Im not fussed really, but if i was buying a new bike and the option was there, then yes i probably would.
I still fond it hard to understand WHY poeple WOULDNT want ABS. ABS cuts in when the wheel locks and only then! Why would you want your fornt wheel to lock? 99% of the time, fornt wheel lock, you hit the deck!!
We all make mistakes, anyone that claims they could beat or match an ABS system, under emergency stop/swerve circumstances, in all conditions, every time, is deluded. It would take a highly skilled rider to do it once in the wet, in an emergency.
I'd love ABS on my bike, and it is something that I will look for on my next.
STRAMASHER
16-09-08, 09:07 AM
Maybe Honda have come up with a new GOOD ABS system as from what I have learned is that the ABS on bikes the noo is rubbish. I want something that will still chirp the front tyre. I want something that does not get confused at any speed on a mildly bumpy road and accelerate you into a corner/ back of a car.
The more budget the bike the worse the system too I'll bet.
So its a mibees from me.
Alpinestarhero
16-09-08, 09:07 AM
If I was buying a bike and there was an option to have ABS, I would take it....but if the model I was buying didn't have ABS then I wouldn't be so fussed
For example, if I wanted a GSXR600 I would buy it (no ABS option), but if i was buying the CBR600, I'd wait and take the one with the ABS option (its coming, according to MCN). I'm pretty alright at braking, but you can't always be prepared for when the front wheel locks up...for example, if you cant see where there is a damp patch when you have just gone into a shaded part of teh road on a really sunny day
redshift
16-09-08, 09:11 AM
I was going to vote yes, as I am a n00b so this could save my neck - but then I thought, maybe if I rely on ABS I'd not learn to brake properly, so when the ABS packs up I'll get caught out and slide off into the sunset.
I learnt to drive in non-ABS cars so I (almost) never trigger it, but I like knowing its there.
I have ABS on the Wee Strom and it works fine. I have felt it kick in on the rear wheel but never on the front.
I have ridden a BMW F650GS with ABS and that was pants it seemed to cut in too early and take too long to sort it self out to the point where it felt like you had no brakes.
ABS is a good thing if it works well!!!
Ch00
I have ridden 2 ABS bikes thus far (2007 Hornet, 2008 Z750). The ABS makes no difference at all until you poke it with a big stick. On both bikes I came up to a set of traffic lights with poor surface at low speed and just grabbed a handful, confident that I could control a front end slide at that speed. In both cases it braked normally until the slide was just beginning and then released the brakes. This feels very weird, but it's what I'd have done anyway.
I'd have it on my next bike, no qualms about it at all.
Jambo
I wonder how hard it out be to retrofit ABS to my SV?
wyrdness
16-09-08, 09:59 AM
I want ABS I can turn off, for trackdays and the like. But yeah, good ABS, I would personally give a nut for.
What Northy said, turn-offable ABS would be nice, so long as it works well.
I wouldnt' say no to traction control either. Anything that can save you from an off is a good thing in my book.
Well ABS works on a sensor, so it should be easy to put a switch in to turn it off.
Well ABS works on a sensor, so it should be easy to put a switch in to turn it off.
On Vstrom's they take the ABS fuse off , others add a switch inline with the fuse.
On Vstrom's they take the ABS fuse off , others add a switch inline with the fuse.
Nice and easy then.
Flamin_Squirrel
17-09-08, 10:43 AM
I can see ABS being made mandatory as on cars, and knowing the government, I doubt they'll allow provision for it to be switched off.
I'm not really sure I like the idea really. Certainly not on permanently anyway. I like the idea of the purity of riding a machine without too much electricery (other than engine management of course). If I feel the need to get everywhere with an increased safety factor, I'll take the car.
SoulKiss
17-09-08, 10:47 AM
I can see ABS being made mandatory as on cars, and knowing the government, I doubt they'll allow provision for it to be switched off.
I'm not really sure I like the idea really. Certainly not on permanently anyway. I like the idea of the purity of riding a machine without too much electricery (other than engine management of course). If I feel the need to get everywhere with an increased safety factor, I'll take the car.
Simple then - take the fuse out - pop it, put it back and also have the ABS light "failed" too.
Plausible Deniability factor is High
Or just carry a blown fuse to swap.
Purity? Its a safety feature that may save you forking out for a new bike, limbs. Why on earth would anyone want to turn it off.
redshift
17-09-08, 01:24 PM
Surely you should be able to ride your bike and never know whether its got ABS or not until that time on loose gravel in the wet when you've got a cold and are thinking about tea and it's the difference between "ooh, should have been more awake there, never mind" and "oh pooh, time to dig the bike out of a horse".
Also, its a useful way of heading off the Vision Zero big brothers trying to legislate bikes out of existence.
2p
arenalife
17-09-08, 01:34 PM
My current and last bikes have ABS, it's come on a couple of times when there's been crap on the road when stopping for lights. I'd prefer to have it by far.
I still fond it hard to understand WHY poeple WOULDNT want ABS. ABS cuts in when the wheel locks and only then! Why would you want your fornt wheel to lock? 99% of the time, fornt wheel lock, you hit the deck!!
I personally wouldn't want ABS.
The reason, is that I'm pretty confident that if I knew I could just clamp around the brake levers & press until my fingers/foot bled, then I'd ride faster (being "safer" in the knowledge that the wheels aren't going to lock up).
So no ABS makes me a slower rider, but a safer one.
So no ABS makes me a slower rider, but a safer one.
Does it, really? REALY?
That's like saying I drive the car like a nutter cus it got airbags, ABS,SPS and whole load of other things and if anything happens driving like a twit I know I'll be fine.
Does it, really? REALY?
Yup. As I said, if I did have ABS, I'd ride faster & take more risks, knowing that I could drop anchor & stop without locking up the wheels. I know the temptation, combined with the comfort factor would be too much to resist for me.
But that's just me, so I'd personally rather not have ABS, purely to remove the temptation to take more risks.
redshift
17-09-08, 02:27 PM
Yup. As I said, if I did have ABS, I'd ride faster & take more risks, knowing that I could drop anchor & stop without locking up the wheels. I know the temptation, combined with the comfort factor would be too much to resist for me.
But that's just me, so I'd personally rather not have ABS, purely to remove the temptation to take more risks.
For the same reason I ride in speedos and flip-flops with a big spike attached to the top yoke! :D:D
For the same reason I ride in speedos and flip-flops with a big spike attached to the top yoke! :D:D
There's removing temptation, and removing the fun element of riding... :)
I have more people to think about than myself, so do things that will minimise risks - and I know what my personality is like.
I'm not sure it would remove the fun, I imagine it would make stoppies a bit hard to do.
Did Jester666 only not crash his 'courier' bike on a track day cus he had ABS.
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