ABS whats the script

i know how it works on a car, i think i understand on a bike, but it puzzles me as to the usefulness of it due to the lack of 2 extra wheels (poise and weight distrabution factors), linked front to back brake effect if they are linked etc

so, does it work, does it work well, what are the befits and drawbacks, good or bad for bikes, would it work well on a trike, is it worth retro fitting one from a vstrom onto the sv, would this cost a fortune, what would it intail, who would benfit from it if anyone
so basicly people start from a finish at z ,talk everything abs and i shall ingest

begin

I was asking the same questions last month, i watched some youtube vids of it being turned on and off going through puddles and under hard braking. It seems clear to me it works; and i would be interested in having it if it weren't for one tiny problem. If you brake like you have abs, and one day it packs up, you are going to be in big trouble!. Not being clued up on bike abs systems, i dont know what the likely hood of failure is?

Obviously if your racing you may not want it.

Traction control would worry me for the same reason.

I have it on my honda hornet ABS.

The front brake works as normal and if you lock the wheel it releases it to stop you falling off. The back brake however is linked to the front and works a bit like a car brake. You can stamp on it and the bike just stops dead, its great. The only minor niggle is you can't trail brake which i used to do.

I would probably have it again given the choice but wouldn't rule out a bike just cos it didn't have ABS, hope this helps.

[SoulKiss]

Well you have ridden a bike with ABS, so you should know

LOL

Actually I realise I forgot to give you the "try stamping on the rear brake to feel what the ABS is like" talk before you had a go on it.

Front brake - I think I have had the ABS kick in twice, if that. What happened? Well I stopped about a foot further forwards than I wanted to, but the bike was upright, I just rolled further.

Rear brake - Well having been using the SV again, I've had a few rear locks due to heavy footedness, which to be honest the ABS on the Zed has been warning me about - you get what feels like a kick through the lever, and the bike doesn't stop as you wanted, but the rear doesn't do the lock/slide routine...

As for retro-fit, well the bike with ABS will have an idiot light on its clocks to notify if it sees an ABS fault, so that would have to be added into the system. You are probably also looking at having to mount the servos, a second fuse box and a few other bits and pieces.

Is ABS THAT important, no, not really. It will stop you locking the wheels if you are ham fisted.

PM me with a time that good for you in the evening and we can have a chat

Originally Posted by beabert

I was asking the same questions last month, i watched some youtube vids of it being turned on and off going through puddles and under hard braking. It seems clear to me it works; and i would be interested in having it if it weren't for one tiny problem. If you brake like you have abs, and one day it packs up, you are going to be in big trouble!. Not being clued up on bike abs systems, i dont know what the likely hood of failure is?

If your riding/driving and constantly relying on the ABS to sort out your breaking, then I'd say your heading for trouble anyway. That isn't really what ABS is there for. It's a last measure get out of jail free.

[STRAMASHER]

Is ABS affected by different rubber?

Do you use it as a performance aid, ie braking a lot harder, quicker?

Can you still chirp the tyre? Or is it a bit of a killjoy?

Does it interupt your braking over ripples and bumps?

Some ABS good (S1000RR/ Honda C-ABS?) some gash ....?

[SoulKiss]

Originally Posted by Stig

If your riding/driving and constantly relying on the ABS to sort out your breaking, then I'd say your heading for trouble anyway. That isn't really what ABS is there for. It's a last measure get out of jail free.

+1. I spent the couple of hundred quid on ABS because I commute through London, the home of the badly places manhole cover and pedestrilemmings...

[Sid Squid]

How does it work?
Same as with cars - each wheel has a speed sensor, when braking if one wheel speed is significantly different to the other the ABS system will act. Modern ones are very. very good, they far exceed the capabilities of the early bike systems which were by comparison crude, you've got to try one - it really does work.
Linked brakes?
Not necessarily.
Drawbacks?
Weight, complexity, cost.
Advantages?
Some people reckon they can outbrake an ABS system, without getting in to why they're wrong, think about what ABS does - it's not for the times when you're consciously trying very hard to get that extra final smidge of pressure into the brake, which is the circumstance where some people reckon they can beat it - a nice setup brake test on a known surface with a hundred practice runs first, it's for those moments where some numpty pulls out in front of you and you grab a big handful of lever and in a panic exclaim 'Deary me, that was close', which are the occasions in which it works fantastically.
Also as most new bikes are moving to fuel injection and full electronic control, connecting the ABS sensors to the engine management is a small thing - this way lies efficient traction control too.
Good for bikes?
Yes.
Trikes?
No reason why not.
Retro fit?
No, the systems are complex and very specific, there are obvious parallels between the SV and Strom but I still think they would be sufficiently different to make the resulting system less than ideal.
Would that cost lots?
Oh yes.

The question of its failure is interesting, if you know how it works you'd know that it were to fail the brakes would still work normally, and the suggestion you'd suddenly lock up everywhere as you'd be used to it doing the thinking for you is rubbish, ABS systems make it quite plain when they're doing something for you, usually by pulsing the lever
ABS works, if it were an option on a bike I was considering buying I would have it - despite the vague objections that I have heard it is definately a positive thing.
So I'd have it - but I'd still practice the skills needed to not need it - which you pretty much do everytime you ride your bike.

[Luckypants]

I won't bother answering as Sid covered it pretty comprehensively.

I will say, the two times I've needed the ABS it has saved my bacon big style. Note I say needed, because when the talent ran out I needed rescuing and ABS did it.

Originally Posted by Sid Squid

...
Retro fit?
No, the systems are complex and very specific, there are obvious parallels between the SV and Strom but I still think they would be sufficiently different to make the resulting system less than ideal...

I don't know why you'd want to use DL bits when the SV650 is produced with ABS for some markets.