ABS worth having?

[NTECUK]

You can live without it.
Its just difficult teaching your self to let go the brake when you want to stop.
Cadence Braking in a cars one thing , On a bike its alltogether another ball game
And its not the god of stopping re this
" on very loose surfaces, a quicker stop can be achieved by simply locking the wheels, causing a wedge of loose material to build up ahead of the wheels and create a substantial braking force. This is useful only when stopping in a straight line, because locking the wheels means all steering control would be lost. In such conditions, ABS actually increases the stopping distances. On poor surfaces, in the past, rally drivers timed the pulsing of brake application so as to take advantage of the load transfer as the vehicle pitches forwards and backwards in response to the initial braking effort. With modern overdamped, stiffly sprung suspensions this is less likely to be effective."

The option cost and retro fitting figure will be miles apart due to the increase in labour removing and disassembly of parts already on the bike to retro fit the new system.
I would think £1400 is more realistic for retro fit

Your best shot at it is to trade your bike for one with ABS. You could ask a dealer what it would cost you.
If you can buy used & sell your own bike privately, then the overall price could be much lower (if any), but it's always a gamble.

Don't sweat it Agy. If you're a bit paranoid now you've seen the videos do some practise hard braking in a controlled environment to give you a little more confidence in what you can get away with.

Nah, not too paranoid but it would be nice to have. I have definitely come on leaps and bounds since my brake yanking days. Not worth the hassle of trading the bike in. Can't afford to lose any more money. Already lost £500 when I traded in my 125 after riding it for 5 months. But I will def try to have abs on my next bike.

[NTECUK]

Now its dry. Go take your self off to a nice quiet bit of road.
At lowvspeed pull the front brake on as hard as you can and then let go straight away.
If your strong you get a little chrip as the tyre locks up.
Keep doing it a and increase the pumps one after the other.
If your lucky your make dots and dashes on the road in no time.
Soon your be pulling up to pedestrian crossings tyre howling and the look of fear on the pep's on the crossings will make it worth while.

I'm yet to do front brake locking with rictus. we've practiced rear already
I've become TONS better at relaxing and not yanking the brakes. every time i've had something dodgy lately, either sudden stop, dodgy bit of road/pothole/gravel i managed to overcome the programmed need to slam the brakes and instead remained relaxed and actually let go of the brakes allowing the bike to sort itself out. it definitely works

ABS for road, sure why not, it's fully respectable when you're 60 or older, just as a gold wing or a hardley is ok at that age. But if you ever plan on doing a trackday stay clear of ABS, and there is now other safe way that I know of to train yourself into becoming a better rider and knowing your bike better.

Meanwhile, back in the real world

ABS is a facet of motorcycling that is undoubtedly here to stay. It can save the life of anyone, from 17 to 70. It does'nt, however, turn inexperienced riders into experts nor does switching it off turn track-day heroes into Casey Stoner.
I managed without it from the early 1970's until 2007.

I hav'nt had a look at the spec for Japanese stuff, but on the Italian and German stuff I've had the ABS is switchable for track-days or off-road.

Of more use to me, and something that has saved me and my bikes several times, is Traction Control/ASC. Usually on, or exiting, greasy roundabouts in damp conditions. Not fun on a fully laden GS1200 or a twitchy Ducati Monster! Obviously, one adjusts the riding style to suit the conditions but nobody is infallible.

I may be opening a whole new can of worms and, no doubt, the "I don't need all that sh!t, I learnt to ride properly" brigade will be along with the usual uninformed opinions or technical articles about how it can't work.
But I've been there. If the technology is available, use it. Just don't use it as a substitute for experience.

The Sun's out, at last!

[NTECUK]

But most new cars have it so why not bikes?