ABS equipped bikes

Originally Posted by SoulKiss

The other one was when Grinch had just started commuting into London and had a pedestrian step out from in front of a bus on him, he locked it and dropped it.

Yep, it was wet too, it was on Cannon street, or suicide ally as I've heard it called. Jump out from behind a taxi, he had to jump up to avoid being hit by my bike and the bike just went straight down, oh well.
But yes ABS would have been great, as it would have also stopped me from flipping the bike when that bloke pulled a u-turn in-front of me on Battersea park Road.

Tell you what, if you get a bike with ABS and you don't want it, I'll swap your ABS system for my standard one.

[Luckypants]

Originally Posted by Sid Squid

Get the ABS.

<snip>

I'd get the ABS bike, and I'd still practise the skills needed to not use it.

Here Here, good post. I still take myself to car parks to practice emergency braking, u-turns and other fiddly stuff, even though I have ABS (Haven't been for a while ).

Reasons why not to:
Cost,
Potentially harder/more expensive to service (if things go wrong with the ABS bit),
More weight,
Could lead you to neglect the skills not to use it (or if you're a new rider, never develop them),
Could cause you problems if you get used to it then switch to a bike without it,
Less cred with the wannabe racers.

Reasons to:
Safer,
Easier to brake near the threshold when something about the bike changes (pillion, lots of luggage, etc.),
You're probably not good enough to brake quicker without it, without crashing,
Less chance of getting caught out with low speed carpark front end lockups.

I have always said my next bike will have ABS, although I bought a SV1000 after saying that.

I cannot see any disadvantages with abs to be honest. Having locked the wheel a couple of times by grabbing the front brake it will serve as a good safety net for when irrational reflexes take over.

I am just not sure how much extra I would pay for it, it must be worth 10% of the bikes value for the peace of mind and then at resale as it becomes more widespread there will also be greater demand.

[SoulKiss]

Originally Posted by ivantate

I have always said my next bike will have ABS, although I bought a SV1000 after saying that.

I cannot see any disadvantages with abs to be honest. Having locked the wheel a couple of times by grabbing the front brake it will serve as a good safety net for when irrational reflexes take over.

I am just not sure how much extra I would pay for it, it must be worth 10% of the bikes value for the peace of mind and then at resale as it becomes more widespread there will also be greater demand.

Cost me £400 for the ABS - less than 10%

[Viney]

This old argument Get it. Why not!

At the end of the day its a safty aid and is designed as such. Its there to stop the front/rear wheels locking and allowing the rider to negotiate the obsticle. Its not there to remove your manlyness in any way. Before long i reckon you wont be able to buy a bike with out it, much like cars and its something that is far more benefical on a bike than in a car!

Im sure some peeeps will come along in a while to say that they will disconnect it, or thier instructior did it on his bike etc etc. Thier choice.

Some systems can be a bit over eager to cut in though!

[Luckypants]

Originally Posted by Viney

Before long i reckon you wont be able to buy a bike with out it,

You can only get the VFR with ABS now.

Originally Posted by Ceri JC

Reasons why not to:
Could lead you to neglect the skills not to use it (or if you're a new rider, never develop them),
What skills am I not going to devolop? Not crashing the bike, sounds like a plan to me. Was this argument used when they put ABS in cars?
Could cause you problems if you get used to it then switch to a bike without it,
Once again, only in those situations that call for emergency braking and then when you got the bike you might have noticed it doesn't have ABS and ride a bit more careful in the wet and stuff.
Less cred with the wannabe racers.
There all twits anyway...

Mmmh...

[yorkie_chris]

I dunno if you get used to letting the ABS kick in, it's going to be a nasty shock when you go to an older bike. That would be a rare and stupid rider though.

Mr Squid, what are these ABSes like to work on?

[SoulKiss]

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

I dunno if you get used to letting the ABS kick in, it's going to be a nasty shock when you go to an older bike. That would be a rare and stupid rider though.

Mr Squid, what are these ABSes like to work on?

Well if you remember, I killed my front master cylinder

Mr Jambo helped me swap that out/bleed brakes etc - there was no difference to a non-ABS bike.

If the ABS light ever comes on, I think it will be a trip to the dealers tho - but I figure I could pull the ABS fuses disabling it completely so I wouldnt have to worry about wierdnesses on my way home