ABS equipped bikes

As far as I remember its just the same brakes... ain't the ABS just added on top.

I'd go for it too, but only if the price was reasonable.

Everybody makes mistakes (that's why pencils have erasers!). Even if you practice emergency stops and get really good at them, you are still only partially prepared for the "panic braking" which might occur in a real situation. That's as much down to temperament as anything and unless you're in those situations daily, then even if you know how, the chances that you will do everything perfectly are slim.

I'm pretty sure my next bike will come with ABS. I've never locked the front at all but it's not hard to envisage a situation where I might make a mistake though.

Yep, can you really ever practice a emergency stop...

After my little spin up and off the other day I'd quite fancy ABS and traction control !!!

Originally Posted by Grinch

Yep, can you really ever practice a emergency stop...

ride for 10 seconds with eyes open folowed by 4 seconds closed, and repeat.

Plenty of emergency stop practice

not something i would recommend though!

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by Grinch

Yep, can you really ever practice a emergency stop...

All you can do is build up the muscle memory to squeeze the brakes, you can't really simulate the whole thing.

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?
The skill of braking close to the threshold, without locking either wheel, without relying on ABS. Ever noticed how few car drivers these days can emergency stop properly? Most just floor the brake pedal and let the ABS sort it out. It would be worse on bikes (and hence more of a problem/argument against it) due to the problems in making ABS clever enough to deal with braking whilst the bike is leant over, as good human riders can.

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.
The problem is that riding a bike with ABS could cause you to just get into the habit of pulling the brake all the way on (as cagers do in cars, see above point) in an emergency. Even if you conciously know the bike you're riding doesn't have ABS and try to ride around this, it can be hard to overcome the habit you've formed on the bike with it, if that's your main bike (like when riding a bike with a race pattern gear shifter, BMW indicators etc.), particularly in a situation when you're reacting by instinct, like in an emergency stop.

There all twits anyway...
Agreed and I personally wouldn't let this influence my decision. Given the popularity of race rep paint schemes, carbon fibre in places it serves no purpose etc, it seems reasonable to assume other people might.

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On a related note, assuming a reasonably experienced/capable rider, what do people reckon is "safer" on the SV? £400 spent on ABS, or £400 on sorting the suspension?

[yorkie_chris]

These same twits wouldn't notice ABS on a bike anyway unless you told them.

Ive only had a couple of occasions where Ive braked hard enough to lock the rear. This is in 5 years of riding. If I was only looking to buy new, then its a no brainer. I can have the ABS model for an extra £300. But the used model which has come up, is less than a year old and is a grand cheaper, only its non-ABS. I dont know how long I would have to wait for a used ABS model to show up as I havent seen one yet in nearly 3 months of looking for one.

How long do you see yourself keeping this bike?

Seems to me the ABS is pretty important to you, so I say splash the extra, buy the new bike as it ticks all your boxes and sleep better at night for it.