ABS on rear brake only

Originally Posted by northwind

My word... That's a rubbish paragraph. Anyone still with me?

yes... in the pub... but yes...

Northy, I get what you're saying, but I still don't like it.

Yes, with ABS, I could brake harder & therefor stop faster. But can I choose to lock the rear up when I feel like it if the bike has ABS enabled?

Simple answer is "no." This is because ABS was designed to prevent exactly that.

As you said, I'd rather take an extra 5 feet to stop, rather than risk a slide, but there are times when you can make the bike slide in order to prevent the need to stop at all (as I did in the situation above - I tell you though, I s**t myself when the time came to just let go of both brakes, filtering with inches to spare at high speed after having a near miss).

reasons its not done:
1 abs works by comparing the wheel speeds of the front and rear wheel, if one is rotating slower- then its slipping. so in order to fit abs to just the rear wheel would require all the expensive equipment that it would need for both. So its ecomonicaly a not good idea.
2. If the rear locks up its not a huge problem and can be controlled easily, if the front locks up your tasting bitumen!
3. No one reaches for the rear brake in an emergency which is when your most likely to lock up your wheel (eg this morning when a range rover tank pulled across me in the wet )

Originally Posted by gettin2dizzy

No one reaches for the rear brake in an emergency which is when your most likely to lock up your wheel

You are assuming everyone is like you here mate.
I reach for both brakes in a panic situation.
We have a lot of traffic here in Malta with newly licenced idiots coming out of the oven every 2 hours on average! So a lot of panic situations. The wrong thing with me is that I grew up covering the brakes 'cause of this and slamming the rear in fear of sliding the front. Now I've started to ease off the front brake coverage, leaving me less tense on the bike holding just one finger there mostly to help me keep a constant throttle. The rear brake is hard to shake off though.

Thanks for explaining the front to rear comparison done by ABS gettin2dizzy, it does make sense. I always thought ABS works by oscillating the brakes on and off so that you're not braking on the same patch of tyre.

2. If the rear locks up its not a huge problem and can be controlled easily, if the front locks up your tasting bitumen!

I have had plenty of locked front wheels. It might not be a good plan half way around a corner, but in a straight line it doesn't have to cause any ill effects.

Maybe its a simple answer but why not adjust the rear so that you have to STAND on it before it locks up. That way you have adequate back brake for taking a bit of speed off and balance for controlled braking Its a very cheap option

i find the rear brake is pretty weak. I use it alot more than other people on here but only really for wet weather (combined) braking and low speed work. I'd get confident with the front brake if i were you, its so much more powerful and relying on the rear could get you in to some sticky situations. Just look at the difference in disk sizes! It'll be the best thing you can do to improve your riding.

Originally Posted by gettin2dizzy

i find the rear brake is pretty weak. I use it alot more than other people on here but only really for wet weather (combined) braking and low speed work. I'd get confident with the front brake if i were you, its so much more powerful and relying on the rear could get you in to some sticky situations. Just look at the difference in disk sizes! It'll be the best thing you can do to improve your riding.

Well said! Just don't get over confident on the front end. Trust me, it hurts

Originally Posted by zunkus

You are assuming everyone is like you here mate.
I reach for both brakes in a panic situation.

As taught in lessons and best way to stop quickly. Everyone should use both. No one should just use front, it shows inexperience.

The rear brake should be used when gentle controlled braking is required (moving slowly or on gravel) or if you need to minimise the effect it has on balance (such as round corners).

[northwind]

Baph, thing is, how many times does being able to lock up the rear actually help? Very, very rarely. How often does a locked wheel cause problems? Relatively often. It's all a trade off.

I wouldn't pay the extra amount that it costs for ABS, just now. And if I was looking at a bike that had it, it'd have to have an offswitch for trackdays and "recreational" road riding. But for days like today, commuting in wet weather not too far off zero, I'd be glad to have it...

Originally Posted by gettin2dizzy

reasons its not done:
1 abs works by comparing the wheel speeds of the front and rear wheel, if one is rotating slower- then its slipping. so in order to fit abs to just the rear wheel would require all the expensive equipment that it would need for both. So its ecomonicaly a not good idea.

Not true... Most bike ABS works by wheel speed monitoring. If the wheel speed changes too fast, (ie, goes from 500-and-odds rpm at 60kph, to drastically less in too short a time) then the ABS computer knows it's sliding. If it were done by comparing both ends, changing tyre profiles could confuse it, and it wouldn't prevent locking both ends simultaneously. It's pretty common to have ABS just on the front, I think.

Still, you're basically right, if you're goign to have ABS why not put it on the front, where it's most valuable.