Who has used their ABS?

How did it do?
How did it feel?
Wet or Dry?
Just playing or Emerg?

Is it worth the $$$

 

This comes up a bunch....if you do a search in here you'll find some long threads on it. Folks tend to be pretty split on the issue.

K

 

I have had to use the ABS in an emergency stop. The road I was riding on transitioned into gravel with no warning. I was doing 50 MPH when I saw the gravel. Don't remember how much distance I had, but jammed the brakes (front and back) on. Fortunately the bike stopped about 10 feet from the gravel with no real problems. I do remember waiting for the rear wheel to lock-up, but it never did so I guess the ABS worked. Would I have made the stop without ABS? I Don't know. What was strange was that I wanted the rear wheel to lock-up so I could judge how much force I was applying and then quickly back-off of the brake. The only other sign that the ABS was working was a slight pulsing in the front break lever. When deciding if you want to pay for the ABS, be honest with yourself and ask how good a rider are you and will you keep cool in an emergency.

 

Yep tried a search but ABS is a very short and unaccepted word in the search engine.

Sweet thats what I was looking for. I guess if you didn't know it was on thats a good thing. The slight pulsing on the lever is a another good sign.

One of my Honda Accords has very heavy pulsing with a huge amount of time in between pulses. Not a comforting feeling.

Our other Accord has fast and light pulses and the braking is much better.

Thank You

 

Not all ABS systems work equally well; I've learned that from reading reports on many bikes with ABS. With some bikes, there is a significant increase in stopping distance. Others feel like a pogo stick. Some are very smooth and do not increase the stopping distance. All seem to prevent crashes resulting from over-applying the brakes.

I assume that ABS systems will continue to improve.

 

One of the things ABS allows you to do is steer and brake at the same time, to avoid an animal for instance, but ABS should stop you more quickly in a straight line, did with me at least when a pedestrian stepped out in front of me in the rain, lucky for both of us i think...

 

THank god for ABS.
Deer. always a big hit.

cellphoners in SUV.
is is non-pc to state that the driver(s) was/were female?

a confused red fox on rte 82 at 6:30 AM.
go, no go, go, no go .... make up your damned mind for god sakes

 

That is for a car, turning while braking at the threshold of traction on a 2 wheeler doesn't work as well.

 

1. I'm already on record as being very pro ABS - I've had it on two beemers and it was VERY useful!!!!!

2. Consumer Motorcycle News has tested ABS many times, of various brands, and the Honda system(s) have always been excellent.

3. Got my RWB in April, I do practice emergency stops in controlled environments - If I have engaged it while either doing panic practice or while riding - I haven't felt it. I had reservations about the linked brakes actually, so I thought ABS was a necessity. Meanwhile, I'm very happy with the braking system.

 

JMO.....


I was at a demonstration my honda dealer had for abs..the biggest advantage they pushed was the ability to maneuver and avoid the problem while under full braking..same as a car. (of course thats also a major problem in that most people dont realize that with their cars either and think its just for straight line) depending on the surface ( and the bike) abs will not always stop you faster in a straight line than non on good surface with a good rider. But generally better in emergency's overall due to diff levels of drivers ability.
But Like they said..how many people ever actually practice full on panic stops anyway? ( I now make myself and my kids,and if it would help at the time, i dunnoo) This helps overcome some of that and for most will be much safer.

They did demos on a soaking wet parking lot, The driver went hard across the lot , slammed on the brakes and just drove around the cones like it was dry. Bike acted like it was dry! They then did it with a non abs, which had outriggers on it, and it either went straight over the cone or wiped out trying to miss it. Surprise..

Was quite something to see how well it turned when full abs brakes on.Just like the abs cars, they hammer them for all they are worth and steer. sure looked good to me!
They said people have a hard time with this as its not a thing they are used to, but that just do it if the time ever comes!

Just something to make the brain do when the time comes I guess...

I'm used to doing it in a car,living in the iceworld, but would be weird on a bike and no guarantee I wont loose it, but if it does allow some maneuvering and I could get around the target at all, then good enough!
I dont have it, have been lucky enough to never need it, but I will certainly have it on my next bike. Sure has saved my arse in the car!! #^% icy mtn roads!!

I hope nobody here ever really needs it!

 

Well i have news for you there friend, it works on bikes as well...

@NitroNorth

This is exactly what i'm talking about, i've demonstrated this to people before when i used to be an instructor and you really can steer and brake at the same time. I know it goes against the grain as most people would just slam the brakes on and hope, but reality is that with this system you can actually steer round the problem. Trick is to remember you always head in the direction your eyes are focused on so if you can train yourself to look around the problem and go for an escape route, then you will head in that direction and hopefully avoid any nastiness. Anyone whose done a track day will have been told when cornering to look at the vanishing point on a bend and follow that to get round successfully, it's no different when avoiding a hazard, don't focus on the problem, steer round it, this is what ABS allows you to do.

 

I don't think so.

You can brake and turn at the same time, but you are not going to do any significant turning when on the edge of wheel lock up. If you are using 100% of traction for braking, you have none left to use for lateral acceleration.

ABS will keep the wheel from locking up, i.e. turning, but it will do nothing to keep it from sliding sideways in a turn, which is what will happen if you make a large steering change during ABS operation.

 

disagree..steering is major part of the idea of the abs... I have seen it work, good enough for me! will i be smart enough to use it in a panic..I hope soooo...

 

ABS is good....nay great.

If you ride perfect 100% of the time and perfectly threshold break ABS will make your stoping distance slightly longer. But be honest not eveen GP riders manage that consistently.
And should the back of that truck suddenly open up with plant throwing dwarves you will probably not brack perfectly... With abs if you over apply break in a panic you will still stop in a safe and controlled manner...

This is important as when you need to hard stop chances are your not expecting it(or you would already be slowing down) and thus the ability to react quicky and confidently is important.

In addition one should not that is straight line breaking performance. Idealy a bniker should eather be stoping OR turning not both, but the world is far from perfect and animals always like to jump at you from around corners. Again a paic responce without ABS my lead to a crash, with an ABS bike can break hard and deside what to do sacing a few seconds before eniating the turn, or even turning while breaking(a mosse suddenly apears in front of you, most will turn hard and break...it's a reaction we all have. We want to slow down and not hit the obstical so we take action to acieve those objectives....Non-abs bikes the rider must chose and often stick with that choice. An abs bike can do both until the person decides on the better choice or if one is nessisary.

another added benifit is while learning to threshold break one can focus more on the front break as thats where most of your stoping power is and simply lock the rear. ABS takes care of the rear while you apply threshold breaking to the fron for optimal stoping. Very important in a complex situation, one less thing to worry about.

I personally just enjoy knowing it's there...should i panic i haul on the front break i may not crash. Though for all stoping in non emergency i threshold break.
Also as experement i have noticed from 80km/h the diffrence in stoping is only a few feet...

Overall you'll probbibly never know it's there..but thats the idea.