New ABS Braking System (finally getting it right)

ABS saved my bacon twice on the street. both times involved hitting a slick patch that was invisible to me while braking. The first time I was going straight and had to brake heavily for an unexpectedly short yellow light. The second time I was slightly leaned over in a turn and had to brake due to debris in the road. both times I was glad I had ABS.

BTW time 1 was on a 1994 R1100; time 2 was on a 2008 K1200S.

Hmm... I'm still not really feeling this. I mean yeah, there are situations while riding off-road where ABS doesn't make you safer it puts you more at risk, but a) as ABS gets better and better the window where ABS makes braking performance worse off-road continues to shrink, and b) if it is possible to disable or partially disable the ABS without needing tools then that must surely cater for what is an exception rather than a rule. Because 99% of Adventure bikes never leave ice & snow free pavement, and the 1% that do, even in the hands of hardcore riders, are probably net beneficiaries of ABS for 99% of the miles they cover...

I'd say there was a pretty good argument for not fitting a simple toggle switch that can be taped in the off position - because Bubba the Redneck will do just that because his obviously superior skills make all this ABS nonsense for pussies and anyway he never uses the front brake because everybody knows that makes you crash...

I'd say there were thousands of people close enough to fitting the Bubba stereotype that a simple toggle switch would be a bad idea for them, to every one person who wants to disable the ABS to make their 'shoulda bought a snowmobile' winter moto commute easier...


Ken Haylock

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Generally I'm all for ABS. Definitely improves safety overall, and that can't be a bad thing.

but for some really steep downhill sections (and you don't find those on the road, and I can't say I've often hit those where I ride) I still want to be able to switch it off. And yep, somebody might switch it off, where he/she should have just kept it on, but there is no option, that is perfect for everybody. I also believe in the freedom of choice, like if someone does not wanna wear a helmet, fine, don't wear it then.

And for those sections, how much do you object to e.g. having to shut the bike down then restart it with the ABS button held down, and put up with a big flashing red light on the dash while you traverse the section?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

Why not just shut the engine off and engine brake down the hill?

Wouldn't that solve all the listed issues?

I understand the technical merit of what you are saying, but, I balance this with the fact that on the section of trail being described the bike I have with ABS would be my last choice for taking on that trail anyway. It is a pig in a single track environment with steep inclines and descents.

If I am riding an ABS-equipped bike on terrain like that often enough for this to be a recurring issue I'd yank the ABS and replumb the bike with standard brakes. (or just ride a trail bike without ABS)

Sounds like picking nits to make an obscure point while negating the fact that the latest Bosch ABS-9 would likely do just fine in the described scenario without any need to disable it. (this thread is about the NEW ABS Braking System, after all)

Yes, my point was that if you make disabling an ABS system impossible then there are rare occasions where you'll make so e people's lives less safe. By contrast if you it too easy to do without thinking, then a lot of the people who need ABS most, the ones for whom never turning the ABS on would be some kind of dick measuring thing, especially since they 'just know' they can stop better than ABS... They'll be the ones who turn it off all the time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

Who says it HAS to be such a dumb solution?

And I agree that if turning off is made easy, then some are gonna turn it off right away. But I still want that option, even though I´ll always have it on, when riding on roads.

I had a brief discussion about ABS this morning, my friend told me that ABS can be a nightmare when pulling a trailer, but he didn't have time to explain why

can anybody shed light, he may have been speaking of towing heavy equipment with big trucks, another part of our discussion, he was getting ready to install a few thousand kold kutters in his loader tires

I'm more worried about the reliability of their ride by wire system, I just can't get myself to trust electronics that much. I'd rather have a system like Yamaha, where the cables do not connect to the throttle plates, but do limit how much they can open.