F800GS with ABS or not?

[betitolara]

Newbie here!
I put a deposit down on a 2010 F800GS (Orange ) and was wondering if you guys could comment on whether having the ABS breaks is worth it or not? any feedback will be much appreciated.

I am riding from BC, Canada to Tierra del Fuego (spending lots of time in Peru, where I am originally from) later this year. I'll be riding on dirt and pavement.

I spent a few hrs looking for the answer to my question but had no luck. If this has been covered on a previous thread please send me the link.
Cheers!
Alberto.

[GB]

If it only saves you once from going down due to the surface, or some jackass cutting you off or cutting in front of you.. it'll be worth it.

For the last 4 years, I've been riding a bike without ABS.. no incidents. New bike, 800GS, in November, I was riding home from work in the rain, I see a car in the opposite direction waiting to turn left in front of me to go into the parking lot of a bar on the opposite side of the road. I keep an eye on him.. he seems to see me, he is stopped.. then he proceeds and turns in front of me, then he stops just before I hit him... I grabbed a handful of brake, and at the same time steer around him.. and by the way, the road was wet from the rain. I am sure I would have gone down if I had braked as hard as I did on a wet road if I didn't have ABS, plus I wouldn't have been able to steer as I was braking very hard.

I looked over as I cleared the hood of his car..... old guy..

So... ya, it's worth having, especially on the unpredictable roads of going to south America.

[Zacharia_11]

Lots of comparisons there.

[WoodWorks]

Whoo boy. ¿Como se dice "can of worms" en Español?

I'm a BIG fan of ABS, Alberto. I wouldn't even consider buying a bike without it. It has saved my bacon twice now, and probably will again.

But...

There are many folks here who will tell you that it's a waste of money, or even dangerous.

So you're probably going to hear many different versions of why you should or shouldn't get it, sprinkled with a lot of questionable data from both sides. Most likely you'll end up more confused than when you started.

Here are some facts that I think are beyond dispute:

1. Having ABS on your bike makes it easier to sell later, and you'll get a higher resale value for it.

2. If you ride off-pavement a lot, you're going to want to switch it off. Fortunately, on an F800 this is easy. You don't even have to come to a complete stop like on other BMWs. So if most of your time is off-pavement, you'll have less need for it.

3. On pavement, unless you're a professional bike racer, riding on a track, and in total control of your faculties (i.e., not in a panic situation), ABS will slow you down better than you can.

Beyond that, all is speculation, disinformation, and/or outright fantasy.

Let the flaming begin. I'm outta here.

David

[Zacharia_11]

Originally Posted by WoodWorks

...

2. If you ride off-pavement a lot, you're going to want to switch it off. Fortunately, on an F800 this is easy. You don't even have to come to a complete stop like on other BMWs. So if most of your time is off-pavement, you'll have less need for it.

...

David

That's the thing, you can have it both ways if you need to turn it off.

[Bushwhacker]

Originally Posted by WoodWorks

Whoo boy. ¿Como se dice "can of worms" en Español?

I'm a BIG fan of ABS, Alberto. I wouldn't even consider buying a bike without it.

+1

[Dieselboy]

Originally Posted by Bushwhacker

+1

+2

Catlike reflexes are not enough. Perfect conditions (you, road, bike, weather, perception) may allow for a faster braking distance, but unless you ride in fantasyland, it is rare to have "perfect" handed to you when you have to emergency brake.

Buy it with ABS.

[betitolara]

Originally Posted by Gadget Boy

If it only saves you once from going down due to the surface, or some jackass cutting you off or cutting in front of you.. it'll be worth it.

For the last 4 years, I've been riding a bike without ABS.. no incidents. New bike, 800GS, in November, I was riding home from work in the rain, I see a car in the opposite direction waiting to turn left in front of me to go into the parking lot of a bar on the opposite side of the road. I keep an eye on him.. he seems to see me, he is stopped.. then he proceeds and turns in front of me, then he stops just before I hit him... I grabbed a handful of brake, and at the same time steer around him.. and by the way, the road was wet from the rain. I am sure I would have gone down if I had braked as hard as I did on a wet road if I didn't have ABS, plus I wouldn't have been able to steer as I was braking very hard.

I looked over as I cleared the hood of his car..... old guy..

So... ya, it's worth having, especially on the unpredictable roads of going to south America.

Hey Gadget Boy,
Gracias for the input. I myself have been riding a non-ABS bike for 3 years w/o any accidents... but several times vehicles have pulled in front of me at the last second (even though my bike has very bright HID lights and I ride with high beams during the day).

Cheers hombre.

[betitolara]

Originally Posted by WoodWorks

Whoo boy. ¿Como se dice "can of worms" en Español?

...

2. If you ride off-pavement a lot, you're going to want to switch it off. Fortunately, on an F800 this is easy. You don't even have to come to a complete stop like on other BMWs. So if most of your time is off-pavement, you'll have less need for it.

...

David

Hey David,
Good stuff you've provided. Especially that it can be turned off when not needed (dirt) I'll be riding on dirt roads all around Peru (Highlands and Jungle) but the ABS would definitely help when on pavement. Like Gadget Boy mentioned (and i agree from experience ) S.American road users are very diffentent from the ones you find in Canada.

Thanks for the info!

[Motoriley]

I love ABS. But to save time I will post a response for the ABS doubters..
- Don't need it since I've been riding for 200 years in the nude with no accidents
- I'm better than ABS and turned down a ride on the World Superbike tour to post continually on Advrider
- Don't need no stinkin' ABS since I can come up with some obscure situation involving braking when doing a wheely backwards where it might not work well
- I'm cheap and KLRs don't have ABS (I've had 2 so chill..)
- I've never owned an ABS bike but am an expert on all things
- I only really ride off road so don't need it much (not a bad point)
- I'm never involved in any surprise situations, am always fully alert and have Spider Sense so the added weight actually increases my stopping distances.

[betitolara]

Thank you all for your feedback! I've been following this site for a while now and always found great info and great posts that make my day (with a chuckle )

After more research and your opinions I'm convinced that ABS is the way to go.

I changed my mind on one thing: I'm going withe the Alpine White. My wife is going is getting a Lava Orange. She is coming with me to S.America ... what a lucky man I am, eh? She was actually the person who got me into motorbikes . Most of my friends tell me 'if i get a bike my wife would kill me' ...

Anyways, cheers to all!
Alberto.

[Zacharia_11]

Originally Posted by betitolara

...
I changed my mind on one thing: I'm going withe the Alpine White. My wife is going is getting a Lava Orange.
...

Anyways, cheers to all!
Alberto.

Funny, my wife is getting the Alpine White and I am getting the Lava Orange - here I thought we were going to have more in common...

[bxr140]

Mostly covered already but:

1. All the rhetoric and youtube comparisons in the world wont change the fact that a schmuck like me isn't "on" 100% of the time. Even if I lose a few feet of braking distance in absolutely perfect conditions because I have ABS, I'm still better off in the real world. If you're a schmuck like me (and by default you are, since you're on ADV ), ABS will provide you with similar results.

2. You can turn it off. And you don't even have to be a 12 year old kid to figure it out.

3. It only weighs like 4 pounds. Under 1% of the bike weight, even less when a rider hops on. If 4 pounds really matters, shed some weight off your spare tire there, tubby.

4. Your bike has a 3 year warranty, more if you get the extended warranty. You broke it, they bought it.

[zaner32]

I guess i'll be the one "crashing" the party here. I bought mine explicitely without ABS. I spend most of my time on dirt roads, and I have seen proof of how well ABS works in these circumstances. Turning it off is a great option, but if you shut the bike off -with the key- and re-start it, it'll be back on, and will have to be re-deactivated. <-- not a real word.
A guy like me after the adrenaline rush of doing a hillclimb, stopping up top to take a break for a few minutes, would then start the bike and proceed downhill with the ABS on and risk a nasty crash.

I just wish the rider could have the option of toggling it on or off manually and leave it as is until he/she decides otherwise.

I do agree however that not a lot of people can outperform ABS on tarmac in almost all conditions.

The Highlander's ABS saved my butt just a few weeks ago.

[Bike4Fun]

Originally Posted by Zacharia_11

Lots of comparisons there.

For the road this says it all!

Ability to turn off for off road!

Its a no brainer!