ABS does it work?

[The Burpster]

Riding a motorcycle is a joy; mostly because it's just me in control; I want make the bike do want I want it to do; it's part of the whole experience.

I know it's potentially very dangerous and requires great care and skill to to stay safe. I want to improve my skills and my enjoyment and will never stop learning. I do not want the machine to take over under any circumstances. I don't want 'safety' aids; I don't want cosseting and protecting and wrapping in cotton wool. I dont' want ABS; traction control; fly by wire or any other devices that take away my control.

ABS is like those TV adverts for anti-bacterial wipes for our kitchens that the marketeers tell us we simply must have or we will get ill or die; we simply do not need them - the only people who do are the ones selling them!

Enjoy yourself then, you obviously like Masochism or A&E depts......

I have been riding the best part of 30years both socially and professionally, the latest gen. of BMW ABS is very, very, good and I won't have another bike without it.

In the dry, on good tarmac yes, I can stop a bike without ABS quicker than an ABS equipped one...
HOWEVER, you know as well as I, that we do not live in a perfect world and the times you NEED that ability to stop (or retard your speed to avoid a collision) as quickly as possible will rarely be in those perfect conditions.

I intend to enjoy the rest of my life riding as much as I can and if that means taking advantage of some car tech on my bike, so that
" I make the bike do want I want it to do; it's part of the whole experience."
Then so be it.....

 

[ebbo]

ABS, saved the daughter and me a couple of years back, its buzzed in on odd occasions since too

ABS is now becoming so good Honda are offering a version on the 600RR C-ABS, I’ve read they are even working on a version with giros I guess to accurately sense the angle of lean,

 

[GSband]

In reply to the questions by OP :

a) On a two wheels vehicle does it work as it does on a car?
To a great extent it does. A lock up by either wheel while braking will trigger the ABS system. ABS will release brake pressure, then very quickly build up pressure up to the point of locking, then release, etc.
The ABS on BMW motorcycles furthermore recognizes when the bike does a stoppie, and then briefly releases front brake pressure. I've never seen a motorcar doing a stoppie .

b) What happens if you're not going in a straight line?
The bleeding obvious first : if you brake hard in a curve (esp with front brake) the bike can for example 'stand up', and be inclined to throw itself outwards, or slide away from under you. That's why it's not recommended to brake hard in a curve. If you need to brake hard in a curve (obstacle) any number of outcomes are possible. If ABS kicks in there's the advantage that your wheels won't block, but the bike will become unstable anyway. That's the biggest difference : on a motorcar ABS allows you to steer while ABS-braking, ABS on a bike does not allow this. On a bike you'd need to brake, release brakes and take evasive action. It's something worth practicing.
Small note : on BMW with telelever (and duolever) the bike doesn't dive as much while braking, and so the ill effects of braking in a curve are less than on bikes with conventional front suspension. Hooray for tele- and duolever !

c) If you have an ABS bike how often if ever has the system engaged?
I've driven 90000km/60000miles on 2 R1200GS. Both bikes with ABS, the first bike with brake assist, the second without. With brake assist the brake pressure builds up very fast, so that the ABS engages early on on wet roads, and it's easily provoked on dry roads.
The brake system without brake assist is a very much improved system, in that ABS kicks in less, so that the tyre can fully grip before ABS kicks in. And the intermittant brake regulation is finer. On dry roads the non-assisted system has upto now never kicked in.
I love technique and practise ABS braking so that I know what will happen. It's awesome !

That's the OP's questions answered.

IMHO the 2 main advantages of ABS on a motorbike are :
1) under emergency, you can pull the brake lever 'emotionally' hard without having to worry about stoppies or slides. Tests have shown that most bikers when confonted with emergency will stop faster with ABS. Some will disagree, but the machine can handle an emergency brake better than most bikers can.
2) on slippery roads, there's no need to fear that any wheel will slide away when braking. And since we live in wet countries, that's my main motivation for having ABS. This is nicely demonstrated in the following youtube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIjQ8krM5SI

I will never buy a bike without ABS.
Sorry for carrying on.

 

[Engineer]

What happens if you regularly ride two bikes - one with ABS and one without?

Do you stop riding the one without ABS, because it is too dangerous? - It certainly will be if one has become conditioned to simply 'jamming' the brakes on in an emergency.

A dilemma! Believe the fear mongering marketeers and sell the non-abs bike? Or improve all one's motorcycling skills and become a better rider.

I am no great rider, but I can think for myself and take responsibility for my own actions.

Each to his own.

 

[cookie]

What happens if you regularly ride two bikes - one with ABS and one without?

Do you stop riding the one without ABS, because it is too dangerous? - It certainly will be if one has become conditioned to simply 'jamming' the brakes on in an emergency.

A dilemma! Believe the fear mongering marketeers and sell the non-abs bike? Or improve all one's motorcycling skills and become a better rider.

I am no great rider, but I can think for myself and take responsibility for my own actions.

Each to his own.

i have a 1200GSA which i specced with ABS, so i guess i think it's worthwhile on balance.
i also have two old bikes, these have no ABS. i never give that lack a second thought when riding. i have a sneaky feeling a large part of the safety benefit of ABS is eaten up by sloppy/risky riding that it encourages anyway.

ps. i'd be quite happy to take any cast off non ABS bikes anyone is now too namby-pamby to ride, especially RC30s etc.

 

[2pwrr]

I would also recommend that you practise braking till you get the abs to activate , If the first time it activates is when there is a white van turning across your path your likely to let go of the front brake ! Thats what I did I thought the wheel had locked so I released the pressure on the front brake , then I had to re-apply the brake I thought that was it but the abs kicked in again and brought me to a stop with inches to spare !!

After 20 years of riding non abs bikes I instinctively let go of the front brake thinking it had locked up after that I went and practised getting the abs to activate .

Cheers