Servo ABS...why not?

[chad]

its a couple of hours tops to rip it out and be back on the road

i did it to my previous GSA and my current gs the brakes have just as much power but with far superior feel

ABS is far to easily used as a safety net

 

[warmshed]

Had a couple of BMW bikes with servo, the first, K1200RS for about 6 years my 05 GSA for about 3, they have always performed amazingly well. superb brakes, sensitive, powerful one finger braking and I like the linked brakes too. I don't find that braking whilst ignition is off (moving the bike around) is insufficient. The abs has saved me a couple of times avoiding other idiots on the road. So I and many other riders with the servo brakes are pleased with them.
May change my mind if they fail but without the ABS I may be dead or maimed by now through no fault of my own, so they have worked for me.!

 

[Colm Cummins]

Servo Abs

R1150gs with Servo Abs, when working they were fantastic but on a spin with my Daughter on the back they stopped working, no warning.That was f*king dangerous. Now removed and all good again.Riding bikes since the seventies, no servos then, and not needed now especially on a bike that has a TOP speed of 125 ish.

 

[ahutcheon]

Had a couple of BMW bikes with servo, the first, K1200RS for about 6 years my 05 GSA for about 3, they have always performed amazingly well. superb brakes, sensitive, powerful one finger braking and I like the linked brakes too. I don't find that braking whilst ignition is off (moving the bike around) is insufficient. The abs has saved me a couple of times avoiding other idiots on the road. So I and many other riders with the servo brakes are pleased with them.
May change my mind if they fail but without the ABS I may be dead or maimed by now through no fault of my own, so they have worked for me.!

+1. When the servo fails, if I live through the experience, I'll remove it following the no-cost recipe. Meanwhile the ABS has saved me a trip to hospital (or worse) once that I'm sure of when a car did something stupid, and the bike has never run away from me when wheeling it around the garage.

 

[jonnie comet]

gingerbeemer08....I don’t know what you are used to riding, but if you have ridden modern Jap bikes with their totally unobtrusive ABS systems, then you really would be in for a shock with the BMW servo ABS jobby. I’ve gone the other way, I had an 02 R1150GS with servo ABS, and more recently I have had a couple of Hondas with the modern systems. The Honda system is so so much better than the BMW system......

 

[DrFarkoff]

I’ve gone the other way, I had an 02 R1150GS with servo ABS, and more recently I have had a couple of Hondas with the modern systems. The Honda system is so so much better than the BMW system......

It's also 10 years newer! If you rode an ABS Jap bike back then the jap systems would have scared the schit outta ya!!! I think the first I came across they had made good progress on was the FJR1300 it wasn't bad at all

 

[The Grey One]

I had a 2002 R850R which had the BMW abs/servo system. Never had a problem with it and I had it until April of this year. I was told by my local BMW dealer (when I was looking to trade it in against a new LC) that the brakes (not sure if it is the servo or the abs bit) are sensitive to the condition of the brake fluid and that, as long as you regularly change the brake fluid, then you should not have problems. But therein lies the rub: it is/was a 2 hour job to change the brake fluid!!

All that said, I liked the brakes and the security they gave under braking.

Two hours must include a lunch break! It to me around 2.5 hours to replace al the hoses and change the fluid on mine. That's from riding it into the bike garage and riding it out.

John

 

[duckspeed]

I had approx 25 servo units piled up in my garage from last year. My man from germany took all of them earlier in the year to recondition. I'm now back up to 9 units

They can fail at any age or mileage, i've had them from 12k up to 90k miles.



It's rarely the abs that fails. It's usually the servo part.

What goes wrong with them that a "German man" can recondition but we through £1500 with of gear away.

 

[Taff]

If you know what you're doing ... its a couple of hours tops to rip it out and be back on the road

Fixed it for you.

 

[DrFarkoff]

Frankly I don;t care if he repairs them I wouldn;t fit one!

The time you need it when it fails you may not live to tell WTF happened !

What goes wrong with them that a "German man" can recondition but we through £1500 with of gear away.

 

[chad]

Fixed it for you.

 

[Littledumptruck]

I wonder if it's a possible option, to remove the servo/ABS unit & replace it with a previous generation ABS unit? You could then have your GS SE with ABS...

I posed this question a few years back when my mates K12RS servo failed, as early RS's had ABS I thought it'd be fairly straightforward to swap to the older system, but I seem to recall someone all knowing poo poo'd the idea and said its not possible.

 

[DrFarkoff]

Not All knowing, but some of the reasons ......................

The systems are completely differently wired, sidelamps and brake light circuits go thru the servo ABS systems

Also wheel sizes and tyre profiles have changed so have the sensors

If you fit the old wheel sizes with their associated ABS rings and re routed the required wiring it is possible

I posed this question a few years back when my mates K12RS servo failed, as early RS's had ABS I thought it'd be fairly straightforward to swap to the older system, but I seem to recall someone all knowing poo poo'd the idea and said its not possible.