Anti-lock Braking System (ABS)

[Lunatic]

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I'm really torn on the idea of ABS for new riders. I agree that it's great tech and I'm a huge fan of it. My only problem is that it all but eliminates the need to develop good emergency braking skills in a new rider and should that rider switch (borrow a friends bike or on a demo ride or something) to an non-abs bike they won't have the proper skills to brake safely in an emergency. Eventually I think all new bikes will have it, just like all cars do, and riders that learn on these bikes will not acquire the braking skills that they should have on a non-abs bike.

 

[Jampy00]

I'm really torn on the idea of ABS for new riders. I agree that it's great tech and I'm a huge fan of it. My only problem is that it all but eliminates the need to develop good emergency braking skills in a new rider and should that rider switch (borrow a friends bike or on a demo ride or something) to an non-abs bike they won't have the proper skills to brake safely in an emergency. Eventually I think all new bikes will have it, just like all cars do, and riders that learn on these bikes will not acquire the braking skills that they should have on a non-abs bike.

95+% of cars on the road today are equipped with ABS I'll assume the same will happen to motorcycles. Also if you ride with ABS you tend to stick with it, that being said I have ridden bikes with out and have not had any issues even when hard braking.

 

[Dresden]

I'm really torn on the idea of ABS for new riders. I agree that it's great tech and I'm a huge fan of it. My only problem is that it all but eliminates the need to develop good emergency braking skills in a new rider and should that rider switch (borrow a friends bike or on a demo ride or something) to an non-abs bike they won't have the proper skills to brake safely in an emergency. Eventually I think all new bikes will have it, just like all cars do, and riders that learn on these bikes will not acquire the braking skills that they should have on a non-abs bike.

I don't agree with your logic if I am purchasing a motorcycle.
However, I do agree that learning on a non-abs bike gives you a better transferable skill-set.


I can't see many people buying a "non-ABS" model for the sole purpose of learning better safety braking. That's what Learning Curves is for!

 

[Lunatic]

I don't agree with your logic if I am purchasing a motorcycle.
However, I do agree that learning on a non-abs bike gives you a better transferable skill-set.


I can't see many people buying a "non-ABS" model for the sole purpose of learning better safety braking. That's what Learning Curves is for!

That's why I'm torn about it. I love the tech, but as much as we do our best to teach students the skills we can't force them to practice once they leave our care.

I have a buddy that worked on a demo truck that almost got into trouble when they switched out an ABS bike for an identical model without ABS without telling him. Thankfully he's a good rider and managed to stay out of trouble, but he said it was a scary moment when the bike didn't brake nearly as well as he was expecting.

I absolutely recommend to my students to get the ABS models of bikes that have them vs. not having ABS, but I also take the time to caution them to work on their skills so they can brake safely on a non-abs bike.

 

[conundrum]

I'm really torn on the idea of ABS for new riders. I agree that it's great tech and I'm a huge fan of it. My only problem is that it all but eliminates the need to develop good emergency braking skills in a new rider and should that rider switch (borrow a friends bike or on a demo ride or something) to an non-abs bike they won't have the proper skills to brake safely in an emergency. Eventually I think all new bikes will have it, just like all cars do, and riders that learn on these bikes will not acquire the braking skills that they should have on a non-abs bike.

That's technically untrue -- If you brake properly you wouldn't be able to tell if the bike had ABS not not, as the only real difference is if you go past the braking threshold on ABS, the ABS engages...if you don't have ABS, then the wheel(s) lock and you could highside or lowside. ABS is just a 'safety' net in case you overbrake, which imo would be easy to do in a life-or-death situation.

 

[Shaman]

By the bye... ABS is one of the reasons we are seeing such incredible braking systems on the top flight superbikes now. They outbrake anything from just a few years ago.

 

[Lunatic]

That's technically untrue -- If you brake properly you wouldn't be able to tell if the bike had ABS not not, as the only real difference is if you go past the braking threshold on ABS, the ABS engages...if you don't have ABS, then the wheel(s) lock and you could highside or lowside. ABS is just a 'safety' net in case you overbrake, which imo would be easy to do in a life-or-death situation.

Note that I said EMERGENCY braking, as in a full panic stop situation. But also remember that the ABS will engage whenever the wheel stops, which can occur even with light pressure in the event the road surface changes (ice, oil, water on metal or paint). Like I said, it's great tech, but a rider still needs to develop proper braking skills and habits.

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