Interesting Read | GTAMotorcycle.com

Interesting Read

Kevin Cameron has been the best/only reason to read Cycle World for years...
 
I would be hesitant to ride a bike on the street without ABS . With a heavy touring bike in the rain it is almost a necessity .
 
Never had ABS on anything either up until my current bike.

Funny the topic came up as today some friends and I went out with our cones and did some skills refreshers. After running through pylons for an hour in various courses 2 of us did some emergency / threshhold braking. Today was the first time that I actually intentionally got into the front wheel ABS on my Vulcan. I was actually pretty impressed - instead of overly releasing the brakes as I've experienced with some car ABS systems the modulation was so fast that the bike still hauled down hard. I think my buddy on his FJR was honestly pretty surprised how hard it hauled down. Way better than my old VTX, that's for sure, and I did a *lot* of skills training on that bike including emergency threshoold braking - single front disk brake really sucked compared to anything with dual.
 
My 2015 is my first ride with abs. I had the rear abs come a lot at first. Guess my down shifting and brakes was a to aggressive for it.
 
GVH said:
My 2015 is my first ride with abs. I had the rear abs come a lot at first. Guess my down shifting and brakes was a to aggressive for it.
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like, as in on the rear brake while down shifting?
 
An article built around the skill set of the top 0.01% of riders is pretty much meaningless for the rest of us. My ST was 100% analog and over 18 years of ownership the front locked up once on a wet, cold fall day on a lousy Avon tire, it would have been nice to have ABS, but I managed. Never had to do a "panic" stop, but I did practice threshold braking just in case. You don't need ABS until you do.

My new Tracer has ABS, TC, rider modes and I'm glad it does.
 
I’ve been on quite a few rides where I’m following someone on a newer bike that has traction control, better or adjustable suspension among other things. As I follow them around a corner, on our typical roads with bumps or heaves in mid corner, I can see how effortless their bikes glide through the corner while I feel all the bumps and can feel the bike being upset through the corner. Once I’ve improved the suspension, I can get a little closer to having the bike smoothly track through the corners.

I will gladly try out these tech improvements to see how they make the bike feel. It might make the bike harder or more complicated to wrench on, but I’m buying the bike for the riding experience, not the wrenching experience.

I’m glad to have learned to ride without the aids, since I think it will make me a more competent rider when I ride with the aids.
 
I have it on my KTM along with MTC. I can see how the ABS can be helpful in certain situations, like an oily road covered with rain. Off road I have little use for either the ABS or the MTC. Can't turn off the MTC no matter what the brochure says. If I want to rip on the bike or lock up the wheels, that's just what I want to do.
 
Primitive vs Skilled

The most primitive thing I've ever driven was a Massey Ferguson tractor of 1950's vintage or maybe one of the B&S powered mini-bikes of the 1960's. It's like cooking over an log fire started by rubbing two sticks together, the caveman image.

The other end of the spectrum was being chauffeured in a Rolls Royce, not having to soil my fingers by touching anything as mechanical as a steering wheel.

Both have their moments but my Goldwing was a Buick missing two wheels and a roof. It was very comfortable and reliable but IF something went wrong electrically you wished you had the minibike. I think it had one wire.

Is ABS a form of driver / rider socialism?

It's easy to start thinking that no matter how you screw up, technology will save you.
 
I never cared for ABS, I always rode old school carburated bikes until last year. I had LOTS of fish-tailing over the years when I had to brake hard because the car ahead of me went to a dead stop in the middle of the 401. Now that I have a modern bike with ABS I never had one fish-tailing under same circumstances. I think I like it.
 
shanekingsley said:
I’ve been on quite a few rides where I’m following someone on a newer bike that has traction control, better or adjustable suspension among other things. As I follow them around a corner, on our typical roads with bumps or heaves in mid corner, I can see how effortless their bikes glide through the corner while I feel all the bumps and can feel the bike being upset through the corner. Once I’ve improved the suspension, I can get a little closer to having the bike smoothly track through the corners.

I will gladly try out these tech improvements to see how they make the bike feel. It might make the bike harder or more complicated to wrench on, but I’m buying the bike for the riding experience, not the wrenching experience.

I’m glad to have learned to ride without the aids, since I think it will make me a more competent rider when I ride with the aids.
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The other riders with the smooth handling bikes, may be smooth because they took the time to set sag and adjust dampening.A bike with proper weight springs for the rider will handle better.
 
Wingboy said:
The other riders with the smooth handling bikes, may be smooth because they took the time to set sag and adjust dampening.A bike with proper weight springs for the rider will handle better.
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Very true. Until last year, I did none of that and just rode the bike stock with zero adjustment or setup.
 
shanekingsley said:
Very true. Until last year, I did none of that and just rode the bike stock with zero adjustment or setup.
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And some bikes come with garbage suspension from the factory.
The little CRF250Rally i had is a perfect example. The first thing i do with any new bike is grease the linkage. I pulled the rally apart to find that the shock was just an ornament. It literally did nothing worthwhile. Same with the front.
 
Wingboy said:
And some bikes come with garbage suspension from the factory.
The little CRF250Rally i had is a perfect example. The first thing i do with any new bike is grease the linkage. I pulled the rally apart to find that the shock was just an ornament. It literally did nothing worthwhile. Same with the front.
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That's the same thing with the VTX i had, Every bump in the road the front would pop. The dealer ended up putting some kind of extensions in the front end of it
 
timtune said:
Never had ABS on anything. The wing was ok in the rain if you drove accordingly.
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Yes and you never get cut off or required a quick stop .
 
I have had the experience to re-learn to ride a motorcycle with riding aids like ABS, that are considered bare minimum in today's world, and re-develop my muscle memory in braking with ABS. The V-Strom is my first experience riding a bike with ABS. Yes, I do wish to switch it off at times, but I am relieved to know that it will save my bacon when I, unknowingly, would need the technology to kick in.

And the same goes with automatic gear shifting on cars. The past 15 years, I have driven manual shifts.
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