Is it necessary to get a 400cc motorcycle with abs? | Page 4 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Is it necessary to get a 400cc motorcycle with abs?

Forum Sponsor
MacDoc said:
Ummmm from your own report and what I said earlier ....it's only on dirt or similar surfaces it might increase stopping distance.
Click to expand...

The problem I have encountered is that, unlike controlled tests, you are almost always unaware the road is slippery until it's too late. I'm not sure how they compensate for that in the testing and...it's almost always because of dirt, gravel, or diesel on a wet road.
 
Same thing you'd do, if you didn't have ABS. What kind of a silly question is that?
 
What you do is you put outriggers on the non-ABS bike and you instruct the stunt rider to Slam the bars sideways and lock up both wheels, throwing the non-ABS bike into an impressive sideways slide, but with the ABS bike you just have him brake and balance normally :|


Then you say SEE ABS saved him from crashing :ROFLMAO:
 
Trials said:
I cover my brake and clutch with 1 finger
and only use 1 finger to work em (y) response time is covered IF braking is the correct response.
Click to expand...

You're at an advantage because after years of dirt riding you're instinctively riding like the road is always slippery - because that's how you ride in the dirt.
 
Yep, dirt skills beat ABS all day long,
pretty certain that's the only reason I'm still alive on several occasions.
 
Trials said:
What you do is you put outriggers on the non-ABS bike and you instruct the stunt rider to Slam the bars sideways and lock up both wheels, throwing the non-ABS bike into an impressive sideways slide, but with the ABS bike you just have him brake and balance normally :|


Then you say SEE ABS saved him from crashing :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...

LOL! Tell me, why is that guy leaning the wrong way every time? Is he the salesman? He'd never make it on a flat track. I can't count how many phony sponsored ABS info-ads there are on YouTube.

Here. Some info for the uninitiated on what to do when you go sideways:
 
Trials said:
Yep, dirt skills beat ABS all day long,
pretty certain that's the only reason I'm still alive on several occasions.
Click to expand...

Dirt skills compliment ABS.
 
You still think rapidly pumping the front brake on and off is a good idea? I don't even do that when I ride on snow in the winter.
 
Trials said:
I cover my brake and clutch with 1 finger
and only use 1 finger to work em (y) response time is covered IF braking is the correct response.
Click to expand...
Like you I cover the brake and clutch.
A number of years ago (2003 or 04) a lady turned left in front of me on Bloor St. on one of my infrequent trips into Toronto. Of course, she sees me late and STOPS. I grabbed a handful of clutch and (two fingers) of front brake on my 1987 non-ABS k100rs and locked the front wheel briefly while swerving. Fortunately, the pavement was dry and clean and I was able to keep it upright while maneuvering around her safely. I have no doubt that the experience gained off road regarding balance, body position and "feeling" regarding the limits of traction saved me that day.

At the same time, ABS would also have given me the opportunity to maneuver around her, and at this point in my life with being 15 years older (54) I'd rather have it than not, because given the physical changes that I'm aware of I doubt that I'd be successful in the same situation today on the K100.

It sucks getting old, but I'm glad I have the opportunity to do so and plan to take advantage of it as long as I can.
 
Trials said:
You still think rapidly pumping the front brake on and off is a good idea? I don't even do that when I ride on snow in the winter.
Click to expand...

Dude, we're talking about ABS for use on street bike. You always drag every discussion into the dirt and somehow try to link it to your trials riding. It's simply not relevant to this discussion.

Yes, sometimes locking the wheels is preferable on dirt (I recall that from my motocross racing 40 years ago) but I can't think of a situation on a street bike, on the street, where having either wheel locked is preferable to maximizing braking effort while also keeping the wheels turning -- especially the front wheel.

TBH, I can't really think of a situation on dirt, ice or snow where a locked front wheel is a good thing. Flying over dirt, ice or snow in mid-jump? Sure, you can change the attitude of the bike by braking/accelerating the wheels mid-jump but the physics of motorcycle riding suggests that a locked front wheel on a bike in motion -- even a dirt bike -- is a recipe for a crash. At your speeds you can take a penalty by putting a foot down, I guess. For riders on the street, it's generally going to result in an airliner crash.
 
Blackfin said:
Dude, we're talking about ABS for use on street bike...
Click to expand...
"At your speeds you can take a penalty by putting a foot down" :LOL: Dude, if you think riding trials bikes is a slow putt-putt in the woods where you can just put a foot down any old time you seriously need to come ride with us some day.
 
Blackfin said:
... I can't think of a situation on a street bike, on the street, where having either wheel locked is preferable to maximizing braking effort while also keeping the wheels turning -- especially the front wheel.
Click to expand...
You figure you 'need' ABS to not totally lock up a front wheel. Why? Do you have some kind of brake control deficit ?
 
xrljoel said:
... At the same time, ABS would also have given me the opportunity to maneuver around her.
Click to expand...
You lost me there, you missed the car, stayed upright, retained control after the event. You can't do better then that.

... do you still have the K100RS? (y)
 
Trials said:
You lost me there, you missed the car, stayed upright, retained control after the event. You can't do better then that.

... do you still have the K100RS? (y)
Click to expand...

No, I don't have it anymore, but I know where it is. I bought it new in 1989 and sold it in 2005 to buy a new speed triple. A couple years ago I was tooling around on a back road north of me in Port Hope and I saw it in a vintage guys garage. I've recently thought about trying to buy it back, but I think one vintage bike is enough. Well this morning it is anyways.
 
Trials said:
You figure you 'need' ABS to not totally lock up a front wheel. Why? Do you have some kind of brake control deficit ?
Click to expand...
You missed the part about maximum braking effort.
 
crankcall said:
CAUTION: old guys discussing thier awesomeness and irrellevant topics.
Click to expand...
Might be worth paying attention at least some of the time. Darwin has blessed a few of them -- if you manage to stay upright for 4 decades and a million + km maybe your learning will be nearly complete too.
 
Mad Mike said:
Might be worth paying attention at least some of the time. Darwin has blessed a few of them -- if you manage to stay upright for 4 decades and a million + km maybe your learning will be nearly complete too.
Click to expand...
Wow. An average of 25,000km/yr for 40 years.
 
All this discussion about feeling the moment of impending front wheel lock-up and threshold-braking and the like is all well and good for someone who has been riding for 20 years. New riders are inherently not in that situation.

And ... All this discussion about feeling the moment of impending front wheel lock-up and threshold-braking and the like goes ALL out the window, EVEN WITH 20 years of experience and 15 years of roadracing experience when a white Ford Taurus makes an unsignalled left turn across your path and you KNOW you are going to hit it.

I hit the right rear fender of the car with the front wheel locked, the rear wheel in the air, mid-lowside-crash because of the locked front wheel.

I would have hit the car regardless of ABS or not, the timing and circumstances and physics did not allow any other option (although I got the speed knocked down from 60-ish km/h to probably 20-ish and came out of it with just a sore wrist).

But the point is that when emergency situations arise, it is NOT guaranteed that you will be able to threshold-brake. Instincts take over, "stop as fast as possible", and you will grab that brake lever with all you've got.

On a race bike, where I am riding repeatedly over the same pavement under controlled circumstances, I don't want ABS (and don't have it).

On a street bike, subject to more uncertainty with respect to traction and actions of other motorists ... although most of my bikes don't have ABS, one does, and I won't buy another one without it.

P.S. I know of another 30-year-experienced rider who went down recently because of a front-brake "oopsie", which probably wouldn't have happened had the bike had ABS, and he says so himself. Won't name names but he's a member here ...

Safety systems only need to work once for them to be worthwhile ...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom