Topic: ABS Brakes. You're thoughts.

[kghost]

Daves beer is pretty good too LOL

[Retro Rocket]

Power brakes, Disc brakes, Automatic transmissions, power steering, Windshield wipers, steel belted radial tyres.........

All improvements. Should we learn without them?

Seriously.....ABS Antilock Brake System......Its gonna help you right before the wheel locks up.

Most people can't or won't get close to that except by accident or while having same lol

Sorry Tim but i disagree mate, all the other improvements you mentioned are mechanical improvements to make the vehicle better to drive and don't take anything away from the drivers ability to know his or her limits, brakes,  antilock brakes do, they also give a false sense of security. I agree that there are a lot of people that don't understand braking on a bike {which is more of a problem than anything mentioned here} But properly applied brakes isn't that hard to understand ,  its not just about "hitting" the brakes, its about feel and knowing the limits of your machine, when you actually know what you are doing its quite hard to lock the front. It blows me away the amount of people that have no confidence in their front brake or are scared to use it hard. Everyone should test the limits of their front brakes in a straight line to understand just how much braking force there is available, by squeezing the brake continuously until it feels or starts to chirp, which happens before it locks completely, dirt bikes are great to practice this on, on the dirt of course. Gadgets like anti lock brakes, while they do work well and have their place, do nothing to educate people on proper brake application,  it also increases the likelihood of someone accustomed to antilock brakes only, having an accident the first time they ride on a bike without them because you can panic brake and squeeze them {anti lock} past the point of no return without the dangerous consequences of normal brakes , so my point is , rider education is the safest option of the lot..   

All said is very true...except I still doubt that even you couldn't get the be-jeesus scared out of you and unintentionally grab a mit full instead of smoothly squeezing.  Add to that some less than optimum surface (e.g. wet pavement, gravel, or sand) and you'll either be hitting the surface or failing to stop.

Once saw a demo by a Honda rider on a ST1200 with linked ABS.  Rider came into a patch of pavement that had been covered with loose gravel and did a very quick stop, without incident.  You could see both wheels pulsing while they continued to rotate and stop on the very slippery surface.  The feat was repeated with the right hand raised and off the bars - both wheels pulsed the same.  It would have been quite a show to have someone try the same stopping on a bike without any ABS!

Not much happens unexpectedly these days Hondanut, I just expect everyone to run me over, I've ridden like that for a long time now and it has served me well, I'm lucky to be someone that doesn't 'panic" and have good reflexes but i never let that grow into complacency, there's always some idiot out to get you. I remember all the ABS demo's back in the late 80's, I was working in a bike shop in Sydney and we had a BMW guy demonstrating how well they work, they also had big track day demo's  complete with gravel patches and wet sections. Don't get me wrong, they will save lives but i think its mainly down to the fact that a lot of people don't know how to use their brakes properly, the ABS over rides their lack of competence {or confidence} and fears so that is a good thing .... On another note, If car makers fitted a jamming device for texting in cars i would feel a hell of a lot safer...

[Bailgang]

On another note, If car makers fitted a jamming device for texting in cars i would feel a hell of a lot safer...

Now that's an electronic gizmo option I could live with.

[Terry in Australia]

On another note, If car makers fitted a jamming device for texting in cars i would feel a hell of a lot safer...

Now that's an electronic gizmo option I could live with.

I've got one. It jams GPS and cell-phone signals to my car (to defeat a GPS tracker in my company vehicle) but it has a range of around 20 feet around the vehicle, so if some dick (usually a tradesman) is driving along beside me talking on his cell phone, (illegal here in Victoria unless you use a "hands free" device) I switch it on and piss myself laughing as his phone becomes disconnected and he can't get any service until I'm out of range. 25 bucks well spent.

[seanbarney41]

On another note, If car makers fitted a jamming device for texting in cars i would feel a hell of a lot safer...

Now that's an electronic gizmo option I could live with.

I've got one. It jams GPS and cell-phone signals to my car (to defeat a GPS tracker in my company vehicle) but it has a range of around 20 feet around the vehicle, so if some dick (usually a tradesman) is driving along beside me talking on his cell phone, (illegal here in Victoria unless you use a "hands free" device) I switch it on and piss myself laughing as his phone becomes disconnected and he can't get any service until I'm out of range. 25 bucks well spent.

Terry, you got alink for that...please?

[Terry in Australia]

Here you go mate, this one looks the same as mine, but a bit more expensive. Cheers, Terry.

http://www.dhgate.com/product/hot-portable-mobile-phone-signal-blocker/179909517.html#s1-5-1|717819190

[faux fiddy]

On another note, If car makers fitted a jamming device for texting in cars i would feel a hell of a lot safer...

Now that's an electronic gizmo option I could live with.

Anymore I figure people that linger at a green light are texting. I don't hesitate to blast the horn anymore, as they really don't seem to care that they are wasting my gas.

[dave500]

my bike has abs,i can smell them when its active!

[Terry in Australia]

my bike has abs,i can smell them when its active!

That's ARS Dave..........

[seanbarney41]

Here you go mate, this one looks the same as mine, but a bit more expensive. Cheers, Terry.

http://www.dhgate.com/product/hot-portable-mobile-phone-signal-blocker/179909517.html#s1-5-1|717819190

thanks Terry, really tempted to order that up!

[Bob Wessner]

Here you go mate, this one looks the same as mine, but a bit more expensive. Cheers, Terry.

http://www.dhgate.com/product/hot-portable-mobile-phone-signal-blocker/179909517.html#s1-5-1|717819190

thanks Terry, really tempted to order that up!

Not sure how this functions, but if it emits a slgnal to block other signals it could violate US FCC regs. I seem to recall some restaurants and movies wanting to install "blockers" and they were stopped. Perhaps this is no longer the case but...

[kghost]

I could smell your brakes yesterday Dave.....

Pretty sure that's ABS.....you wont lock them when you can smell them lol

[DH]

An ABS "on-off" switch would be nice, if the bike came standard with
them. Give the rider choice if and when to use 'em.

[Retro Rocket]

An ABS "on-off" switch would be nice, if the bike came standard with
them. Give the rider choice if and when to use 'em.

Some of the new Suzuki's have exactly that, don't know if others do though....

[Terry in Australia]

An ABS "on-off" switch would be nice, if the bike came standard with
them. Give the rider choice if and when to use 'em.

Both of the BMW's I've had with ABS allow you to switch the ABS off, so it's pretty old technology. Cheers, Terry.

[seanbarney41]

Here you go mate, this one looks the same as mine, but a bit more expensive. Cheers, Terry.

http://www.dhgate.com/product/hot-portable-mobile-phone-signal-blocker/179909517.html#s1-5-1|717819190

thanks Terry, really tempted to order that up!

Not sure how this functions, but if it emits a slgnal to block other signals it could violate US FCC regs. I seem to recall some restaurants and movies wanting to install "blockers" and they were stopped. Perhaps this is no longer the case but...

you are probably right Bob.   I wonder if the FCC nazi's would have some way of catching on to my devious plan just from me ordering the thing...the way I see it, if the cell phone companies have the right to beam their signals where I don't want 'em, I should be allowed to jam them on my own property.

[Bob Wessner]

Sean, if you give it a try, report back after a while. Might want to read this though.

 http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/jamming-cell-phones-and-gps-equipment-against-law

[Terry in Australia]

That's amazing Bob, so much for freedom, eh? Over here it's illegal to use your cell phone whilst driving  unless you are using it via a bluetooth "hands free" device, and in my state it was against the state's privacy laws for the company I work for to monitor the GPS tracking device that's hard wired into my car.

I can understand the owner of a restaurant being pissed off if I walked in and jammed the cell phones, wifi etc, but I think it's dumb to charge someone for blocking a cell phones signals when operating a cell phone when driving has been compared to driving while drunk? Stupid laws piss me off.........    

[750cafe]

That's amazing Bob, so much for freedom, eh? Over here it's illegal to use your cell phone whilst driving  unless you are using it via a bluetooth "hands free" device, and in my state it was against the state's privacy laws for the company I work for to monitor the GPS tracking device that's hard wired into my car.

I can understand the owner of a restaurant being pissed off if I walked in and jammed the cell phones, wifi etc, but I think it's dumb to charge someone for blocking a cell phones signals when operating a cell phone when driving has been compared to driving while drunk? Stupid laws piss me off.........

Stupid laws are everywhere these days!   

As for ABS on bikes, it would be great to have on a dirt bike.   
I rode a BMW with it down a gravel road just to test it out and it did not even spit out one rock!!!
I was VERY impressed indeed. As for needing it on the street, not for me but unexperienced/bad riders could probably use it.

Eric

[Bob Wessner]

Terry, a big issue with "active" jamming is public safety actually. The jamming is done over a wide spectrum of frequencies and isn't selective. You would also be jamming signals used by public safety functions as well.

[Terry in Australia]

Yeah, but I think it depends on the power of the device too Bob, and the intent with which you are using it. I guess it's OK to carry a concealed weapon, but not use a device that makes driving safer? Cheers, Terry.

[HondanutRider]

All this discussion about the questionable "virtues" of ABS amuse me.  I even find it ironic.  I remember back when the 1970's were just beginning and all the buzz was about how dangerous hydraulic disc brakes on the front wheel of motorcycles would be so dangerous.  All the "experienced" riders of the day knew that you didn't want to use the front brakes very hard...in fact many only used their rears.
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...the times are a'changing.

[Terry in Australia]

Yep, I learned to ride in the dirt before I got my first road bike and I hardly ever used my front brake either. Back then though, tyre technology was pretty poor too, so grabbing a lot of front brake (particularly on a wet road) was asking for trouble. Cheers, Terry.

[DH]

An ABS "on-off" switch would be nice, if the bike came standard with
them. Give the rider choice if and when to use 'em.

Both of the BMW's I've had with ABS allow you to switch the ABS off, so it's pretty old technology. Cheers, Terry.

........


I thought my 600rr was with the times it's an 08 and don't have em'

[Terry in Australia]

Dont have ABS, or don't have the ability to switch it off mate? ABS is still pretty new tech for the Jap bike manufacturers, I think they were waiting for the European bike manufacturers to get it right before they copied it........