Re: ABS

["Louis F. Pechon, Jr." <bmwlou@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Can't stay out of this any longer.  ABS WORKS AND SAVES LIVES.  You do not 
need it until panic sets in.  Who out there is willing to bet their life 
they can brake better with-out ABS then they can with an ABS equipped bike 
under adverse conditions. Especially when the SUV runs a stop sign on a rain 
soaked road.

I have been riding close to 50 years and only needed ABS one time.   I 
literally grabbed the front brake when a driver ran a stop sign.  Could I 
have controlled the bike with-out ABS?  Maybe.  Would the front wheel have 
locked?  Probably.  Would I have had the presence of mind to release the 
front binders to gain control?  Don't know and guess what, I don't want to 
find out.  When it was all over, I rode home and changed my underwear and 
thanked the gear god for ABS and good brakes

As an MSF instructor, I teach proper breaking and feel I know how to 
properly stop a motorcycle.  When pure panic and fear sets in all bets are 
off.  Especially under poor road conditions.  If  my ABS equipped RT failed 
I would fix it.  However I still ride my Norton and older Air Heads and they 
don't have ABS.  Wished they did though.

Thanks for letting me put my two cents in.

Lou Pechon
R1150RT, Nortons and Vintage Air Heads


- ----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bob Hadden" <kbhadden@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <oilheads@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, January 14, 2005 7:44 AM
Subject: Re: ABS


> Steve said:
>>> Keep in mind that the degree
>>> to which a rider misses a safety device during its absence in no way 
>>> affects
>>> the effectiveness of that device when it is used correctly.
>
> Said another way, we get no safety benefit from our helmet until we crash. 
> We also get no benefit from the ABS until it saves us from a crash.  One 
> can say that his skill level is high enough to not need abs.  But logic 
> says that there is a situation that would cause you to lock up and crash, 
> even if it hasn't happened to you yet.
>
> Robert said:
>> But when I had ABS, I never really found a need for it. My motorcycling 
>> experience and the experience of a lot of other riders (judging by the 
>> larger number of motorcycles produced without ABS) is not lessened by the 
>> absence of it either.
> When your experience changes for the worse, perhaps you will say 'I coulda 
> had ABS and not crashed"!  For me, the abs comes in with rear wheel lockup 
> in a panic stop.  I do that every time without abs.  With the abs I can 
> jam on the brakes and not worry.  I think that makes me stop faster than I 
> otherwise would.  In normal riding, I agree, no benefit to abs.
>>
>> I guess next you will tell me I should have the power assisted brakes, 
>> simply because BMW offers it?
> The power brakes are another thing.  BMW bikes do not test with the 
> shortest stopping distances, and I haven't seen any report that proves 
> power brakes improve performance.  That said, I have no problems with the 
> brakes on my new 1200GS so far (660 miles).
>
> Bob Hadden '05R12GS, '62R27

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