Re: ABS

["Steve Makohin" <wateredg@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

- ---- Original Message -----
From: "Louis F. Pechon, Jr." <bmwlou@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, January 14, 2005 10:38 AM


> 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

Lest someone reads Lou's post and twists it into "ABS riders rely on their
hardware rather than developing essential braking skills", let's get a few
thing out in the open:

 o I'd bet my life on the belief (no data to support it) that the
   majority of ABS-equipped riders hold the view that it is very
   important to develop good breaking skills, and that all riders
   *should* do that. Well, I hold that view for the good folks on
   this list and the Big List.

 o I also hold the view that the majority of riders, regardless
   of having an ABS-equipped ride, are not nearly the Braking
   Gods that they should be. FWIW, I count myself amongst those
   mortals.

 o Actual tests, repeated time and again, demonstrate that
   renown Braking God can be bested by an average rider when
   braking in the wet. No contest, Joe Average with ABS wins
   in the wet each time. The same Braking God can also
   improve stopping distance on nice, dry roads if he is caught
   "off his game" on an ABS-equipped bike versus manual braking.
   Humans are not always perfect. Even Braking Gods.

So in the majority of cases, bike ABS is really nice to have around when Shit
Happens(TM). For those good folks who know (not just believe) with absolute
certainty that shit will only happen to the *other* guy, save yourself the
expense and don't get ABS.

- -Steve Makohin
 '01 R1100S/ABS
 Oakville, Ontario, Canada

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