Re: ABS

["Steve Makohin" <wateredg@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello John,

From: "John Dancoe" <jdan@xxxxxxxx>


> "Steve Makohin" wateredg@xxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:wateredg@xxxxxxxxxxxx> 
> wrote:
>
>>I'm not sure what specific thing I said that you're referring to,
>>nor what conclusions you are coming to.
>
> Steve,
>
> I'm not sure what specific thing(s) either...it's a couple/few things 
> you've
> mentioned about how the system performed during the latest resurrection of
> this thread. I don't have time to dig thru back issues and pick them out, 
> and
> don't remember them all specifically....

At this point, I'll back off. I can only address specific.



>... (one was higher force required at the
> lever)...

Keep in mind that the higher brake lever force is not a factor of ABS. It is 
a factor of BMW's power-assisted brakes (EVO). There are iterations of ABS 
brakes which are unassisted, such as my previous 2000 R1100S, and ones which 
are assisted, such as my 2001 R1100S. And also note that this additional 
brake lever force is only required if the engine is switched off, or if the 
power-assist fails (a fail-safe state to address a possible defect).




>...but my "conclusion" is really just a general impression gathered from
> more than once reading your comments and thinking, "I wouldn't like that 
> very
> much".
>
> In fact, the impression I got at least once was, "I know Steve is a huge 
> ABS
> fan, yet this does not sound like he's all that thrilled with it."

Make sure that you keep ABS and "power-assist" separate in your mind, 
because they are two very different things, though in BMW's case, there are 
models that if you want the banana (ABS), you have to buy the gorilla too 
(Power Assist). I'll write a detailed article and post it later.

My opinion about ABS in general is that on the street, all riders are better 
off with it than without it. Very few exceptions exist. I'll back this 
statement up in a separate post, along with the exceptions.



[...]
>>FYI, when I make a purchase decision, it is seldom based on a single
>>"make or break" criteria. For example, my R1100S has a number of
>>suboptimal or undesirable characteristics, but over all, it is a great
>>package (for me). And after 5 years of riding one, I'd get another in
>>a heart-beat.
>
> Agreed. I would say almost exactly the same thing about my RS (and might
> mention a concurrence with Jim Nazarian that I like the solid aka "clunky"
> feel of the BMW gearbox). But my closing would be a bit different:
>
> "After 12 years (as of next Sunday) of riding one, I've never once 
> regretted
> buying it, and I'm utterly certain I could not have bought a better bike 
> (for
> me) on that day in 1993. And though there's a huge spectrum of truly 
> superb
> motorcycles available now--it's really a wonderful time to be a
> motorcyclist--it's quite likely that I could test ride them all, and 
> conclude
> that BMW R1100RS #WB104160XP0310507, especially now that I've heavily
> customized it to my personal taste, remains the best bike in the world 
> (for
> me)."

No arguments here, including about other, wonderful bikes.

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

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