ABS or not.

[Rocketjock]

I went not. Two reasons. When I talked to the mechanic/rider-racer at the shop when I was buying the bike, his view was that he'd never have it on a bike. Reason being that it's gonna screw up your hard breaking. I've never had ABS on a bike and the brakes have always worked well for me. Along with gearing down as an integral part of riding, leaving brake use to a minimum. Reason two of course was the grateful saving of a couple a thou. And compared to some of the crappers I've owned, my 06 B12 has great brakes. So, what's your opinion?

[ZenMan]

Wow, there's a couple of thousand difference in the price there? Here the ABS model is only about $500 more than the standard.

I hear you on the braking issue, I'd be a little worried about that. I guess the biggest advantage of ABS is it can save your butt on wet or oily surfaces, even pro riders have testified to that. But I'm good on the wet anyway soo....

I have a '07 Bandit ordered for January, Either the standard or the ABS, whichever comes first. So if I end up with the ABS and don't like it, I hope there's a way to disable it.

Either way, it'll improve the resale value... if I ever sell it, that is.  

[Earth Brown]

my father has been on abs beemers for a few years...

1.  ABS is superior to what you can do during braking...

2.  ABS will save your butt in panic/emergency situations where you grab brakes to avoid an obstacle.  

I cannot attest to the abs on the bandit, but on my fathers last bike a 95 1100rs, it was great, and I can only imagine that in the 10+ years it has been improved.


One other situation is during cold tire operation, you may grab more brake than the tires can handle, and the abs can prevent a wipeout...

[CWO4GUNNER]

ABS for the mass production market of bikes targeted for the  highway riding public  (us) is a great safety improvement. The question of use in racing application is almost like asking why turn signals aren’t used in each track turn. These are two different worlds and to understand that you have to experience both separately (track time).

[ZenMan]

ABS for the mass production market of bikes targeted for the  highway riding public  (us) is a great safety improvement. The question of use in racing application is almost like asking why turn signals aren’t used in each track turn. These are two different worlds and to understand that you have to experience both separately (track time).

Yeah, that's what I'm asking. I've got lots of track time, I used to road-race back in the 80's. I'm a bit older now, but I still like to stick it late in the corner now and then. I've never ridden an ABS bike, so I'm wondering if it's going to put a "damper" on my fun?

Has anyone ever raced an ABS bike, or ridden one aggressively on the road? I'm really curious to hear from other expert riders on this, as it may save me some bucks on my '07 Bandit purchase.

[terrebandit]

I've had two wrecks in over 30 years of riding.  BOTH were on wet road surfaces and BOTH could have been prevented by me having ABS.  My next bike WILL have ABS, Bandit or not.

I know what you are saying about hard stops. I've heard that from a number of people but have not been able to discern a difference in my own experience.  I've ridden friends bikes with ABS and they seem to work great on a full-on stop.  At least on the street, I can't think of any reason NOT to have it.  Unless of course you can't afford it.

When I talked to the mechanic/rider-racer at the shop when I was buying the bike, his view was that he'd never have it on a bike. Reason being that it's gonna screw up your hard breaking.

If he's never had it, how does he know that?  

Dave

[CWO4GUNNER]

Actually "ASC Automatic Stability Control" is what every street rider should shoot for in consideration of their next new purchase, not ABS. See AMA article below.
   I have been riding since I was 13, starting off road enduro and leaned most of my bike handling and how to crash properly. By the time I was age 32 I had logged over 120,000 miles and had been hit once and avoided 2 but never hurt due mostly to my experience learned off road in handling, brake control and letting go of the bike at the right moment. For me crashes have always happened in very slow time where seconds are stretched out allowing me time to make decisions on how to set the bike up for the crash.
http://www.autoracingdaily.com/article.php?cid=14407

[ZenMan]

Ok, good link, but now I'm even more confused!  

The article said that the ASC system prevents the rear wheel from breaking loose under hard acceleration. This is not a good thing to an expert sport-rider, as there are times you want to break the rear wheel loose.

Another thing I'm confused about is this: Does the ABS system still allow you to operate the front and rear independently, or does using the rear brake pedal cause the front to work also, and vice-versa? Most sport-tiders don't normally use the rear brake much, and personally I tend to use my front almost exclusively, unless I'm on slippery ground.

And here's what I'm most concerned about: You're diving late into a curve, leaned over and hanging off at a high rate of speed, and you're trying to break as late as possible before the apex. So in the last nano-seconds, you're increasing your front brake pressure to reduce your speed just enough to make it, but the ABS feels "spongy" and it isn't slowing you fast enough. Next thing you know you're gone.

OR, you're into the apex and you feel your front end about to wash, so you give the rear brake a little touch to break the rear loose and make the bike slide evenly, but the ABS actuates the front, too, and there ya go.

If the ABS is going to inhibit these techniques, then I'll pass on it. I'd sure like to hear from anybody who's tried this stuff with an ABS bike that has the same type of system as the Bandit.

[Red01]

ABS can work on each wheel with independent/separate control or mixed, depends on the manufacturer and/or model. The old B12 ABS was separate... I think the new one is still that way, but I'm not positive.

[Ranger]

:

[ZenMan]

But to compare a track day ride to riding on the street is just plain foolish and anyone riding a track pace on the street is only looking for a place to plant it    

Yeah... he's "full of crap"

Sharing your experience with ABS here is appreciated.

But you just couldn't help your little "dig" at me there, could ya? And your little "he's full of crap" line?

For your information, I live in a very unpopulated, rural area with a lot of great twistes. You can ride for miles without seeing another vehicle. If I choose to cook it once in awhile then it's my business.

Look, Ranger, I joined this board because I'm a new Bandit-owner, and I'd like to share information and experiences with other Bandit riders.

But since I posted something you took offense at awhile back, it seems that you've taken it upon yourself to follow me around everywhere I post with your crappy little comments.

I don't know what your problem is, but here's some advice:

Get over it, and get off my ass.    

There's one on every board...  

[Ranger]

[Rocketjock]

TIMEOUT!!! Comeon, guys. Nobody was attacking anybody here. Let's just settle down and get back to the question. My mech has certainly ridden both versions and that's just his opinion. I kinda agreed with it and saved several hun (maybe not a coupla thou) going without. And I still stick to the fact that most of my braking is done by downshifting anyway. In emerg stops, ABS might just save my bacon. But, if I'm upright and sliding hard into some guy in front of me, I might just want to be lockin up both wheels on good pavement to try and stop. Again, just my opinion.

[ZenMan]

Don't mention it, hopefully someone will gain from my experience.
I don't need any information; My comment was more towards the mechanic/racer types that claim to know it all but likely have never tried something....If you took it personal, then thats your problem and you really oughta get thicker skin.
Right, so you call up some tuner, well known in his field for years, asking questions about products or what he thinks, he blows you off the phone (I could tell you why but I won't bother) and you proceed to badmouth him on this site, in a product review forum (where riders actually purchase things), when in fact you're not even a customer of his.  Did you purchased any of his products that you so freely blasted?  Is there something you wanted to share or are you just too damn cheap and find it easier to assassinate someones character, safely behind your keyboard?

Is that something that this board would benefit from?  
 
Sorry bucko, but thats purely your opinion and doesn't hold much water with me or others.

Thanks, now that you've identified yourself it should be no problem avoiding you

God, what a freakin' jackass.

Sorry, Rocketjock, I was trying to address the topic you were good enough to start here, because I'm really interested in the ABS question.

I've notified the Admin of this jerk, hopefully something will be done.

I guess it's gonna be the luck of the draw as far as the ABS goes for me, because I have my deposit down for the first '07 Bandit to arrive at the dealers, whether it's ABS or standard. If it's the ABS, I'll be posting my impressions of it as soon as I get a chance to ride it. If not, I'm sure it won't be long before somebody here will have some input.

Again, sorry about this asshole, my mistake for not ignoring him in the first place.  

[CWO4GUNNER]

Hate to use symbolic phrases here but you need to take a chill pill and cut back on the caffeine. No one should be able to push your panic button that easily. I usually wont admit when someone else is right for the wrong reason, but you made a believer out of me, you do need all time ABS.

 

Don't mention it, hopefully someone will gain from my experience.
I don't need any information; My comment was more towards the mechanic/racer types that claim to know it all but likely have never tried something....If you took it personal, then thats your problem and you really oughta get thicker skin.
Right, so you call up some tuner, well known in his field for years, asking questions about products or what he thinks, he blows you off the phone (I could tell you why but I won't bother) and you proceed to badmouth him on this site, in a product review forum (where riders actually purchase things), when in fact you're not even a customer of his.  Did you purchased any of his products that you so freely blasted?  Is there something you wanted to share or are you just too damn cheap and find it easier to assassinate someones character, safely behind your keyboard?

Is that something that this board would benefit from?  
 
Sorry bucko, but thats purely your opinion and doesn't hold much water with me or others.

Thanks, now that you've identified yourself it should be no problem avoiding you

God, what a freakin' jackass.

Sorry, Rocketjock, I was trying to address the topic you were good enough to start here, because I'm really interested in the ABS question.

I've notified the Admin of this jerk, hopefully something will be done.

I guess it's gonna be the luck of the draw as far as the ABS goes for me, because I have my deposit down for the first '07 Bandit to arrive at the dealers, whether it's ABS or standard. If it's the ABS, I'll be posting my impressions of it as soon as I get a chance to ride it. If not, I'm sure it won't be long before somebody here will have some input.

Again, sorry about this asshole, my mistake for not ignoring him in the first place.