This year I had a "advanced riding" training-session and there were some ABS bandits at hand.
For some braking, there was a test setup on dry smooth tarmac and a piece with uneven, but also dry tarmac. (your typical repair stuff and a small step up/down of about 3 mm)
First tried it with my own (1st Gen 1200) about 6 times.
(On two of them I made great stoppies.
)
The shortest brake distance (#4) was marked.
Then with the bandit with ABS.
First try ever on an ABS bike:..... 30% less distance to stop.
Just squeezed as hard as I could. The rest of the attempts were about the same distance. (And on one of them the rear came up again..
)
Then some tests on the uneven surface and I could actually feel the front wheel stop and start turning again rapidly. A couple of short black lines showed where the ABS had been struggling. But I felt (and was) absolutely in control.
My conclusion: ABS will not help you on Ice or on Wet grass. But I have not done that a lot in my 20 motorcycle-years, so who cares? But even on a dry road ABS made me stop about 30% quicker.
Which means that, when driving 50mph , instead of hitting the side of the car/truck/bike with at least 20 mph, I can tell the driver what I think of him/her by shouting through the side window.
(ABS: Aggresive Biker Shouting?)