Video: Ducati Monster 1100 ABS - brake tested

TWeaKoR

It is well known that advanced training can result in dangerous over confidence, especially just after training, and it is one of those things to be aware of - check Motorcycle RoadCraft if you don't believe me.  When it comes to ABS I'm not necessarily talking about people pushing to the limit, or about serious safety by numbers obsessives, I'm talking about ordinary riders having, and surviving, the odd surprise, especially for example a brief rear wheel lock up.  It teaches you to brake more intelligently and, thanks to the heart in the mouth effect, it teaches you to plan and observe better.  ABS does the exact opposite, it takes away the fear and it's already proven in the car world to have no impact on, well, impacts.  Oridinary car drivers are crashing because they've lost, or nowadays never acquired, the fear or the respect that the fear brought, and this causes more crashes than ABS itself is preventing.  The mandatory imposition of ABS, largely thanks to Bosch lobbying (for purely commercial gain) is a travesty, and now that it doesn't work Bosch are lobbying, quite successfully, for the next snake oil - mandatory ESP.  The stats will eventually bear this out for motorcyclists too, when we liberals have been overruled and everyone's experience has been dumbed by the homgenous nanny Eureacracy, then as many ordinary riders will be killed by ABS as are saved by it.

ownesi

No, probably, hopefully, not me...  In car studies there is a small subset of the poplution for whom ABS actually does reduce the risks - those who've already learned to brake, and more importantly to observe and plan, and who understand what ABS can, and more importantly, can't do.  Sadly their gain is outweighed by the losses in the slightly less interested majority population of drivers.  I accept that many bikers are more on-task than drivers, but the same effect will be true for many - ABS removes a key learning stimulus and replaces it by something that can only save a prevent a minority of collisions.

Bosch boldly state that ##% of collisions are caused by loss of control but frankly that's bull.  They just want to sell their kit, by law.  The reality is that in many collision scenario merely maintaining control to the point of impact won't do the rider much good.  With a heavy heart I accept that mandatory ABS for bikes is probably inevitable, but that doesn't stop me wanting to wade in to the debate.

ABS would make more sense if it had a "three strikes and you're back to base for expensive re-training" algirithm built in - financial fear might replace survival instinct - but as it is, the slicker it gets the more ineffective it becomes as tool for reducing overall casualties.

bbstrikesagain - yes you are entirely right that incidents are usually the result of bad planning and observation.

But your comments about having ABS making a rider take additional risks - speak for yourself mate!  I have ABS and would not ride without it.  It does not make me take risks or ride faster and harder.  It has no bearing on my riding.  It does however give me the peace of mind that if I need to brake in an emergency I'm not going to have to worry about pumping the brakes. If you've ever seen Keith Code's video you will understand the idea of not having to use your $ where you don't need to.

Move with the times my friend! Ortherwise we'd all be kick starting and using chokes.