Any ABS users?

Are anti-lock brakes as great as they say?  

My girlfriends dad has a brand new BMW K1200S with ABS, he says they are worth the extra weight but there have already been some matainance problems...which the dealer was more than willing to fix, but still...  

For me, I'd have to put them in the same catagory as linked brakes; fine for those riders less familiar with the sub-conscious (sp?) application of both brakes especially in panic stops. I guess I have become too used to doing the job myself over the years to feel the need.
For the new rider ABS would probably be a good thing since locking up one or both wheels would be one less thing for them to think about.  

I'm sold!

While riding shortly after a drizzle I had to brake hard
approaching an intersection where a cager blew a red light.

Since the oil mixed with water was enough to make it like
ice, the ABS 'pulsed' when the front started to slide and
allowed me to move behind the cross-passing cager without
locking the front wheel and dropping the scoot.

The front still dives on braking but the control is
better than a 'lock-up' and an uncontrollable slide.

I was advised NOT to brake so hard in a turn that the ABS
engages, . . . by then it would be too late anyway.
The rear still locks and skids like normal if I want to
leave my 'mark' aside from a burn-out.

My $0.02 worth.  

From my standpoint, at the MSF experienced rider class, some of the exercises were wasted on the ABS bikes. "rear wheel lockup".. ain't happening.

On separate occasions, I've locked the front, and the rear. When I replaced the bike, I got ABS.

Bombr76, you were advised wrong. ABS only does it's job when engaged. The person who was selling didn't trust anyone else doing the braking.
From your post, I am confused, usually, ABS is set up as a pair, front, and rear. It's difficult to lock the front, and just as difficult to lock the rear. The system works by measuring the difference in wheel speed on both wheels, and unlocking the slower wheel.  

I've got ABS on my truck, but I've never used it. Of course, I've only been driving that particular truck for 20 years now :-)

regards,
Joe
--
So many people rush through life, like it's a race from the womb to the grave. Personally, I'm in no hurry to reach the finish line, so I'll just take my time and let the rest of you go ahead of me.  

ive got one bike with ABS and 2 without.i think its better not to be in a hurry.i let all the guys and gals who really,really need to run home to watch NASCAR get ahead of me.and then theres plenty of ROAD and i dont have to worry about all the dim-wits around me.i gotta drive for every freaking one of them when im on 2 wheels because they have cell phones,IMPORTANT lives,etc..my suggestion is to TAKE youre time.BE AWARE everyone on the road has only one purpose today.TO KILL YOU..and let all those 4 wheelers have their space.and if you gotta stop.DONT PANIC.  

Glad to hear that people are coming around and embracing ABS it's good for cars and double good for bikes.
Keep in mind laying down a bike to avoid an accident is it self an accident; one that could cost you a leg or worse.  

yes , there great and they could even end up saving your life . i would also like to recommend Generic Viagra  for people like myself that have intimacy issues  

Just to throw $0.02 in the other direction, I don't even like the 'idea' of ABS.  I've had several occaisions where the ability to lock the rear wheel saved my life against the cager making a left hand turn directly in front of me.  If the bike I was riding had been equipped with ABS, I probably wouldn't be here now.

As a result, I think that if we blanketly accept ABS technology as the solution to life threatening situations, then we as motorcyclists may be doing the wrong thing...depending on technology, rather than properly honed and well-developed skills, to save our lives.  

All_three, think about what you just said. When the rear tire locks up, your rear tire basically becomes useless at braking (friction of a sliding tire is about 20% of a rolling tire as far as braking goes). So, what you appear to have said is that you are still here because you  in effect let go of your rear brake.  

frbock,

you're right.  that's exactly what I'm saying and I'm alive because of it.  I didn't depend on the physically impossible.  I didn't try to stop a 50mph motorcycle in less than 60 feet.  Even with ABS and an expert rider, most motorcycles doing 50mph cannot stop in such a short a distance.  So what I am saying is simple, when you're one car length away from an intersection and a car driver takes a left hand turn in front of you, you cannot avoid the collision by hitting the brakes and hoping to come to a stop in time--because you won't, whether you have ABS or not.  You have to depend on other evasive maneuvers and the only evavisive maneuver I know of that will prevent the collision involves purposefully using a rear wheel skid.

I've talked with other experienced motorcyclists and they too have been surprised when I tell them this...which in turn surprises me that they're surprised.  But in the end, its for this reason that I don't like ABS and find it ironic that the motorcycles sold equipped with ABS (BMW is the first that comes to my mind) already have good steering geometries and probably need it the least.  Now, a heavy, extended fork motorcycle like a harley chopper (or the lighter, Triumph chopper I had back in 8---well, back a few years--ahem----) probably needs ABS the most because a motorcycle like that simply isn't nimble enough to take the kind of evasive maneuvers necessary to avoid trouble.

And while I'd love to elaborate, (who me? talk??--who's willing to listen???), I do want to say that I'm glad you're bringing a valid arguement to bear.  I think ABS should be more talked about and debated amongst motorcyclists than it currently is.  

I've been on a bike that locked the rear wheel (antifreeze on the road) unexpectedly. I have to admit, I didn't suddenly feel like I could do an emergency turn. Hell, the rear wheel decided it wasn't a part of my ride, and was just as happy going off on it's own, and it' really didn't care where I, or the rest of the bike wanted to go.

On the flip side, you are absolutely correct in believing it's just 1 more tool, and you shouldn't be betting your life on it getting you out of a stupid decision.

I plan my turns, I make sure I can see far enough out to avoid the splat (makes me "slow" in the mountains. I figure it just makes me alive. if I can't see the rock, I can't dodge it. So, to me ABS is just that extra step, in case I didn't see a little splat of diesel half way thru the turn. Kind of belt AND suspenders (to keep your pants from falling down).  

I am sorry but "all three cylinders" you sound like a person who generally knows what he is talking about but on the topic of ABS you are way off base. I am sorry also but I have run the scenario of locking up the rear wheel saving your life and it just doesn't add up because when the rear wheel is locked up the rear end is "out of control" unless you are capable of unlocking and locking it up multiple times in a fraction of a second. Which is what ABS does it takes the wheel almost to the point of locking it up and then unlocks it lock unlock lock unlock never quite reaching lock up multiple times in a second.I personally have had it prevent an accident for myself so I am an out spoken supporter of ABS no more PANIC stops even if a rider does Panic. As far as locking up a wheel being a lifesaving maneuver maybe in a one in 5 million scenario but loss of control in my book is NEVER a good thing. Unless you are locking up the rear wheel to lay the bike down and slide into the car but that is still an accident. Also I think you don't understand the principle of ABS it's not just slam on the brakes and hope it's going to stop in time it's slam AND steer with ABS you don't have to modulate how hard you hit the brakes you hit them as hard as you can and steer never losing control.  

There is only one thing that skidding the rear wheel does better than not skidding the rear wheel, and that's laying the bike down while it's still moving forward. Every other type of maneuver can be done more abruptly if you do not skid the rear wheel. If sliding under something is better than trying to go around it, then locking the rear wheel might be the best thing to do.

When the rear wheel is sliding, you are no longer able to abruptly alter the bike's direction of travel. That makes evasive maneuvering much slower than if you refrained from locking up the rear wheel and used countersteering, instead.

What a rear wheel skid can do, is very rapidly alter the direction the frame is pointing, without changing the direction the bike is actually traveling. If you then release the brake and allow the rear tire to regain traction, the usual result is a 'high side', catapulting the rider into the air in the direction the bike is traveling and at a faster speed than the bike is traveling, so when you come down, the bike is behind you and coming at you. At speeds below 15 mph, usually the 'high side' only throws you up into the air above the handlebars and you can come back down on the bike, but at highway speeds that's not going to be an option.

regards,
Joe

speaking from experience and not just repeating something I've heard others say