Last night I was out riding. Two lane road, running between 55 and 60. I spot a whitetail fawn on the opposite side of the road facing away looking back over it's shoulder. As I approach it takes off running away from me and away from the road. All of a sudden it loops, turns hard right and comes running across the road right in front of me. I hit the brakes as hard as I have hit any brakes and managed to miss the critter by maybe 3 feet. Not particularly a big deal because if you ride enough things like this happen, critters, cars pulling out of side streets, people backing out of drives, someone pulling a wide turn out of a parking lot into your lane. These are common occurances. Having lots of experience and faith in your ability to handle hard braking situations keeps you alive. So after a " dang, that was close, stupid deer" exclamation in my head it didn't bother me any more. Continue the ride at the previous pace.
Except... A mile or two up the road I thought hey, I didn't feel the ABS didn't kick in.(the DLX has ABS). It was a full on panic stop, but I never felt the ABS cycle. This is the second time that it has happened to me. I reported on the last event last year, when I came around a curve to find a stopped school bus with 3 cars stopped behind it, and I had to slam them on. Foot on the pedal, ankle aiming down, 4 fingers on the brake lever squeezing that baby for all I was worth. Luckily I got stopped in time. Either it is very transparent in practice or it just didnt kick in. I can't imagine how hard you would have to apply the brakes to make it cycle.
The only other explanation I can come up with is that I have a butt load of skill and have the ability to brake just up to the point of the ABS kicking in. Maximum braking up to the point of wheel lock up without going over the edge. Don't know that I can claim possessing that amount of skill.
Question is, has anyone else braked hard enough to make their ABS kick in? Could you feel it? What did it feel like? Conversely has anyone else braked extremely hard and felt their ABS should have kicked in but didn't feel it?
Maybe only once on the GoldWing. I have non-ABS CB1100. It seemed to activate more when I really hit the Rear Brake pedal...It kind of shook and vibrated quite a bit. However..as an experienced rider I am continually using/applying both front-rear to make a very smooth abrutt stop. Like you..it seems if you are looking out for things like this you do not over-react on braking to engage the ABS!
I've had it kick in on other bikes (non-ABS CB) but it's rare. Modern tires and brakes, on good roads, generally will prevent the wheels locking up, even in seemingly rapid deceleration. Try a track day, you'd be surprised how little ABS kicks in, even on extreme braking.
Since rear wheels tend to lock up more readily on motorcycles, you'll feel it more often when jamming the pedal, or on dirt roads and the like. I had it happen today on a fire road on the Tiger 800, just some pulsing.
I've activated the rear ABS on my CB, to the point that I can feel the pedal pulse under my foot like it would on a car. On the front, I've never managed to get the same feeling. I've definitely braked hard enough to get the front wheels to begin to lock up (with all the weight shifted forward due to my clip-ons I can lift the back tire an inch or so off the ground under full braking) and I've never actually felt it kick in.
The bike is typical Honda -- decent components mix and matched and engineered enough to work way better than they have the right to. I wouldn't be surprised if they actually did manage to make the ABS so transparent you can't actually notice it.
https://rideapart.com/articles/motorcycl...ork?page=3
Honda changed the ABS system in '14 for the DLX. Mine comes to a quick smooth stop when braking very hard, without tire squeal or pedal/lever pulsing. See page 3 of the article in the attached link, sounds like the latest systems for bikes no longer pulse.
It sounds like you've mastered the art of threshold breaking. Although you couldn't detect your ABS activating, neither did you report your brakes locking up. That speaks volumes about your braking skills. Had the pavement been wet, or had your actions been less controlled, I imagine your experience would have been different. ABS is great in those cases.
About a year ago I was on what is known as "Parameter Road" that follows the fence that is along the "parameter" of the runways at Miami International. As I was following a right hand curb, a blue Honda sedan that was on the left lane just merged in front of me and began breaking about four feet from me. I slammed my brakes and for the first time I felt the "pulsations" of the anti skid system (ABS) in the CB 1100. As it turned out the lady that was driving had decided to come to the right lane in order to let her "passenger" out of the car. I was forced to return home for a fresh new pair of underwear and fresh jeans. Even though the "pucker" reflex had been very strong, it was no match for the fear that I experienced. The brakes worked great! After a shower and some meditation I was good as new.
(07-31-2016, 01:10 PM)BestStandard_imp Wrote: [ -> ]https://rideapart.com/articles/motorcycl...ork?page=3
Honda changed the ABS system in '14 for the DLX. Mine comes to a quick smooth stop when braking very hard, without tire squeal or pedal/lever pulsing. See page 3 of the article in the attached link, sounds like the latest systems for bikes no longer pulse.
Fascinating article.... Thanks for posting.
(07-31-2016, 02:13 PM)Hiram E. Varona_imp Wrote: [ -> ]About a year ago I was on what is known as "Parameter Road" that follows the fence that is along the "parameter" of the runways at Miami International. As I was following a right hand curb, a blue Honda sedan that was on the left lane just merged in front of me and began breaking about four feet from me. I slammed my brakes and for the first time I felt the "pulsations" of the anti skid system (ABS) in the CB 1100. As it turned out the lady that was driving had decided to come to the right lane in order to let her "passenger" out of the car. I was forced to return home for a fresh new pair of underwear and fresh jeans. Even though the "pucker" reflex had been very strong, it was no match for the fear that I experienced. The brakes worked great! After a shower and some meditation I was good as new.
I guess the "Anti Skid System" only works for the bike and not the rider
Good question, sir.
Hard to really know just where it would activate; go ride on a dirt road and test the system. Then you'll be able to see if it works.
The only ABS bike I have pulses although the brake(s) need to be applied pretty firmly before that happens.
I usually turn it off.
The other indicator is, did your tires skid? If not, either you were not to the threshold or it worked in a seamless, transparent way.
Regarding the article on Rideapart, it made statements in a broad sense about improvements in motorcycle ABS but didn't specify whether that technology was used in a particular motorcycle. ABS systems still vary widely.
The type of ABS discussed is used for some models of the CBR1000RR. Honda does not state anywhere that other models use it.
Here's a link to the article published by Honda about [url=http://world.honda.com/motorcycle-picturebook/eCBS/]Electronically Controlled Combined ABS.
ECC ABS is a "brake-by-wire" system which works just as a RbW system works. The brake lever is simply attached to a transducer that conveys to the braking ECU the kind of pressure the rider has applied. The actually pressure to the master cylinder(s) is applied by a type of servo-motor. There is no direct connection between the rider and the brakes. I am fairly certain no other model than the CBR1000RR has this system. In fact, I think it is not even available in the United States.
[url=http://ashonbikes.com/content/honda-c-abs]Another great article on ECC ABS by Kevin Ash.
[url=http://www.throttlequest.com/2011/02/hondas-combined-abs.html]And yet another very good article discussing the drawbacks of ABS and why certain types of ABS are not used on certain kinds of motorcycles.