ABS: Good, or Bad?

[Guth_imp]

This thread is getting interesting

One thing that was not mentioned is testing your bike. Its good practice once your brakes are broken in to try these emergency stops and test your bike in a controlled situation whether you have ABS or non ABS. I usually go to a local corporation where there's no traffic and get use to the braking system on a new bike. I want to know if the brakes will lift the rear wheel before it locks up, what the stopping distance is and how the bike reacts to full lock up of the rear wheel. Nothing prepares you more than practice and knowing your bike.

That's what I getting at with the following (I've found that a large school parking lot that's empty on the weekend is another good option):

I think the key is to become familiar with the braking system that you do have and learn how to use it to the best of your abilities.

My only concern with ABS is the complexity of the systems involved. I have an Audi car with ABS that was once rendered useless in a major rain storm — completely void of braking power. It was a true pucker moment, but at least the car had a manual hand brake. I later had guards installed that Audi released (and kept very quiet about) that apparently helped protect the sensor system. But ever since then, I've been a bit wary of electronics interacting with systems like braking, accelerating and steering, be it an automobile or a motorcycle.

Still, I'm convinced that the rider is the weakest link in the chain when it comes to braking. Anyone that feels they are good without ABS, would be even better with it.

Once again, John McGuinness:

“I’m a bit of an old school rider, I’ve been around a long time, so when they said they were putting ABS on the bike I wasn’t sure. But we got it set up and now we’ve got a really good package… I can dive into turn one and be really confident that it’s going to be there for me.

“There’s no reason why we can’t use ABS at the TT, and CBS [linked system]. I wouldn’t be scared of running it at the TT. The thing with ABS is that it’s going to save lives. Some riders think they can outdo ABS; that they don’t need ABS. But when they see us blokes using it in the races and getting results, and our reliance on it… It can help you.

“It will save lives on the road, for sure. That’s one of the reasons why I’m really interested in the project. At the Bol d’Or it was partly wet and I, Cameron [Donald] and Simon Andrews were consistently fastest in the slightly damp conditions. We had plenty of confidence to push the bike and brake hard into the hairpins. It’s been an interesting project and I’m really enjoying it.”

Quote from the article "[url=http://www.thebikeshow.co.za/moreinfo_test.php?t_id=22082012115323]Honda ABS Racing Bikes".