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Alex · April 6th, 2022, 10:16 PM

Have had a number of bikes with ABS (most of them BMW's). The early ones (pre-2000) were a bit crude, and the cycling was relatively slow and noticeable. But the later generations are quite quick, and work exactly as you'd hope. You can squeeze hard on the lever and the pedal, and if the wheel is being slowed quicker than traction can handle, it will modulate the braking pressure all the way down to a stop.

But your test isn't necessarily a great one. If you just hammer the rear brake without any front braking - it's always going to be slow to stop, and it's also likely to just leave the wheel locked once the bike itself is slow enough. If the speed sensor on the bike is tied to the transmission or the rear wheel, once that wheel is locked, the bike may have no idea how fast it's going anyway - so it is eventually just going to think it's stopped. I'm pretty confident that your rear wheel was locked and the bike was just sliding along - rather than the rear wheel was spinning and the brakes were completely off.

You need to use the brakes how they are designed, and how you should brake in general. Hit the front brakes and the rear brakes together. Use much more pressure on the front brakes. If you actually use enough to lock them up on dry ground, they should (and likely will) release. But with modern tires on clean pavement, the bike will likely have more than enough braking power to lift the rear of the bike up in the air, well before the front tire slips. In fact - that's one of the scary parts of the early integrated ABS brakes on bikes. If you're going all out, and hit the front hard enough to lift the rear, some bikes were programmed to let some of the front brake off to settle the rear of the bike back down again. Likely that's the safe choice - but it was frightening as hell if you're trying to slow quickly before some type of emergency, and the bike feels like it stops braking for a few milliseconds. More recent bikes have processing power fast enough that it can modulate the braking well before the rear wheel is lifted, if it's programmed to do so.

All of this is another reason that rear ABS is sometimes switchable for dual-sport / off-road bikes, as in some riding situations it is preferable to be able to fully lock the rear wheel and slide it around a little, rather than automatic modulation. The real advantage for streetbikes with ABS is in sketchy conditions. Even if it is wet and slippery out, brake as hard as you need to - using both brakes - and the bike will figure out the fastest way to slow you down, in virtually all cases faster than any human would be able to detect and modulate.

April 6th, 2022, 10:16 PM	#2
Alex ninjette.org dude Name: 1 guess :-) Location: SF Bay Area Join Date: Jun 2008 Motorcycle(s): '13 Ninja 300 (white, the fastest color!), '13 R1200RT, '14 CRF250L, '12 TT-R125LE Posts: Too much. Blog Entries: 7	Have had a number of bikes with ABS (most of them BMW's). The early ones (pre-2000) were a bit crude, and the cycling was relatively slow and noticeable. But the later generations are quite quick, and work exactly as you'd hope. You can squeeze hard on the lever and the pedal, and if the wheel is being slowed quicker than traction can handle, it will modulate the braking pressure all the way down to a stop. But your test isn't necessarily a great one. If you just hammer the rear brake without any front braking - it's always going to be slow to stop, and it's also likely to just leave the wheel locked once the bike itself is slow enough. If the speed sensor on the bike is tied to the transmission or the rear wheel, once that wheel is locked, the bike may have no idea how fast it's going anyway - so it is eventually just going to think it's stopped. I'm pretty confident that your rear wheel was locked and the bike was just sliding along - rather than the rear wheel was spinning and the brakes were completely off. You need to use the brakes how they are designed, and how you should brake in general. Hit the front brakes and the rear brakes together. Use much more pressure on the front brakes. If you actually use enough to lock them up on dry ground, they should (and likely will) release. But with modern tires on clean pavement, the bike will likely have more than enough braking power to lift the rear of the bike up in the air, well before the front tire slips. In fact - that's one of the scary parts of the early integrated ABS brakes on bikes. If you're going all out, and hit the front hard enough to lift the rear, some bikes were programmed to let some of the front brake off to settle the rear of the bike back down again. Likely that's the safe choice - but it was frightening as hell if you're trying to slow quickly before some type of emergency, and the bike feels like it stops braking for a few milliseconds. More recent bikes have processing power fast enough that it can modulate the braking well before the rear wheel is lifted, if it's programmed to do so. All of this is another reason that rear ABS is sometimes switchable for dual-sport / off-road bikes, as in some riding situations it is preferable to be able to fully lock the rear wheel and slide it around a little, rather than automatic modulation. The real advantage for streetbikes with ABS is in sketchy conditions. Even if it is wet and slippery out, brake as hard as you need to - using both brakes - and the bike will figure out the fastest way to slow you down, in virtually all cases faster than any human would be able to detect and modulate. __________________________________________________ Montgomery Street Motorcycle Club / cal24.com / crf250l.org / ninjette.org ninjette.org Terms of Service Shopping for motorcycle parts or equipment? Come here first. The friendliest Ninja 250R/300/400 forum on the internet! (especially Unregistered)