I finally got out to a fairly quiet stretch of road and tested my ABS and the results are interesting to say the least. This is gonna be a very long post so I will summarise the results:

Best Run Both Brakes:
ABS on 44.4m (146 ft)
ABS off 36.2m (119 ft)
ABS took 8.2m (27ft) longer to stop. This is 30% more.

Best Run Front Only:
ABS on 60.9m (200ft)
ABS off 42.3m (139 ft)
ABS took 19m (61 ft) longer to stop. This is 44% more.

Best Run Rear Only:
ABS on 78.3m (257 ft)
ABS off 86.3m (283 ft) (lots of lock up, could have done better).
ABS stopped 8m (26ft) shorter. This is 10% more.

This is the proof I have been looking for that the ABS on my bike is bad. I don’t know if all HD ABS is as bad as mine, but is clear that the ABS on my bike doesn’t know what it is doing. I can pilot the big girl well enough but I am not Troy Corser, and I never claimed to be. The ABS can make 7 decisions a second and respond much faster than I can. The computer should be able to beat me in a braking duel time after time after time. I can stop the bike 8 feet shorter (a bike length) just using the front brake than the computer can stop the bike using both brakes. What gives??

EDIT: My bike has been back to the dealer to have the ABS checked and they said its "normal" and couldnt find anything wrong with it.

Details:

Equipment:
Bike – 2009 FLHR Road King. 8670km. Dunlop D407 stock tyres. At the start of the test they had about 4mm at the shallowest point. I took a good 2mm off the front tyre doing the tests. The bike has an S&S 124ci kit fitted, and was carrying about 15kg (33lb) of luggage. The heaviest thing was my laptop bag which is about 10kg (22lb) and it was on the solo rack. I am about 100kg (220lb) with jacket and helmet. Standard screen.

Speed – All tests were done from 100km/h (62mph). Speed was measured by GPS on my escort 9500ci. The display reads to 1kmh, I expect it is accurate to about +-2km/h. It correlated perfectly with my Tomtom.

Distance- Distance was measured using a Leica laser distometer. This is accurate to +-1mm (0.39”).

Conditions.
The road was a typical B type Australian road. The tarmac was quite coarse as you can probably see in the video / pics. The test area was flat enough, probably 0.5% up hill. The wind was blowing across the strip at 5-12 knots. Air temp was 16 degrees C (60.8F). The tarmac was dry.

Method:
The cruise control was used to set the speed at 100k/hh on the digital display. For each run I ran the bike up, set the cruise well before the braking marker, checked the readout just before the line, applied the brake as close as I could to when the front wheel crossed the stop line and pulled the bike up. Overall the speed at the start of the test was very consistent. There is an error with my timing beginning the braking. I was as consistent as possible.
When the bike stopped I got off and drew a line on the tarmac level with the back bumper of the bike. By holding the disto and shooting back to the sign at the stop line I could quickly measure the distances. The disto is accurate, however I was lining everything up by eye so I would expect the distances could be up to +-0.5m or 2 feet. 1 bike length needs to be added to each run as I hit the brakes when the front wheel went over the line and then measured from the back of the bike. Call that distance about 7 feet. I wasn’t really worried about the exact distances, I just wanted to see comparatively how long the bike took to stop in the different modes.
The ABS stops were done first then the front wheel speed sensor was disconnected. This disables the ABS on both wheels. The ABS stops probably had a slight advantage because the tyres were in better condition at the start of the test and the brakes were cool. I did 3 stops and the brakes were a little spongy and the front tyre was hot. I went for a 3 mile ride half way thru to cool off the brakes and tyre. No fade was noticed during any run. The brembos grabbed the disc hard every time. The back pedal did go a little spongy, but there was no loss of braking power.
ABS runs were simple – watch the line, as soon as the front crosses it jam on the brakes.
Non ABS runs required the old set-up-and-squeeze method of braking. I don’t think these runs were my best ever efforts, I know I can stop the bike faster that this, but anyhow I think they are representative of what I could achieve in an emergency.

Comments:
The stops with the ABS seemed to take much much much longer. This is a psychological effect as my brain isn’t doing much work. With the ABS stops you just watch the front wheel go over the line and stamp on the pedal and grab the lever with all your strength. Easy.

Stops without ABS require full concentration. I locked the front wheel for about 6 inches during the front only stop. The Brembos have more than enough power to stop that wheel from rotating in an instant, even when the whole weight of the bike is on the front wheel. The Brembos are a big part of what made me update to the 09.

The rear only test was tough without ABS. I locked the wheel about 5 times on the stop. It is hard to modulate the rear brake.

The biggest concern about the test is the massive difference between the front only stopping distances. This has been when the bike has scared me the most. When I ride the bike hard I tend to drag a little rear brake and let the front do the work. When that front ABS comes in the braking distance just seemed to blow out. This test supports this. 61 feet more stopping distance from just 60 mph is shocking. The front only non abs test proves just how powerful the front Brembos are, with the ABS on it proves that the front ABS just doesn’t know what its doing.

I can stop the bike faster just using the front brake than the computer can using both brakes.

I don’t claim that this test is independent or conclusive. Everyone knows I hate ABS, you just have to take my word for it that I did my best with all the stops and hit it as close to the line as I could. Most people I know say I am a straight up kinda guy, you have my word that this was a “fair dinkum” test and not rigged. All I was trying to prove is that there is something wrong with my bike.

I would love to see the same test done with a USA spec bike. I am not sure if there are any differences in calibration between the HDI and the USA spec.

I could have done more runs to get more data but I was chewing the hell outta the front Dunlop and I had all I needed to prove that something is seriously wrong here.


Full results:

These are a bit hard to read because I cant insert a table.

Both Brakes m ft
ABS Run 1 44.4 146
ABS Run 2 46.9 154
Non ABS Run 1 40.1 132
Non ABS Run 2 36.2 119
Difference in best of both 8.2 27 123%
Difference in worst of both 6.8 22 130%

Front Only:
ABS Run 1 60.9 200

Non ABS Run 1 42.3 139
Difference 1 9 61 144%

Rear Only:
ABS Run 1 78.3 257
ABS Run 2 83.1 273

Non ABS Run 1 86.3 283
Difference (best ABS used) 8 26 110%


In order of Stopping:

m ft
Both No ABS Run 2 36.2 119
Both No ABS Run 1 40.1 132
Front No ABS 42.3 139
Both with ABS Run 1 44.4 146
Both with ABS Run 2 46.9 154
Front with ABS 60.9 200
Rear with ABS Run 1 78.3 257
Rear with ABS Run 2 83.1 273
Rear no ABS 86.3 283



I took some vid. Not very interesting but just records the readings:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBuBy_qfn6E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4-PSo7Tl6M

Anyone got any thoughts / comments?

 

The biggest advantage of ABS is the ability to maintain steering control in less than optimum road conditions, i.e. sand, gravel, and rain.

 

Your braking skills may be exceptional. I think mine are above average though the rest of my skills are average. For the average rider and even the exceptional rider under emergency conditions, ABS could be a life saver.
Gary

 

I think ABS is rubbish too that's why I don't have it and don't want it.

Great test methodology.

 

On dry roads thats great but do the test in the rain on wet roads thats where the abs should do better. Like harris48cars said it also helps the average rider in panic stops.
Probably just a typo but your first report has the abs stopping shorter 119ft to 146 ft.

 

This is why I am going to run my ABS through my Auxiliary switch so I can turn it off and on when road conditions like rain deem ABS benificial.

 

[QUOTE=uweldit;5064221]I think ABS is rubbish too that's why I don't have it and don't want it.

I respectfully disagree. If you look at the video that comes with ABS HD bikes it should be obvious that you, me and hardly anyone else can duplicate the stopping power of ABS. You could do a test yourself. Next time it rains, shoot down the interstae at 70 MPH and slam on your non ABS brakes. Have somebody follow you to film the results. Now whose rubbish?
Gary

 

ABS will prevent people from locking up the rear in a panic stop which can be more dangerous than taking a little longer to stop.

 

Thats a great consolation after you run up the back of a pickup on the interstate.

 

30% aint a little longer mate. 60 feet is a lot longer to stop. I locked the rear on one of my runs. I still stopped faster than the ABS.