Well, it's been a few weeks since I've been around, but revisisting this thread, I'd like to make a couple of comments.

1) I always thought I was a pretty good rider.
2) I've tried to keep an open mind on others' opinions.
3) Facts trump opinion.

In Minnesota, our highways are highly salted and sanded in the winter. Salt and sand which gets pulverized to the consistancy of flour by spring time.

On an early spring ride, driving west in the late afternoon, I suddenly found a stop sign looming out of the setting sun. Hitting the brakes, I felt the rear start sliding, due to the sand on the road close to the intersection. In hindsight, I was pleasantly surprised at how my years of teaching overcame my instincts, and I rode out the skid, safely stopping. But also, in hindsight, I had to realize that maybe I wasn't as good of a rider as I thought. If I was as good as I thought, I shouldn't have skid at all!

Now, let's talk about reality. If I had ABS on my '06 Ultra, I would never have had a skid to feel.

I appreciate all the comments on this thread, (especially those supporting my position), but the fact remains, NO ONE of us can react faster than the computer controlling our ABS brakes. Not me, not Norty, not Idaho Hacker...no one. At even at only "ten times per second, not 100 times per second..." none of us have that ability.

Technology trumps experience. Tom84FXST, It's as simple as that. MSF taught years ago that it takes the average rider more than half a second just to react to a hazard. At 60 mph half a second is 44 feet of travel. The distance across a standard two lane intersection is 24 feet. ABS at just ten times per second, is reacting at every 8.8 feet. (60 mph = 88 ft/sec)

 

Always look ahead and always look for an out.
He could of gone left our right, Plenty of room.

 

I want to make sure you didn't misinterpret anything I said earlier in the thread.

I agree with you 100%.

There are no negatives to ABS, there is no reason not to have it, the fact that a professional can stop as fast without it in a controlled test has absolutely zero to do with the real world.

Zero.

That's why I have it on my bike, and I will never buy another new bike without it.

 

ABS mighta saved his ***


....he did look cool though in the black t-shirt and leatherette vest. "That's gonna leave a mark..."

 

I remember the first 2 weeks of having my Sporty. I was on a road that I traveled thousands of times on with a car. A couple of people stopped quickly because someone was turning into a driveway that had an incline. I started applying the front brake somewhat hard, but not heavy. Then from underneath the van in front, pops a drainage grate and a slight dip in the road. Now in all the time I had driven in a car, it was something I never thought twice about till I am on the bike and braking hard. I add the rear brake in (this is over the span of maybe 2 seconds) but I got slightly over-zealous with the pressure I applied since I was looking to not be braking onto the metal grate. As I am slowing down, I feel the rear start moving around underneath me, but I just kept my foot down on the brake. I stopped without anything going wrong. I just had an elevated heart rate because of the rear sliding.

I had a bunch of guys tell me that they never used the rear brake on their Sporty because they felt it was too sensitive to getting locked up. I said bullshit and took that as a learning experience to figure out how best to apply the rear with enough force, but not enough that it would cause a lock-up.

About 9 months later on a nice dry, sunny day in June, I'm on a busy road with 2 lanes on each side, and I found myself in a panic situation where I had to brake heavily, and aimed at the shoulder in case the person behind me wouldn't be able to stop. No lock up on the rear at all because I took the time to respect the amount of pressure needed to safely brake.

The rear is always tough because imo it can be very easy to fall into the habit of applying the kind of pressure you would in a car. The rider in the video probably never practiced how to brake heavily while preventing any lock-up. That alone would have prevented the entire situation. Yeah ABS may have helped as well. Current bike has ABS, only have about 1,000 miles on it. But the day I picked it up, I rode to a deserted area and slammed on the rear just to get the feeling of the ABS engaging. It was weird, but I can vouch for it being a good idea to do this just so you know what to expect. Even with ABS, the goal is to be able to brake heavily if need be while keeping the ABS from kicking in. But, if it does come on, no big deal because it's a good line of defense if you will.

Getting heavy braking right is a great feeling and makes you feel very in control for those times when you really do need it.