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I did a bunch of homework on this subject before I bought my FLHTK. It is mandatory on all LEO's bikes. If the LEO's have done their homework and their jobs and lives depend on being safe, well, I guess it is a no brainer... I only have needed it once and I thing is did a great job.
I can't believe that when it becomes standard equipment the MoCo is going to tack $1000 to the msrp. Right now they're doing a money grab just like car manufacturers do when they implement something new. I'm old enough to remember when power brakes, steering, windows, and even ac was optional on cars. If you wanted them or the airbags and abs that came out more recently, you paid out the rear to get them. Once they became standard the cost of the cars didn't go up anywhere near what these safety/conveniences had cost when they were options.
Well just because it's standard doesn't mean you pay less for it. Look at how much a car or truck is now a days compared to 10 years ago. A fully loaded full size 1/2 ton pickup truck is almost the price of a base model Corvette. Look at the price a 1/2 ton truck was years ago. It's all the extra BS they keep adding to them that's making the cost be so high.
Now I'm sure ABS will eventually get cheaper as they make it better on a Harley, but it will still be added to the MSRP. Standard equipment doesn't mean cheaper, just means what it's called, just comes standard instead of having to get it as an option. Once something becomes standard it just means they probably found ways to make them cheaper by the time it went from an option to standard.
Not saying you're wrong about just asking more for an option just because they can because nobody really know. I'm just saying that by the time an option becomes standard equipment I'm pretty sure the manufacturer has found ways to put them on a little cheaper while still having to pay for the stuff.
Last edited by SouthernGuy8503; Dec 31, 2010 at 11:36 AM.
Turbo flux, glad to hear you like the new abs brakes and wont ride without them, which brings up my question can I borrow the blue shovel in your sig pic, for like a year or 10???????????? I'll even ride it nicely thanks pal hahahahahahahahaha
I rode a 2010 Ultra around New Zealand last March, around 5600km (3500 miles). Got into the ABS a couple of times. Works as advertised, pretty cool thing to have, but not a deal breaker for me. If the bike has it, great, but I'm not gonna forever stay off any bike that doesn't.
I was telling a friend of mine, who knows I'm in the market for a heritage softail classic that I was holding out for one with ABS, that I would only buy one with ABS, whenever the time comes. He said he would never have ABS. I mentioned how a biker recently told me how ABS really works. He had to break hard to avoid a cager that cut him off. He skidded to a stop and did not lose control. My friend said he too skidded to a stop to avoid a collision years ago, without ABS, and he didn't lose it either. My friend thinks ABS would increase the stopping distance. That's what they said when cars first came out with ABS, which proved not to be the case. What are your thoughts?
No offense but your friend sounds like an idiot that still wishes he had a kick starter on his bike.
That's the future no doubt.
ABS is an expensive option but worth every penny. My experience was a deer on sanded mt. highway on blind curve. Worked as advertised and without it I would have been down.
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any of you ridden anything with integrated braking?
I have. I don't think it's as terrific as the people who are stuck with it.
I'm still trying to get used to ABS on my bike. There have been a couple of times when I was getting ready to start feathering the brake because I thought I was getting close to locking a wheel, and then I felt like I'd run over something in the road that hit the bike near my right foot.
I've hammered the brakes in the dry in a straight line, and everything was fine. I don't know if I'm trusting enough to grab a handful of brakes while leaning in to a curve on damp pavement, yet.
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