I'm looking to upgrade from a wide glide to steet glide. The dealer this week was telling me not to bother with the new ABS on the 08's. Said too much money with too little benefit. Thoughts on this greatly appreciated. (Ya, in Montana, with or without is no good on the ice, but what about the roads in fair weather America?). Thanks

 

I got it on mine and I have "used" it once. It sure did work! Could I have stopped without it....probably, but I am glad that I had it.

 

Go to the HD website and there is a video of the ABS. Watch it and decide for yourself.

PS. That salesman is an idiot.

 

If I was getting an 08, it would definitely have the ABS brakes. From every single report I've read, they work extremely well. If they would retrofit to an 06, it would be on top of my list for mods, but it is not possible to retrofit the system.

I personally would not listen to what a salesman says about ABS. It is a great safety feature, and well worth the extra money...just one go down would more than pay for it, and I don't care what anyone says, in 98% of the cases, ABS will save your a$$ during a panic stop.

 

There is another dealer that I would avoid like the plague. You are going to get mixed reviews on the subject of ABS. The hard core generally take the approach that an experienced and good rider can stop quicker with out ABS. That may be true. I know of no way to prove or disprove that statement. however things are not always dry and "fair weather" There is abundant proof and I will see if I can find one such video that shows an ABS equiped bike and a now ABS bike stopping doing a quick stop on wet pavement. The ABS bike comes to a straight line stop while the non ABS bike does a couple of 360 spins and eventually comes to a stop about 40 ft further down the road than the ABS version. Both Bikes had outriggers or the Non ABS bike would have been down for sure. It is a personal choice type thing but No Dealer worth his salt would make a statement like that. I have had ABS now for 4 years on my Goldwing and now for a month on the ULtra and would not be without them. Are they worth the price? They are to me. YMMV

 

My two cents would be that the dealer is trying to sell his non-ABS bikeswhich don'tappear to be selling as well as the ABS bikes. Rule # 1 when a salesman tells you anything....don't believe it.

 

From other polls, I think you find 9 out of 10 would get ABS. But I agreemany dealers are unsupportive to say the least. Yet, I have noticed the Road Kings without ABS stay on the floor a lot longer then the ones with ABS.

Beary

 

I did some research on the HD ABS before buying my 08 Ultra. My conclusion was that while ABS is a benefit and can help you out in certain situation, it does have limitations. If you watch the HD video they clearly tell you that you must be upright and going straight for the ABS to operate properly. How many times have you needed to hit the brakes hard in a turn versus going straight? There are other limitations to ABS on a motorcycle too. If you do your own wrenching (like I do), you'll have to take your bike to a dealer to have them reset the ABS computer whenever you change the brake pads. While I do feel that the ABS is a definite benefit, I felt it's limitations did not justify it's cost to me when I orded my bike. But I wouldn't talk someone out of it that wanted it.

Just my 2 cents

 

Thats BS.....you don't have to have the computer reset when you change the pads...Where in the world did you hear that from?.....Iwould seriously consider not working on your own bike anymore...until you have become familiar with a service manualor get factual information.
Motorcycle ABS is not traction control...it willnot compensate for YAW or lateral G-Force. If you need to hit the brakes hard in a turn....either you overrode your capability, overestimated your capability or there was something that appeared and was unavoidable.The latter being straighten the bike and brake.....Manuevering the ABS bike while braking is more predictable than non-ABS bikes but in no case will it give you better traction while leaning 25 degrees in adeclining radius curveandstabbing the brakes.

 

Thats BS.....you don't have to have the computer reset when you change the pads...Where in the world did you hear that from?....
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HD