It is a fact of life, no matter which way you go, there will be some time in the future you wish you had gone the other way. Until someone comes up with a work around, some maintenance operations MUST be done by the dealer. Don't have any idea if you do your own wrenching or not. If you ever feel it activate and it saves you from a tumble, it will be worth it, if it fails and needs $500 to $1000 to fix, you might not be so happy.

I don't know how long you have been riding without it, but you are still HERE to ask the question, so do you really NEED it? How often might you ride a different bike without it and will the abs machine make you lax on maintaining your braking skills?

One of the posters above mentioned that the stock suspension lets the wheels bounce on washboard surfaces and the abs still isn't smart enough to work that out so you wind up with NO BRAKES on a perfectly functioning machine. What sort of roads do you ride on, and what might you encounter on a trip?

My personal experience is that I have had abs take away my brakes twice and I refuse to EVER let that happen again. I will NOT have a machine with abs until it can read the pavement and compensate. Until then, I won't pay for something I refuse to use or will disable it on a machine not available without it.

On the other side, there is no shortage of stories from guys absolutely certain it saved them from road rash or worse, it is 100% up to you.

 

traded a RK 2010-2012 with ABS, would not own one without. saved my bacon
dam deer !

 

my 12 CVO has it. My older bike does not. Never really felt the need for it, but it might help out one day. If i had to pay for it as an option without it being installed on the bike, i would have declined. Since it came in the CVO package i have it.

No opinon either way, I can notice the difference it how the bike stops with ABS vs non ABS having owned a 10 non abs prior to the CVO. Can say their is a lot of difference but you get use to it quickly.

 

My latest ride has the ABS and I never been happy with it.

After racking up thousands of non-ABS miles I have yet to see the improvement ABS adds for an experienced rider, and now more than ever am convinced they will contribute to an accident.

Here's the scenario;
coming in hot to a stop or a curve, hit a tiny crack in the road - ABS kicks in, a painfully long second elapses before normal braking resumes. The error adds several feet to where I should have been stopped, or widens my path line in the curve. Either way, I have to correct for an unexpected change, lucky so far.

The first time I'll be glad to have the ABS is likely when the resale value comes into play.

 

Sittin here nursing a broken ankle i might not have if i had ABS. I also might not have it if i didnt let myslef get distracted, and if i didnt grab way too much front brake when i saw the stopped car in front of me. I do think it may have helped me pay a little less for my mistakes.

 

Another ABS thread that I was going to NOT respond to.......but.....

In my experience this statement is correct, my issue with ABS on my 2011 RKC is that gravel, washboards and uneven surfaces cause my ABS system to "sometimes" engage. I want my brakes to act the same way every time that I use them, not reacting to surface conditions and then me having to react to that. No question in my mind that ABS will give you the ability to panic stop more safely but for me and my specific riding conditions it's not working well. I am upgrading my 07 SG with a new one and ordered no ABS. As they say YMMV.

 

Now that I have had ABS for the past 7k miles on my '11 SG, there is no way I would ever go back to a bike without ABS. I do not miss the rear brake locking up on my '89EG at all.

 

The only time I ever locked up a wheel was in Abilene, Tx and it was my mistake. I have never come close to locking up the front wheel which is where one gets most of the stopping power.

 

I would not buy one without it.

 

ABS dangerous?.....you may be on to something there. The other day I came across a link to a product that will disable the ABS on your truck. Looked pretty sweet and I think you'd like it. If I can find that link again I'll pass it on to you