ABS V Non ABS

[noggythenog]

Ok Lew....just for the sake of getting the argument going then ill chip in something......i havent read that article so i suppose it is straight from the noggy bonce so it will probably be complete crap but hey what the hell it's the season to be jolly......or debate in depth while not riding




My tuppence worth..........outperforming is a bit of a loose term.............i think that someone using standard brakes.......at the limit will perform better than the same person clamping on with ABS...........something pulsing on and off cant be as good as the constant force....on the limit.


But of course that is purely clinical scientific stuff because how do you know that you're on the limit until you lock up......you don't......so practically then ABS are better.




Im actually in favour of ABS although i dont have it.......because ive locked up my old 600 twice......so clearly i would benefit from it.....it would allow me to ride around my flaws.....in this case grabbing a handful........in emergency situations it is a life saver......but for the rest of the time then i'd have the tendency to say that standard is best...especially for top class riders.


But theres surely another element to it.......for amateur or inexperience riders.....is ABS having a tendency to take away the fundementals.....if you can just hoof it about the place anchoring on without any worries then could some people then tend to learn incorrect technique on the bike such as looking ahead, staying away from the brakes as much as possible etc.


Ill need to have alook at the article at a later time to see whether it can change my mind set.......but im thinking now..ok so the race rider said that ABS was better....well he is a racer and so he already knows the fundamentals of good braking so i think in that case he is using it properly but quite how the average joe would use the ABS is another issue.....personally i think that it would make me relax a bit more and focus on the rest of my riding more and having used standard brakes to make all my mistakes i think id get good use of ABS without per say having it activating but brand new bikers im not so sure about.......then again most cars have ABS these days so i suppose most car drivers dont really realise much about proper braking technique either.


It's a difficult thing to prove....ok so yamaha makes a new bike with ABS.....well they still want that bike to brake just as well if not better than their previous non ABS model.......they are creating the bike so they will always achieve this whether that means fitting larger discs or calipers or whatever but would the Non ABS bike perform just as well if it was retrofitted with ABS without any other mods......i just dont know.....do bikes with ABS generally have different discs and calipers as far as performance is involved?




At the end of the day though i would say that ABS is good and worthwhile......whether it outperforms non ABS will be least of my concern when i am using it in an emergency situation.