ABS really DOES work

[Rocker66]

Riding home from work this morning in fog and on a wet leaf covered unlit road a cyclist wearing dark clothing and with no lights suddenly shot out in front of me causing me to brake and I think that without the ABS cutting in I may have well gone down. Foutuneately do to the conditions I was riding cautiously

 

[JDE]

Whew! Glad they work, not glad that you had to test them in real life.

Do you ride in fog often? I did, once a couple years ago on my last bike. That scared the crap outta me enough that I don't do it anymore. My visor and my glasses kept fogging up so much that it made it real dangerous. Couldn't see very well. I ask because fog season is here in my area, especially since it rained today and it's getting colder. Don't you run into such problems? How do you avoid them? As I understand your motorcycles are your only means of transportation.

 

[L.B.S.]

Up until my new BMW, I have never owned an ABS or otherwise mucked with braking system vehicle in my life. (inc. my one and only car, which I still have, over 21 years now)

The supposed "safety" of ABS proceeded to almost kill me, and scare the ever living crap out of me. It made me a nervous wreck, under the most benign and innocent perfect conditions.

If I hit even the tiniest of pavement irregularities, or gave it too much front brake, causing the rear end to go light, it would effectively remove ALL my braking input. I sailed right through a crosswalk and 1/2 way into an intersection, (red light for me, fortunately no cars!) when I rode over a couple tiny little bumps, only a few days into owning it. I have never been so WTF!!! freaked out in all my 40+ years of bike riding.

I have never worn out a set of rear pads or shoes in my entire biking life either. Now, because I had to compensate for the horrifically sensitive and wonky braking, it made me totally change how I braked. I had to hit the rear first gently to hunker the weight down on the rear, before gently applying front brake progressively harder, and feathering the rear constantly.

I wore out the rear pads within 15,000 km's!

I never knew if the vile thing would have worked in circumstances where I would actually need it, as I had no panic braking situations (that were unavoidable), rain or shine.

All I knew, was I hated it, and was terrified to brake everytime the pavement wasn't glass smooth. I went very slow everywhere, and had a completely horrible braking style, 'cause if I braked "normally", then I likely wouldn't be able to stop where I wanted to!

It was brutal.

So. Onto the NC700X and it's ABS/linked set up. I was dead against this, especially after the BMW fiasco, and to add yet another unasked for device I didn't want any part of, with linking the damned things, I was quite annoyed at not being able to get a "plain" bike. I had seperate braided steel lines all set up for order even before buying the NCX.

Took an NCX out for a test ride, and nailed the brakes going over a set of railroad tracks and some gawdawful gnarly pavement to see how bad it was going to be.

I stopped! I stopped NOW! There was the expected clackety clack of ABS dealing with whatever it needed to, I assume, but I got absolutely no impression of hauling on the lever, or standing on the pedal for all I was worth, but continuing forward unable to stop. It was awesome!

I rode around during the test ride looking for the sketchiest pavement I could find, and wailing on the brakes. I was an immediate convert to however Honda does their ABS and linked brake trickery.

Of course since I don't have ABS in my 4x4 or my other bike I commute daily on, I have to maintain a certain decorum of learned behaviour after all these years, and I'm still very ok with that. Being able to do two fingered stoppies and lock up any and all wheels at a whim, is still something I want to have the control and right to do.

 

[Rocker66]

Whew! Glad they work, not glad that you had to test them in real life.

Do you ride in fog often? I did, once a couple years ago on my last bike. That scared the crap outta me enough that I don't do it anymore. My visor and my glasses kept fogging up so much that it made it real dangerous. Couldn't see very well. I ask because fog season is here in my area, especially since it rained today and it's getting colder. Don't you run into such problems? How do you avoid them? As I understand your motorcycles are your only means of transportation.

Anti mist spray on the visor and glasses help

 

[dduelin]

Pinlock shield inserts do away with fogging problems. They really work.

Rocker - over here the common phrase would be that ABS "saved your bacon" this morning. You can't read an ABS thread through 3 or 4 posts before hearing about some chap's bacon getting saved. If the phrase hasn't been used yet I find a way to get it in there and this thread is no different. Go forth and "save bacon".

 

[Rocker66]

Pinlock shield inserts do away with fogging problems. They really work.

Rocker - over here the common phrase would be that ABS "saved your bacon" this morning. You can't read an ABS thread through 3 or 4 posts before hearing about some chap's bacon getting saved. If the phrase hasn't been used yet I find a way to get it in there and this thread is no different. Go forth and "save bacon".

The same phrase is used this side of the pond. You are quite correct pinlock is an excellent device.

 

[jakeisbill]

Has anybody ever applied Rain-X to their visor?

 

[Spaceteach]

Has anybody ever applied Rain-X to their visor?

The only manufacturer I know of that specifically mentions RainX is HJC. They say its ok for all but their reflective shields. Shoei, Arai, Scorpion, etc all say to just use a mild neutral detergent and water. I have tried it on HJC helmets and it works, but I'd be a little hesitant to use it on others without a little research. Each manufacturer seems to use their own coatings and plastic formulations on their shields and it wouldn't be a good thing to to find out the hard way that RainX wasn't compatible with your new $50 face shield.

Bob

 

[Cutter J. Duke]

I have use RainX on every shield I've ever had, never had any ill effects from it and it works great. As for the anti-lock brakes, coming from the sport bike side of motorcycling, anti-lock is just not something I've ever used. I have a car with them and I don't really like the peddle feel. In sport bike racing it was a matter of the best brakes available and learning to modulate the brake lever, lessons I'm glad I learned early. I would like to try the anti-locks for a day just to see how they feel, maybe get some parking lot practice in with some panic stops.

 

[Rocker66]

Even sports bikes such as the fireblade are now coming with ABS. I rode for many years without it but then I rode for many of those years with drum brakes 6V electrics and tyres that you wouldn't put on a moped these days but that doesn't mean that I would want to go back to those days unless I had a classic bike that I just used for gentle runs out of course

 

[duk2n]

@Rocker66, glad you're ok. Nowadays cyclist are turning dangerous like cagers.

Speaking about the ABS in our NCX, IMHO it is a lifesaver but I what I don't think too much is the combined. I would like to have the three pistons at my hand and left the rear for when I want to use it. Moreover, to be a real adventure bike the ABS must be disconnectable. Riding off-road, sometimes it's helpful to be able to block the rear

 

[zapf]

Up until my new BMW,

What BMW is it?