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School me on ABS on new bikes


3.0ranger1227

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Going back to the OP - first bike? Test ride anything they will let you. Make sure you're okay with the power of the bike and comfortable on it. I have ridden a '12 250 and ride with a 300 all the time. Wouldn't own one at all. Love my DRZ - better power, torque, way more fun to ride. Sure you lose some top end and features compared to the ninja, but very worth it IMO.
 


85_Ranger4x4

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I would also like to read that 4x4 testing of 4 wheel ABS.
ABS does not ever prevent you from stopping on any surface at any angle.
I agree Chevy sucks, lol, but not the front ABS when going down a steep grade with a loose surface, in fact it is better because you can still turn without the worry of locking up a front wheel too early.
At low speed offroad it is very possible to hurt more than it helps.

One tire slips and locks up, big deal you still have three more under your control without abs. With ABS it spurs a panic fit of the braking system.

And with the wheels pointed ahead on pavement and deer incoming I have had to get off the brakes completly because the 4 wheel ABS was vibrating me towards the ditch because of the road crown... so I don't know how much more control it would give you as far as being able to turn without locking up a wheel (which I have never had a problem with)

It isn't all bad but it isn't perfect either. Neither is non-abs.
 

--weezl--

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I have riden a couple of bikes with ABS and supposedly they are NO different than ones without. The abs kicks in when it 'feels' the tire stop turning as on sand or ice or whatever and it just releases the brake fractionally. There was an off road test on a chevy pu I think it was with 4 wheel abs vs a ford with 2w rear only. The complaint on the test was that the chebby would release on hard downhill sections when it encountered loose sand/gravel pine needles etc and it became scary to the testers. The ford did not release and they said they were more confident in getting to the bottom.

So do you really need abs? that is something only you can answer. If you are a competent ride yes you slightly release brake pressure when you feel the tires lock which is what abs is going to do anyhow. I went through a safety course and there was some sand on the brake course and I did as I just described and the the trainer/evaluator was impressed. So its whatever you feel you need in the long run. I think abs costs more as an option generally.
big difference is that on a bike, if you lock up your tires, your tires will no longer be touching the road, which means you're on your ass, sliding, and will take longer to stop than reduced braking power, that allows you to keep traction. in a car or truck, you lock up the tires, they don't leave the pavement... ABS is WAY more important on a bike than on a cage

I honestly can't think of any driving situation where ABS would have a downside.
snow, or mud. if you have solid ground below grease, ABS will keep the tire rolling and on top of the grease, which won't allow you to grip the good ground below, but if you lock the tires up, they dig in, and you're down to something with traction. additionally, as you do this, you have piles of snow/mud infront of your tires, which works like a snow plow, and increases your contact patch exponentially...
 

85_Ranger4x4

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snow, or mud. if you have solid ground below grease, ABS will keep the tire rolling and on top of the grease, which won't allow you to grip the good ground below, but if you lock the tires up, they dig in, and you're down to something with traction. additionally, as you do this, you have piles of snow/mud infront of your tires, which works like a snow plow, and increases your contact patch exponentially...
Your tires are also lubricated by the mud and snow on top whether they have dug down or not which largely negates the "digging down" to something solid theory.

The biggest help is pushing material with the tires.
 

3.0ranger1227

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Maybe just learn how to work the brake properly? It's not that hard, and you know when you're going to have an issue before you have the issue.

I love have no electronic aids at all on the bike. My foot is directly connected to the shift fork in the trans, carb'd motor, no tach, no anything. Pure motor.
 

veefer800canuck

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Armadillon, I love that "lay 'er down" excuse. Lol

If you had to lay er down to avoid a crash, then you've already crashed.

It's like saying you had to drive your car straight into a brick wall to avoid an accident.
 

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Maybe just learn how to work the brake properly? It's not that hard, and you know when you're going to have an issue before you have the issue.

I love have no electronic aids at all on the bike. My foot is directly connected to the shift fork in the trans, carb'd motor, no tach, no anything. Pure motor.
yeah, because you've never made a mistake in your life, so therefor no one will ever miscalculate something, and electronics are now useless, right?
 

3.0ranger1227

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yeah, because you've never made a mistake in your life, so therefor no one will ever miscalculate something, and electronics are now useless, right?

Of course I've made mistakes... But the electronics I had didn't save my ass then either. Even the best electronic anti lock anti slip anti wheelie traction control system won't save you if you make a big mistake.

Bottom line it comes down to what the op can afford.
 

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IMHO, if it stops you from crashing one time, and fails 10 others, it's worth the money, even if you shouldn't be riding as you've crashed 10 times
 

veefer800canuck

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Oh and to the OP, THANK YOU for not running out and buying a GSXR1000 or a Hayabusa as your first street bike.

The ninja 300 is an excellent first bike and you'll learn a lot on it.

Plus they handle like a cat on Velcro.
 

RonD

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Purist: a person who has very strong ideas about what is correct or acceptable and who usually opposes changes to traditional methods and practices

A vehicle "purist" picks their generation of vehicle and then "that's it".
There is no changing their mind on what are acceptable changes, because NO CHANGES are acceptable, the generation of vehicle they have chosen is "the best" version.
Their "truth"(rationalization) of why it is "the best" has no flaws because, "it is, simply, the truth", in their opinion.

The only conflict in this is when they meet someone else who is a "purist" of another generation(older or newer) of the same vehicle type, lol.
Since they are both right the conversation can be heated, but it is ultimately a Draw.
 

veefer800canuck

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RonD, I do not own, nor have ever owned, a Ninja 300, or any Kawasaki ever.

I have ridden motorcycles off and on road for the past 39 years though, everything from 50cc, 125cc, 250cc, 500cc dirt bikes right up to varying sizes of street bikes, up to 1200cc.

My personal ride is a 1999 Honda VFR800 that I have completely stripped to the frame and customized with upgraded suspension and a ton of other cool stuff.

It "only" has 100 HP and "only" does about 155 MPH. It has about 60,000 miles on it. I can afford to buy any bike I want, tomorrow, but I don't need anything with twice the horsepower, even though I know I can handle it with nearly 40 years of riding experience.

I've ridden all across western Canadian provinces and western USA plus a crossing of the us to North Carolina. Hundreds of thousands of miles put on several different bikes that have occupied my garage.

And I've crashed before, so I know how much it hurts.

I'm not a purist, but there are some trends that tend to run common in the motorcycle world.

Brand new rider, buys the fastest bike possible. Can't afford leathers so he rides without.

Doesn't realize how heart attack serious a 170 hp 400-something pound bike is.
If you're lucky, and lose the front in a 30 MPH corner and low side it, count your blessings.

If your not lucky, and crash out at triple digit speed while trying to see "what she'll do" (in this case about 185 MPH) then maybe we will see you in the next world.

And yeah, maybe there is that one guy who bought a litrebike as his first ride and live to tell, but it's generally a bad idea.

Starting small and working up is always a good idea. And it's way more fun to ride a slow bike fast than it is to ride a fast bike slow.

Graduated licensing restricting new riders to smaller bikes for a defined period of time would go a long way towards helping eliminate the trend of new riders getting in over their heads with immensely powerful and fast bikes.

/soapbox
 
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veefer800canuck

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<------notice I'm wearing leather over there to the left. Good gear saves you from a lot of grief.

You wouldn't jump out of the box of your ranger in shorts and flip flops at 45 MPH right?


 
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RonD

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RonD, I do not own, nor have ever owned, a Ninja 300, or any Kawasaki ever.

I have ridden motorcycles off and on road for the past 39 years though, everything from 50cc, 125cc, 250cc, 500cc dirt bikes right up to varying sizes of street bikes, up to 1200cc.

My personal ride is a 1999 Honda VFR800 that I have completely stripped to the frame and customized with upgraded suspension and a ton of other cool stuff.

It "only" has 100 HP and "only" does about 155 MPH. It has about 60,000 miles on it. I can afford to buy any bike I want, tomorrow, but I don't need anything with twice the horsepower, even though I know I can handle it with nearly 40 years of riding experience.

I've ridden all across western Canadian provinces and western USA plus a crossing of the us to North Carolina. Hundreds of thousands of miles put on several different bikes that have occupied my garage.

And I've crashed before, so I know how much it hurts.

I'm not a purist, but there are some trends that tend to run common in the motorcycle world.

Brand new rider, buys the fastest bike possible. Can't afford leathers so he rides without.

Doesn't realize how heart attack serious a 170 hp 400-something pound bike is.
If you're lucky, and lose the front in a 30 MPH corner and low side it, count your blessings.

If your not lucky, and crash out at triple digit speed while trying to see "what she'll do" (in this case about 185 MPH) then maybe we will see you in the next world.

And yeah, maybe there is that one guy who bought a litrebike as his first ride and live to tell, but it's generally a bad idea.

Starting small and working up is always a good idea. And it's way more fun to ride a slow bike fast than it is to ride a fast bike slow.

Graduated licensing restricting new riders to smaller bikes for a defined period of time would go a long way towards helping eliminate the trend of new riders getting in over their heads with immensely powerful and fast bikes.

/soapbox
Well you may not think you are a purist.....................

I am sure in the future when "hover bikes" are being used there will be some "purists" who will say "having rubber on the road is "the best" way to ride".
"these young people these days just don't know what "real riding" is all about, feeling the road, that's what it is all about!" :)

As far as people getting in "over their heads" with powerful machines, that has been happening with young males(and old males, lol) through out history, even before machines.
The famous last words......"Watch this.........." were not first used yesterday nor only in english, I am sure there were some injured or dead "cave boys" that spoke those words to friends just before.......well "getting in over their heads", lol.
 
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Myanarchy

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Man you guys act like abs on a bike is new, my 84 zx9 had hydraulic abs. They called it anti dive but it did the same thing even back then.
 

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