Anti-Lock Brakes

[PTParks]

I will be picking up my new FJR next Saturday and this will be my first two-wheeled ride equpped with antilock brakes. In an emergency situation exactly what should I expect to encounter? I understand the concept behind the technology having owned several sports cars with the ALB systems as standard equipment, and have experienced situations where they saved my butt. However, i am at a loss to imagine exactly how the bike will react in an emergency situation with the brakes in anti-lock mode. I need you guy's with FJR experience to help out this newbie. Thanks!!

 

[Burnspot]

Some of us tested the ABS at NAFO last year following Patriot. Anyway, if you nail the brakes hard, you'll hear some chattering from the ABS, but so long as you're in a relatively straight line, it's rather uneventful...she remains planted and under control. What some folks do is run some straight line tests in a parking lot at low speeds....that'll allow you to see how it performs. Just exercise caution when doing this obviously.

 

[Rheal]

I will be picking up my new FJR next Saturday and this will be my first two-wheeled ride equpped with antilock brakes. In an emergency situation exactly what should I expect to encounter? I understand the concept behind the technology having owned several sports cars with the ALB systems as standard equipment, and have experienced situations where they saved my butt. However, i am at a loss to imagine exactly how the bike will react in an emergency situation with the brakes in anti-lock mode. I need you guy's with FJR experience to help out this newbie. Thanks!!

I have not experienced the ABS on my mount yet neither. But I expect, you have nothing to fear and everything to gain. Firstly, you should have no fear of really coming onto the brakes when needed. On a bike, we should always brake progressively ... with progressively more pressure: but we should go the limit in an emergency situation. The ABS system will proven wheel lock up. Typically, whether on a bike or in a car, we take much to long to come to a complete stop because we do not use the full braking power of the bike. With ABS and in an emergency situation, "do" use all the brakes potential to come to a stop in as short a time and distance as possible. ABS is your friend and help keep you on 2 wheels.

 

[fjrrider]

IMO you can’t tell any difference under normal operating conditions. When you get down hard on the brakes, you can feel the pulsing sensations of the ABS, but other than that the FJR just stops fast. At times especially when doing hot laps in the twisties you can feel the weight of the bike when you try to slow her down, but the brakes are working very well! You'll be amazed how much brake you can apply to just the front wheel especially in the middle of a turn or curve

When you get out and ride her the first few times, I would highly suggest working the brakes hard and get used to the ABS system. In short time you should be able to apply full force to front and rear brakes from higher speeds. She will stop and stop in a hurry!

 

[BwanaDik]

Anyway, if you nail the brakes hard, you'll hear some chattering from the ABS, but so long as you're in a straight line, it's rather uneventful...she remains planted and under control.

Yes, pretty much a non event if you're pointed straight. The brutal stopping power of these bikes will give you more of a thrill than the ABS. I've never tried it on any kind of slick or wet surface though. I'd imaging it would slide out pretty easily, just like any other bike.

I strongly suggest you find some deserted stretch of highway and test them. Start out at about 30-40 MPH and begin by applying the rear brake progressivly harder until you feel/hear the system pulsing. Once you become familiar with the bike handling in general, give the front brake a try. Ease up to full power braking slowly though thru repetitive trys, DON'T just grab a handful the first time.

If you've used ABS in a car before, it's not dissimilar WRT to pulsing of the pedal.

 

[kaitsdad]

It's been my experience that if you're in a situation where you engage the ABS, you'll be doing stuff so fast that you won't notice until after you've survived the event. Once the adrenalin has worn off and you've had time to think about what almost just happened with that SOB pulling out in front of you or the fact that you've just hauled the bike down from a really hot corner entry, that's when you realize that it saved your ass.

When you get the bike, certainly do some testing so that you recognize the feeling of engagement. Also a good idea to ensure that it's working.

Then ride the bike like any other; the ABS will do it's job when necessary.

 

[TomInPA]

I think the most frequent occurrence of engaging the ABS is when you use too much rear brake. I have felt the rear ABS engage a number of times, both intentional and situational. If you are the kind of driver that takes his car out to do spin-out and skid training in the first snow of the year, then you are also the kind of guy who will quickly evaluate the effect of these brakes.

I find the ABS allow the bike to behave predictably and facilitate accurate control, even when my inputs are not ideal. My experience is with the Gen I brakes. I'm sure your will be even more refined.

 

[Willie]

It's been my experience that if you're in a situation where you engage the ABS, you'll be doing stuff so fast that you won't notice until after you've survived the event.

Then ride the bike like any other; the ABS will do it's job when necessary.

+1 to the above

In one weekend of riding last year I experienced the ABS in action 2 times. It amazed me how natural it felt. They probably saved our butts both times and if we were on the Connie, I am sure in one of those instances the front brakes would of locked and we probably have done down.

Willie

 

[UselessPickles]

I've never tried it on any kind of slick or wet surface though. I'd imaging it would slide out pretty easily, just like any other bike.

As long as you're going pretty straight, you'll still have an uneventful stop even on a wet/slick surface. That's what ABS is for: it detects that the wheel is locking up (based on actual measurements of what the wheels are doing) and releases pressure to avoid a complete lockup. ABS doesn't care about the cause of the lockup (sand on the road, wet road, or just exceeded the available friction on a dry road). My ABS kicks in occasionally when coming to a quick stop on a rough patch of road, where the wheel would have locked up because it was skipping off the bumps and briefly losing contact with the ground (I love Detroit-Metro roads!).

I think it's a good exercise to repeat the ABS tests in a parking lot on a rainy day so you can discover just how much braking power you still have on a wet road.

Of course, just like everything else in the world, there are practical limits to what ABS can do. I doubt it would keep you upright on a solid sheet of ice, for example ABS also doesn't allow you to slam on the brakes while leaned over in a turn. Even with ABS, the wheels start to lock up, but do not completely lock up. This means there is still some slippage of the tires against the road surface. Tire slippage while leaned over is not good. The small amount of pulsating slippage while stopping in a straight line is not enough to throw the bike on its side (unless you're on an excessively slick surface, like ice, where the ABS system cannot react quickly enough).

I think it's also important to not think of ABS as a bad thing. When you're stopping and you feel the ABS kick in, don't treat it as a "warning" and let off the brakes to make it stop "yelling" at you. If you do that, you're defeating the purpose of the ABS and you're no longer braking as hard as possible. Just keep braking hard and let ABS do its thing.

 

[wheatonFJR]

You can obviously lock up the brakes in a parking lot going in a straight line at 20mph.

If you haven't ever kicked in ABS, do that so you can build confidence in the ABS system.

Leaned over, ABS or not, you do not want to exceed available traction from the combined leaning over plus brake action. You obviously can exceed that with leaning over at speed alone, so be careful about adding brakes in a curve...not good obviously if hard leaned over. Plenty fine if not.

 

[PTParks]

Everyone,

Thank your for the great insight and recommendations. Feel much better about what to expect during the unexpected.

Help like this demonstrates why its a good idea for us newbies to belong to the forum. Oughta be mandatory!!

 

[72Duster340]

The ABS system is very good, on my 2009 A there is no noticable pulsation in the brakes. When I first bought my bike I had planned on taking it into a parking lot and testing the ABS after getting used to the handling of the bike. However with less then 200 miles on the clock, a car did a left hand turn in front of me I just stood on the brakes and hoped for the best. The bike just stopped no muss no fuss, I was traveling in a straight line at about 50 mph with a dry clean road. After that experience I don't think I'll own another bike without ABS. As people have already said you will not know it's there during normal riding, but if you need it it's there.

 

[ionbeam]

You can obviously lock up the brakes in a parking lot going in a straight line at 20mph...

The ABS system is very good, on my 2009 A there is no noticable pulsation in the brakes...

Someplace below 10 mph (spec is around 5 mph) the ABS will be inhibited. If you go real slow in a parking lot the ABS may not activate.

When the Gen II came out with standard ABS there were some minor tweaks to the system. One tweak was to eliminate the 'pulse reactive' feedback in the lever and peddle that the Gen I has. Gen II ABS has a different feel than the Gen I.