Holy Goat, I could not do it

[JoeShep]

Just rolled over 1,000 miles on my new ES today. We are still getting used to one another. I found a great new twisty country road today, the kind you can have a lot of fun on in the 40 - 60 mph range. I was really getting into it and feeling one with the bike when a big brown shaggy goat leapt up onto the right hand side of the road and started making a B line for the other side of the road. I got all over both binders and begin trying to fade to the left while he was digging in with all fours trying to get up enough speed to cross in front of me. It was amazing how everything slowed down as he was just a couple of feet to my right trying frantically to overtake me while I was franticly trying to stop. Finally I slowed down enough so that when he passed in front of me and there was about 18 inches to spare.

I am writing this as being find of old school I could only apply the brakes just so hard. Been riding for 40 years and never had ABS. I know it is there but I could not make myself pull that front lever any harder. I grabbed a big old handfull but there was a limit to what I could make myself do.

I had read a post where someone was advising folks to practice full on emergency stops. I read it and I practiced a few 80% stops. Not wanting to do a full panic stop until I had a few more miles on the bike was not the best choice. Over the years I have learned to trust the ABS in my car but overcoming years of training on bikes is harder than I thought. I was luckily the goat was fast enough. Gonna go out tomorrow and explore the limits of the ABS.

 

[JoeShep]

Just rolled over 1,000 miles on my new ES today. We are still getting used to one another. I found a great new twisty country road today, the kind you can have a lot of fun on in the 40 - 60 mph range. I was really getting into it and feeling one with the bike when a big brown shaggy goat leapt up onto the right hand side of the road and started making a B line for the other side of the road. I got all over both binders and begin trying to fade to the left while he was digging in with all fours trying to get up enough speed to cross in front of me. It was amazing how everything slowed down as he was just a couple of feet to my right trying frantically to overtake me while I was franticly trying to stop. Finally I slowed down enough so that when he passed in front of me and there was about 18 inches to spare.

I am writing this as being find of old school I could only apply the brakes just so hard. Been riding for 40 years and never had ABS. I know it is there but I could not make myself pull that front lever any harder. I grabbed a big old handfull but there was a limit to what I could make myself do.

I had read a post where someone was advising folks to practice full on emergency stops. I read it and I practiced a few 80% stops. Not wanting to do a full panic stop until I had a few more miles on the bike was not the best choice. Over the years I have learned to trust the ABS in my car but overcoming years of training on bikes is harder than I thought. I was luckily the goat was fast enough. Gonna go out tomorrow and explore the limits of the ABS.

 

[HotRodZilla]

You'll be amazed at what these brakes will do. Sounds like the speed reduction was impressive already. Wait until you do a full panic stop. You'll be glad the tank is rounded.

 

[Allen_C]

You'll be amazed at what these brakes will do. Sounds like the speed reduction was impressive already. Wait until you do a full panic stop. You'll be glad the tank is rounded.

Agreed! For such heavy bikes, they stop amazingly quickly when you use both brakes, hard!

 

[lnewlf]

Had the exact same situation on Vt. 100 except it was a moose..Was considering an escape route under him . Anyhew, you can mash both brakes as hard as you can, no worries..Be prepared to eat the windscreen.. Worse thing was that Bullwinkle turned around in the road all pissed and started up the road after me and I'm all stalled out in high.. Good think that my pals caught up then and he beat it.

 

[BikerGeek99]

My old FJ1200 I had back in the 90's had ABS. I still remember the first time the ABS kicked in - aboot scared the sheet outta me.

The next ABS-equipped bike I owned was my '09 Harley Ultra Classic. The first thing I did when I bought it - as in, less than 1 mile on the odometer - was I went out in the dealer lot (it's huge), got up some speed, pulled in the clutch, and stood on the rear brake and grabbed as much front brake as I possibly could. The ABS kicked in and the biked stopped without incident.

So, yeah - go and practice. Get used to it and trust it. I wish my FJR had ABS yesterday when I locked up the rear a wee bit.

 

[garyahouse]

Congratulations that your new ES still LOOKS like it.

Like you, I did a number of 80% stops to get practiced up when I first bought the bike, but have never used the brakes at that 100% level except for three times (that I can remember) in the past 30k miles or so. But during those three situations, there was no time for practice and no room for error. I clamped on to those brakes like gramma holding on to her walker, and OH what a job they did.

I'll never own a street bike without them again.

Gary

darksider #44

 

[radiummadman]

most of the roads I do are 80-9o mph on the curves, do 65-70 on Dead Mans curve before the border check on 185. HRZ is one cool dude,

he needs to rent some gerbils for the SWFOG.

 

[lonerider]

Had a similar experience with a big dog a few years back. No time to do anything but grab all I could, never even heard a tire chirp, Feej just slowed much faster than I expected. Stopped about 3 feet short of the dog, who looked at me like he wanted to ask what the hell I was doing on his road without his permission. When I bought the Hondapotamus, I gladly laid down the bucks to get the trim level that offered ABS.

 

[SwollenRaccoon]

Back when I had only a couple thousand miles on my 2008, I approached an intersection with a stop sign, and no visible traffic. The approach to the intersection was almost completely covered with sand, since it was springtime in Minnesota. What a great place to check out ABS on a motorcycle. Well, deep breath, and here goes.....

Crushed the front brake lever like it was Osama Bin Laden's windpipe, from about 25 mph. The bike stopped in a much shorter distance than I would have imagined, with absolutely no drama. The FJR's brakes are pretty stout on their own, but the ABS is an awesome safety net. I concur with earlier opinions.....I won't own another bike that doesn't have ABS.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

You could not do what? You could not get this done without a double post?

I have posted many times in the past to practice panic stops with the ABS. I find that as the rear tire leaves the pavement, the ABS will kick in and you can actually feel the pulses "ratcheting" the rear wheel back to earth. I urge you to practice full on panic stops and to practice full drag strip starts as well. Familiarity with the power of the throttle and the brakes take a huge surprise factor out of a panic situation.

 

[MCRIDER007]

Maybe my memory is bad but I think I have read more than once that a skilled rider can stop faster on dry pavement without ABS. Now that you have had to make an emergency stop, I think you should be evaluating your stopping distance and how controlled your stop was rather than whether the ABS kicked in.

I had to make an emergency stop a couple of years ago when a large mule deer decided to cross the road in front of me and was braced for impact because I didn't feel it was possible to stop in the distance I had. I did stop, with 3 feet to spare, and the ABS never kicked in. Could I have stopped in a shorter distance if I had made the ABS kick in? No way to know but it seemed to happen in slow motion and it was the most controlled emergency stop I have ever made. I thought the linked braking helped with the stability.

 

[Redfish Hunter]

Maybe my memory is bad but I think I have read more than once that a skilled rider can stop faster on dry pavement without ABS.

While that is true, in every test I ever read the rider never beat the ABS on the first attempt. Also, the tests were held in controlled conditions, in a straight line. Try outperforming the computer in a panic situation, leaned over in an unfamiliar curve. Just for giggles, lets throw in some loose gravel or some rain.

I have always regarded ABS as only being useful in a "panic situation". The threshold on the FJR's ABS is pretty high, I think know I would rather have ABS than not have it.

 

[MCRIDER007]

Maybe my memory is bad but I think I have read more than once that a skilled rider can stop faster on dry pavement without ABS.

While that is true, in every test I ever read the rider never beat the ABS on the first attempt. Also, the tests were held in controlled conditions, in a straight line. Try outperforming the computer in a panic situation, leaned over in an unfamiliar curve. Just for giggles, lets throw in some loose gravel or some rain.

I have always regarded ABS as only being useful in a "panic situation". The threshold on the FJR's ABS is pretty high, I think know I would rather have ABS than not have it.

I didn't mean to imply that I don't want ABS, I will not buy a bike now unless it has ABS.....and ABS will always stop faster on low traction surfaces if used properly. However, it is still possible to make a very fast stop on a dry high traction surface without ABS.

 

[SacramentoMike]

I have always regarded ABS as only being useful in a "panic situation". The threshold on the FJR's ABS is pretty high, I think know I would rather have ABS than not have it.

I have always regarded helmets as only being useful in a "crashing situation." But I think know I would rather have a helmet than not have it.

 

[mcatrophy]

Maybe my memory is bad but I think I have read more than once that a skilled rider can stop faster on dry pavement without ABS....

I think you will find that a skilled rider on dry pavement can stop faster without using ABS regardless of whether or not the bike has ABS. The "skill" is to hold the wheels with a slip angle just short of a skid. It is just beyond that (just as the skid would start) where a good ABS will kick in.

For mere mortals such as myself, on the rare occasion that I have stopped quickly on a perfect road, I've only ever "hit" ABS deliberately. Most of my panic emergency unpredicted hard stops are on "real" roads, which are rarely perfect, and I find the confidence to push the braking to the limit (and beyond when you hit that patch of oil, sand, diesel fuel, wet ironwork) enables me to get the most out of the brakes that this rider on this bike can.

And it has saved me considerable pain and/or expense on more than one occasion (yes, usually my "fault" for lack of attention at the time

).

A good read (although published some time ago) on ABS can be found here.

The times when ABS might be a hindrance are for really slippery surfaces such as melting ice, or in thick gravel (I've no experience of trying to brake hard in thick gravel, and only on melting ice in a car. In the latter case, the wheels did stop, and didn't start to spin up when the ABS "released" the brakes. I have no intention of riding on ice (melting or otherwise) on my FJR

)

 

[majicmaker]

Living in the land where really, really old people from all over the country come to retire (die) and refuse to stop driving even after they've shrunk so much that all you see are two itty bitty hand on the steering wheel and nothing else, I can tell you that ABS has saved my butt many times. I have no fear of full panic stops making their clunky music. Love every clunk! Every one of them! )

 

[Redfish Hunter]

I have always regarded ABS as only being useful in a "panic situation". The threshold on the FJR's ABS is pretty high, I think know I would rather have ABS than not have it.

I have always regarded helmets as only being useful in a "crashing situation." But I think know I would rather have a helmet than not have it.

Well said my friend but...

Helmets also:

Keep my head from getting sunburned.

Keep my head warm on cold rides.

Keep people from seeing how ugly I am.

Keep bugs from hitting my mustache.

Provide an alternative mounting location for my GoPro.

One thing that has not been mentioned: Concerning the brown furry goat, was it an attractive goat? Did it look well trained?

 

[Bustanut joker]

I was really excited when I read the title...

But nary a single shot of the Goat.