My abs brakes on my '04 saved my bacon once.....cresting a hill on a fast two lane road going a little fast and day dreaming...coming upon a mess in the road...HARD HARD braking which would have locked up a Harley or probably any non abs machine and resulted in a nasty accident.
BUT....the servo mechanism is grabby...and you will drop your bike if you don't use extreme caution with the front lever while slow maneuvering.....indeed, if you park on an up angle and have to back down out....back out BEFORE you fire up the engine and let the servo cut in. Back up with the ignition off, then start the bike. The front brake is dangerous at slow speed.
Having said that, I was able to stop WAY faster than I could have with normal disks without locking the brakes.
ABS Brakes
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yjleesvrr
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- Joined: Mon Mar 28, 2005 5:23 pm
- Location: Blacksburg and Haymarket, VA/Basking Ridge, NJ
This is a matter of personal taste quite honestly. Those who have ABS almost to a man or woman say ABS has saved their lives. Those of us who don't have ABS (like me) wonder how we're still living since ABS seems to be saving so many people. Heck, I ride 12 - 15k miles a year on 3 motorcycles that do not have ABS.
Anyway, I like the way Honda executes ABS - it's pure ABS without the servo actuation that clamps down artificially hard on the disks. ABS is especially good to have on touring bikes. For me however, I bought the R bike to keep a very long time. I felt that since I was already riding a bike (the SV650) at the time of my R purchase that did not have ABS, I felt I would not miss having ABS. I wanted less complexity for long term use without maintenance issues.
My final opinion? Regardless of anyone else's opinion, get it if you want it. It's worth it. If you don't want it, then don't get it. You can't go wrong either way.
Anyway, I like the way Honda executes ABS - it's pure ABS without the servo actuation that clamps down artificially hard on the disks. ABS is especially good to have on touring bikes. For me however, I bought the R bike to keep a very long time. I felt that since I was already riding a bike (the SV650) at the time of my R purchase that did not have ABS, I felt I would not miss having ABS. I wanted less complexity for long term use without maintenance issues.
My final opinion? Regardless of anyone else's opinion, get it if you want it. It's worth it. If you don't want it, then don't get it. You can't go wrong either way.
Member #93, June 2002
'14 BMW R1200RT "Wethead"
'77 BMW R100/7 "Airhead"
'14 BMW R1200RT "Wethead"
'77 BMW R100/7 "Airhead"
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jon pierce
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- Joined: Sat May 13, 2006 6:03 pm
- Location: Chester, VT - ex UK
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I see a few of the posts are talking about the complex brake bleeding procedure..............my experience with abs on the K series bikes and R1100 bikes is that you just bleed the brakes as normal.
A couple of years ago I asked my dealer (BMW main dealer) about brake bleeding. His response is that they bleed just the same as any other brake system.........provided you don't let too much air into the system as might happen if you replace any hoses. He was right, I have always bled my own brakes no problem, even replaced hoses on my K1 with no problem despite what the book say (Clymer said that a dealer had to do it).................but, I have only just got the Rockster with the evo brakes and have not yet looked too closely at them.
Consider this.................millions of cars have abs brakes and it doesn't seem to be a problem with them (yes I know that they don't have electric servo assist) but everything else is the same..................I do feel that some dealers try to scare us away from doing things ourselves in order that they can charge us an arm and a leg to do relatively simple tasks.
By the way those same millions of cars also have multiple cylinders, fuel injection, air con, power steering, liquid cooling, overhead cams, multi valves, stereos, electric windows, remote central locking, even adjustable pedals................our little air cooled twin cylinder motorcycles should not be such a mystery
I asked my dealer the other day if I could watch them service my bike...........they said no....insurance apparently.............yeah yeah yeah!
A couple of years ago I asked my dealer (BMW main dealer) about brake bleeding. His response is that they bleed just the same as any other brake system.........provided you don't let too much air into the system as might happen if you replace any hoses. He was right, I have always bled my own brakes no problem, even replaced hoses on my K1 with no problem despite what the book say (Clymer said that a dealer had to do it).................but, I have only just got the Rockster with the evo brakes and have not yet looked too closely at them.
Consider this.................millions of cars have abs brakes and it doesn't seem to be a problem with them (yes I know that they don't have electric servo assist) but everything else is the same..................I do feel that some dealers try to scare us away from doing things ourselves in order that they can charge us an arm and a leg to do relatively simple tasks.
By the way those same millions of cars also have multiple cylinders, fuel injection, air con, power steering, liquid cooling, overhead cams, multi valves, stereos, electric windows, remote central locking, even adjustable pedals................our little air cooled twin cylinder motorcycles should not be such a mystery
I asked my dealer the other day if I could watch them service my bike...........they said no....insurance apparently.............yeah yeah yeah!
Everyone is entitled to my opinion!
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jon pierce
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- Location: Chester, VT - ex UK
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Had a better look at bleeding the brakes on the evo integral system. Seems there are essentially three sealed systems - hand lever master cylinder to modulator, pedal lever master cylinder to modulator and modulator to calipers. Considering this I would expect brake fluid levels in both hand and pedal reservoirs to remain constant despite pad wear. This also means that brake fluid in both of these systems are not subject to thermal loads which means that the brake fluid will retain it's specification longer.
The modulator must have a reservoir that supplies the calipers. I'll have to have a look at this nearer the time and decide then wether to send to the dealer.................maybe this is more complex than I had previously thought!!
Anyone out there have experience of bleeding these brakes?
The modulator must have a reservoir that supplies the calipers. I'll have to have a look at this nearer the time and decide then wether to send to the dealer.................maybe this is more complex than I had previously thought!!
Anyone out there have experience of bleeding these brakes?
Everyone is entitled to my opinion!