Erm, because I've generally been happy with the brakes on all my bikes and therefore ridden according to their stopping ability & the conditions - as opposed to finding out the hard way they were lacking. I've seen the piece in More Crap than News this week about ABS and John McGuiness's views, which I'm sure are correct. My take on this is unless you are pushing to the limits of bike (and possibly beyond your capability) then you might not appreciate the benefit of ABS. Of course, there's always that "situation" - but then chances are you might have put yourself in it anyway, so I try not to..... Ultimately, I'd not say no to ABS or turn it off - just that I'm trying to weight up what extras or features would bring most benefit. If the brakes are as good as you say (assuming the rear is either one of the good ones or has been "hush hush" sorted) then I'm not sure I'd see a massive benefit when compared to being able to have properly sorted suspension for me/pillion/loaded. Bottom line is that I'm staring in the face of having to add a £6-8k lump of cash to whatever I get for the Tiger when it goes, so I want to spend wisely. Right now, a second hand 2011 Touring sounds like it could be the best fit - especially as I'd rather not burn £2k in the first year just so I can have a 12 plate for the last month or two of "summer" Again - appreciate the feedback everyone. Thanks!!
I can't help but notice a big flaw in that logic. If you're riding well within the limits of the bike and yourself, then it's most likely that it'll be someone else creating "that" situation, and that's when you need it most. If you got yourself into it, you stand a better chance of getting yourself out of it too. One can make allowances for idiocy, only to find that someone has created a better idiot
That was kind of my point - namely try not to get yourself into that situation. As for someone creating it - well if we worried about that we'd all be driving cars............ Don't want to get hung up on ABS - am just after tips on best model and options, and will happily buy one with ABS.
As i said earlier, i wanted one with ABS, as my last bike had it, but i had never had cause to use it, when my present bike came onto my radar, withthe full luggage but no ABS, i did have a serious think about if it was the right bike, but in the end the luggage, local dealer and price swayed it for me and i have not looked back. Obviously if you can find one with ABS and the right spec you want then go for it, but if not its not the end of the world.
If you buy the touring s the abs comes as standard anyway. and yes the abs can be turned off / deactivated, the trade off for that it the dash warning light stays on and I thing the abs will be turned back on at the next start. I too cannot see any reason to deactivate abs if its fitted.
The beauty of ABS is you can grab the brake as hard as possible and you wont lose the front or rear and you should be able to still steer the bike out of trouble. There was a test in BIKE mag a couple of years back where they asked a selection of journos to stop as quickly as possible on a bike once with ABS and then without. They used a selection of bikes with and without ABS. In all cases the riders thought they had stopped in a shorter distance without ABS and in all cases they were wrong. The ABS bikes pulled up quicker in wet and dry conditions. Have a look on Youtube there are a few vids proving just how good ABS is and what a lifesaver it could be.
Precisely. So, looking around I see a few std bikes for circa £9-10k (2010), then odd touring circa £12-14k (2010-2011) Appreciate some are dealer bikes, but isnt the touring "only" £14k new?? I'd read of people losing £3k in a year - asking prices don't seem to reflect this. Thoughts??
£15.2k for a new Touring. As for losing £3k in a year? That may be true, and there may be various reasons for it. But prices go up as well as down, depending on what the market is doing at the time
