US study shows ABS ‘reduces accidents by 37%’

[Bob]

According to a study undertaken by the US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, bikes with antilock brakes are 37% less likely to be involved in fatal crashes than those without them.

Motorcycle models with antilock brakes are also said to have 22% fewer damage claims per year per insured vehicle.

[shafty]

Very interesting.........................

[The Stranger:Me]

On the face of it that's very interesting. Have you a source (hopefully with a littie more information) please?

[Bob]

On the face of it that's very interesting. Have you a source (hopefully with a littie more information) please?

This should do the trick!

http://www.iihs.org/news/rss/pr033110.html

[SPman]

I think it's generally accepted now, that ABS will become standard, by design or legislation, on most bikes within the next 5-6yrs......

[Ocean1]

Lies, Damn lies and Statistics.

Correlation doesn't infer a causal link, it's at least as liekly that bikes with ABS are owned by riders 22% less likley to crash.

Won't let that stop them though...

[CookMySock]

Now we need auto-steer, to stop people standing the bike up in fright mid-corner.

Steve

[Urano]

to me is nothing unexpected...
our community has talked a lot about abs as safety device, and after years of discussion the answer is always "buy the abs".
i've had a er6f in this two years, and despite i was in doubt at last i took it without.
now, after two years and having sold it, i can say i've been stupid.
i won't do the same error again, and my next bike WILL HAVE the abs.

if there will be a track day and i'll want to push the edge, well, it will be sufficient to pull out the fuse...
there's no real world situation which the abs is a downside in...

[Pathos]

I you don't feel you can brake sufficiently and safely without a disability device then by all means go for it.

I really don't get ABS myself, I don't like my bike making decisions for me. When you have brakes like those on the 636, decent tyres and suspension you know how far you can push it and when its going to let go. If you don't there something wrong or the bikes just cheap (but the elcheapo GS500 is fine). I'm probably more likely to go over the bars than slide the front in the dry, the back isn't a problem under hard braking.

there's no real world situation which the abs is a downside in...

Complexity = lower reliability.
I'd hate ABS to kick in or jam the brakes when it doesn't need to ... not that its very likely but I have suspicions about things with electrical circuits. Especially on bikes. And you will get in to a habit of relying on the ABS to make your braking decisions for you.

[MaxB]

This sounds a biy dodgy to me.

Could be that ABS is generally only available on bigger bikes and super tourers implying that ABS users are older more experienced riders?

I always get a bit jittery when I hear insurance companies start getting involved in policy making.

[SPman]

From VERY experienced riders who have used the Honda Sportsbike and BMW 1000 ABS, on wet tracks and roads, in several tests I have read, they are of the opinion that it is a definite advantage! It enables braking at angles and under conditions that would have most riders down and out!

[Urano]

I you don't feel you can brake sufficiently and safely without a disability device then by all means go for it.

you are experienced and a very good rider. think how many riders are at your level and how many well below instead, think how many ride a bike without good tyres, good brake and good suspensions and now think if for all of them abs would make any sense or not...

Complexity = lower reliability.

very, very true.
could you name me at least ONE case of an incident caused by abs malfunction?
not "my cousin said that once upon a time he saw someone that told him that he knew a college roommate that read that a biker..." no, please. have you seen directly an accident or read on a newspaper that an abs caused the incident?
if the unit is gone the worst thing to happen is that you have to brake without abs...

not that its very likely but I have suspicions about things with electrical circuits.

funny, written on a pc....

And you will get in to a habit of relying on the ABS to make your braking decisions for you.

this is a good point. in no case abs can be better than a safe drive course, or a little track experience.
but when you are commuting to home, friday night, after a work week, you are tired, you are thinking about your dinner and your children, you are waving that nice blond on the car, you have maybe an headache or a cold, you are still shouting in your head with your stupid boss, there's a little fog...
will you have the exact same capacity in an emergency brake than you would in a sunny sunday track morning?
i will not...

[YellowDog]

Well I have ABS. I miss not being able to lock the back wheel and swing the back end round to do my party piece stop. But then I really did grow out of that quite a few years back.

IME in 9,999 times out of 10,000 braking situations my bike won't use ABS. The bike brakes normally in the same way that it always has.

BUT for the very odd occasion whereby you are being forced to tackle an unforseen emergency situation, typically on a wet road, then ABS is pretty damn good and can help stop you going down. So from that point of view it is pretty damn good.

I have had two situations in two years where ABS has cut in and helped. I am not saying that I would definitely have gone down as I may have been able to regain control. I'm glad that I didn't have to find out the hard way.

I guess I have modified my style slightly with ABS and I do use the back brake more than I used to which gives better control. But then I have ridden other bikes without ABS and haven't had a problem.

I certainly do agree with the assertion that ABS should not be a substitute for better rider skills. Learning to emergency brake without ABS should be mandatory.

Also, ABS won't stop you taking a corner badly or riding too fast in unsafe conditions, so its safety appeal is fairly limited. Some of the wheel lock and down type incidents reported on here over the years may have benefitted from ABS.

[Hinny]

[QUOTE=Urano;1129706721...
there's no real world situation which the abs is a downside in...[/QUOTE]

Apparently this is not an opinion shared by Honda's design engineers.
I have read enough anti-ABS copy to believe that any move to legislate mandatory inclusion of ABS on motorcycles could be a little premature.
I think more investigation may be necessary before this move can be contemplated.

[YellowDog]

Based upon the information provided, an insurance premium reduction for ABS equipped bikes would be nice