just had my first bad experience with the ABS on my G with an intresting result . Coming down a rocky / gravely track an the bike started to pick up speed and I could feel the ABS trying to do its thing an fail miserably. As I picked up speed I would bounce more and speed up more and so on and so forth then in a moment of shear brilliance or panic Im not sure witch I hit the kill switch to try to get some compression lock from the back wheel and this seemed to not only slow me down but it felt like it settled the front brake as well .It may have been just in my moment of panic that it just felt like the front brake was working or did the kill switch turn off the ABS. ( NEXT MOD ,ABS SWITCH ) .

Most people will tell you that you just don't know how to brake with abs, others will say abs does not increase stopping distances ... on second thought, those might be the same people.

I havn't had problems, but if the ABS cuts in under those conditions I let the brakes off and punch them again. The difference for me between ABS and non-ABS is that with ABS the risk of a front wheel washout is vastly reduced and I'm hitting the front brake a lot harder.

FWIW. You can fit a switch to cut the power to the ABS - I certainly would if I'd had that problem, it was on my todo list when I got the L2, but after some stress testing decided *I* didn't need it. Pretty obviously, your milage does vary .

(Check the Eastern Beaver web site)

Pete

I always wondered if the wheel popping up in the air over rocks would cause problems. The sensor detects a wheel spinning at speed, then you get on the brakes at the same time the wheel hits a bump, so the brakes bring that wheel speed to nearly zero instantly, at which point the ABS releases that brake since it is sensing what a skid would look like to a dumb sensor, the wheel lands with little-to-no braking going on, then the sensor detects wheel spin again and applies the brake, you hit another bump, the sensor detects the equivalent of a skid and releases the brake, repeat ad nauseum.

The bumpier the terrain, the worse it would be....which is near disaster on a steep downhill full of loose rocks. On my Non-ABS KLR, there were many times in the desert I'd have full or nearly full lock front and rear on steep, rocky downhills, and I'd still be picking up speed because it was just so darn steep. It's a bad feeling. That must have been how you felt if the ABS kept letting off the brakes when you just wanted them to grab.

I may have to look into EB's cut-off switch after all.

Well of course most people would tell him it's his fault. It most certainly can't be the all powerful ABS and its super brain screwing up. I am sure it saved him from a most certain death by allowing him to maintain control and avoiding a wheel washing out while flying down that hill at excessive speed. One can't even imagine how ABS contributed to this situation in the least.


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Keep the Rubber Side Down.
Jim
Present Rides
1986 XR600R,1986 VF1000R,1999 CBR1100XX,2006 CRF450X,2007 DL1000 V-Strom

No doubt.
The fact he survived the incident is a testament abs "saved his ass".

ABS has its place.

A rock-strewn downgrade is not it.

I had a similar experience on my brand new 2007.

Unfortunately, I did not have the presence of mind to hit the kill switch.

I was unharmed, my bike suffered only flesh wounds.

On unfamiliar terrain, I remove the fuses, I believe that also works on the 2012's.

ABS is as deadly as seatbelts.

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Stromin'Nroman NC28729, USA

DL650A K7 (Greywolf Moto Lab's R&D test mule) June 1, 2012 - present
DL650A K7 April 23, 2007 - January 6, 2012, RIP

"Look here brother, who you jivin' with that cosmik debris?" Frank Zappa, 1975

If your going off road, just put the bike on centre stand and spin the wheels independantly. I'm pretty sure that stops the ABS.

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2012 DL650A

"Riding a motorcycle is very good for your health until it suddenly isn't. It's like having a poison pill in your bottle of Tylenol. You'll run into it one day, and the relief the others gave you probably wasn't worth it at all." K'ale

You want to have fun? Get into a truck with abs and drive down a road where you have ice on one side of the road and the other is almost dry.
When you hit the brakes the abs goes off and because two wheels are on ice and the other two are on dry pavement. You end up going faster than you were going.
This did happen to me, good thing the N&S road was dry or I would of needed a new truck.
Also I watched a fellow glee rider follow me down a steep long rocky road.
When it was all over he told me that high speed rock hopping with a new bike is not fun.
If you are doing this type of riding get the switch!
I don't think that I have seen a dirt bike with abs yet.

What about downshifting?

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