Can a motorcyclist out-brake their ABS system? If so, does that make it an undesirable feature? These and other long-standing questions of motorcycling are addressed here by from Ryan at FortNine.
If you watch it and take it at face value, Ryan does indeed out-brake his bike’s ABS system when using his rear brake… in a controlled environment, and with practice. And thus we set up an interesting scenario, in which many people will probably miss the whole point at the end.
The whole point of this video is Ryan showing how your ABS system works, and why it can lengthen your stopping distance—but why you should have it anyway. His comparison of a Canadian driving a car in snowy “Winterpeg” is roughly similar to what an ADVrider faces when riding off-road, and it’s why so many of us prefer to have rear wheel ABS disabled when we’re in the dirt.
But that doesn’t mean ABS is a dud technology. Like Ryan says at the end: ABS is, statistically speaking, a life-saving technology, and even if you’ve practiced and practiced your threshhold braking and have mad skills, having antilock brakes to cover your butt in an emergency scenario could mean the difference between crashing and not crashing, between life and death.
So, next time you hear someone talking about how they can out-brake their bike’s ABS system, maybe they’re right (unless they’ve practiced a lot, they probably aren’t). But even if they are right, you might want to steer them towards this video. And remember one thing: As IMU tech gets better and better, some of the dynamics of your bike’s ABS performance are also going to get better and better.
