EU Pushing for road-going bikes to have non-switchable ABS

[mike-s]

As in They are trying to push for new design rules in Europe (which affects 99% the rest of the world as a consequence) that all road-going motorbikes made in the future (no date specified) must have ABS, which is all well and good. But they want to make it non-switchable, in that the ABS will not have an "off" switch, which although great in theory may screw royally with some dual-sporters or even trying to negotiate a gravel driveway.

info here and here (also in AMCN's Jan Edition, Page 11).

p.s. Apologies if this is "old news" but i only just read it for the first time about 30 minutes ago.

[hoffy]

Thats a very good idea, good on em..

[mike-s]

In theory it's good aside from the "always on" factor.I mean even the BMW GS with ABS has an off button.

[hoffy]

Why would you want to turn it off, i mean how often do you do front wheel lockups on purpose, ive never done it on a roady??

[mike-s]

scenarios:
1) ABS craps out, not likely but possible, if a bypass works around it if it's flaky, great, the bike's still useable.
2) There are still a few dirt roads out there and roadbikes have gone on dirt roads, braking distances can increase significantly as ABS detects a slide when there isn't and braking distances potentially increase. This rule may well affect dual-sport bikes as they go "onroad", which would be very not-good as they are on dirt a helluva lot more.

It's the second scenario that i am not a fan of. They are also putting in there rules about permanent lights-on as well, which i don't have a problem with as it's a pure visibility thing. Besides isn't this pretty much bog-standard for Australian bikes regardless of it being removed from the ADR requirements.

[hoffy]

Whoever front wheel slides and locks up their front wheel, even on a dually is clearly not a good rider and would benefit from abs..and abs is proven to reduce stopping distances even on loose road surfaces and a counter arguement has never been raised, tested and demonstrated

[mike-s]

To paraphrase someone on another forum. I do agree that it's a good piece of technology. But it's not suitable for all conditions, the rider should have the choice to either switch it on or off in the prevailing circumstances. Sure it's a 4x4 forum, but they deal with dirt roads a lot. Then again in the "for" column, abs has come a helluva long way in the time i have been riding.

It's not that i don't trust it, I've seen abs in action and it does a good job. I just prefer to have a choice even though i would leave it turned on in 99% of circumstances.

[oldman]

I can see conditions where having ABS off road would maybe be a disadvantage. At least if I had it, when I fell on my arse going down a 45 degree dirt road I could blame the farking ABS and not my own stupidity or being way to drunk to be riding on a regular road so I'm doing the dirt???? ABS is easy to bypass without a factory switch anyway. Just make your own and place it under the seat. Dirt riding in the boondies is a kick in the arse with a little JB.

[Glen]

Overall I think it's a good thing for the road. Loose surfaces ie dirt and gravel roads do cause some issues but overall I'm sure the benefits outweigh these.

[Daisy]

Yes Glen, its a great thing for the road, but I'm one of those who takes large tourers off road. I know several people who regularly punt 1400GTRs and the like across the outback. I think they and I will vehemently disagree with your assessment that the benefits outweigh the issues. I like ABS and I would buy a bike with it, but if it wasn't switchable I'd keep the one I have - which has linked brakes that totally give me the shits on the road and make me very bloody nervous on gravel.

... FEMA wanted ABS switch-off buttons for motorcycles equipped with ABS, since ABS is not suitable for certain riding conditions. The Commission acknowledged the fact but said, too many riders would switch off the ABS also when riding on common roads, due to “unjustified lack of faith in new technologies”.

Perhaps if the switch wasn't marked on/off but tarmac/gravel instead?

And a dual sport is still a "road going bike". Why would you want constant ABS on one of those? Recipe for disaster.

[lifeofcrimeguy]

What about the scenario of a faulty system? Reducing braking capacity on road because it acts when it shouldn't. Wasn't this the case with the early road ABS models on track? They significantly increased braking distance under certain conditions? Needs to have a work around. If for not other reason then "never say never" There is ALWAYS the possibility of needing to turn something off. I don't think anything should be on a bike (or any system) without a manual override.