Are You Really Better than ABS?

ABS is becoming more accepted, standard and affordable than ever before. Since 2016 ABS became standard on all street bikes in Europe over 125cc.

Simply put, ABS works. Yet there are riders who still think they can out-brake a computer. Even in the dirt our skills are beginning to pale in comparison to ABS. Both BMW and KTM have released adventure bikes with dirt ABS. And Yamaha was so sure of their ability to use ABS in the dirt that the Super Tenere was released with non-switchable ABS. Although many complained about the lack of a switch, I’ve yet to find an owner that’s found the ABS didn’t out perform their braking in most situations.

In the legal community (I’m an expert witness in motorcycle litigations) it’s commonly accepted that experience street riders average about a .7G force stops in maximum situations, whereas independent testing shows most motorcycles their riding have a braking capability of 1G+/-. I’ve seen this confirmed during training I’ve conducted for the federal government, as well as the five plus years I’ve worked with a team of specialized PSSOR instructors to measure the braking distances of experienced riders. In calculating the average deceleration G force, our data indicates that riders commonly range from .5G to about .8G with the majority landing in the .6–.75G range.

At 60 mph the difference between a 1G stop and a .7G stop is around three car lengths (48′). But for a novice with only a .5G stop the distance grows to a whopping 120′!

What this means is that you may not be stopping as quickly as you may think you are. The average experienced rider wastes nearly one-third of their total stopping ability. On top of that, it’s still a commonly held belief that a motorcycle can out brake a car, which is simply not true as most cars stop just near the 1G mark, and unlike motorcycles cars require no real skills to maximize their braking.

In a car you can stomp on the brakes and let the computer do the work, whereas most motorcyclists hold onto the common misconception that they can respond faster than their computers. To better illustrate this point, modern BMW motorcycles cycle 15 times per second responding to changes in traction. And the worse modern ABS I could find cycles at seven times per second. Even at seven times per second you have to ask yourself, “Can I beat that?”

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