Insurance industry pushing for anti-lock brakes on bikes

[Popeye the Sailor]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/06/AR2010050605718.html?hpid=topnews



"Insurance institute researchers found that motorcycles with anti-lock brakes were 37 percent less likely to be involved in fatal crashes"

I suspect the statistics may not accurately reflect the situation. Anyone know who else makes a lot of ABS bikes besides BMW? Anyone?

[He Man]

i saw this video on you tube and apparently you can fist make the beast with two backs the brake lever and it wont flip over.
Ducati Monster 1100 ABS - brake tested

But ABS= no fata accidents? eh. Maybe accidents in general where the bike cant stop quick enough or the front washes out.

[duc_poultry]

Honda. I believe the new cbr's have an option for them.

[Triple J]

I suspect within 5 years almost all bikes will have ABS standard...just a matter of time. Can you even buy a car anymore without ABS?

[He Man]

I suspect within 5 years almost all bikes will have ABS standard...just a matter of time. Can you even buy a car anymore without ABS?

Any cheap american car will offer it as an option.

[il d00d]

I think ABS is optional for all the CBRs and VFR.  I am recalling a test done by RiDE or one of the other Brit mags, comparing stopping distances between ABS and non- in the same model.  Their conclusion:  stopping distances are not much different under a variety of conditions by a skilled rider, but for panic braking it makes a big difference.  I interpret this to mean that an unskilled rider with ABS can panic brake as well as a skilled rider without.  The video appears to paint a more dramatic picture - maybe a difference in rider skill, bike or system?  But, this is a good idea in my book... as long as it doesn't add too much weight

[mstevens]

In cars, a trained driver can stop in a slightly shorter distance without ABS using threshold braking than just stomping on ABS. It's a fairly small difference. It gets much less in turns or under other non-ideal conditions.

Remove training in and practice with threshold braking and stopping distances are much shorter with ABS than without.

[ducatiz]

i think it's more a function of the type of bikes that ABS has been delivered on.

i don't think many sport bikes have them.  mostly tourers.

which are ridden far less aggressively overall.

[krolik]

One of the cycle magazines did a test of the CBR1000 w/ABS vs non-ABS. A skilled rider with practice could stop in a shorter distance on dry pavement in a non-ABS bike, but on wet or compromised traction, the ABS was able to stop in a much shorter distance.

[Popeye the Sailor]

It's not a question of is it better or not.


My point is their statistics are skewed. Suppose the majority of ABS bikes are BMWs. The vast majority of their line are not cheap, glamorous, or high performance. You end up with older, experienced riders who probably aren't pushing it. This does not mean ABS results in less accidents anymore than the hardbags on the same bikes do.

[Howie]

I wonder if there are even enough of  a percentage of ABS equipped bikes on the road yet to come to this conclusion.  Add to this rider and risk factor of a kick ass sport bike as compared to a Gold Wing I think we are looking at a non valid conclusion.

I remember a few years ago insurance companies wanted to end discounts for cars with ABS claiming no statistical difference. 

[Raux]

23 meters sooner.... no way

seriously, i could see 23 feet, but this guy really pooched his non-ABS braking.

[caperix]

I've never ridden a bike with ABS so I can not comment on the affectivness of the system, but I can say I do not want it to become standard.  Most bikes that have ABS as an option it costs around $1000 to add.  Making ABS standard would only raise the price of the bike by $1000.  I have read that something like 40% of the cost of a new car comes from government madated equipment, that will only ge worse with stability control becoming manditory in 2012.  I would much rather have a manditory rider training programs and a european style tierd licence then making companies put expensive equipment on the bikes that not everyone wants.

[superjohn]

Funny how the preponderance of this forum can be categorized as ATGATT but ABS has a less friendly reception.

To the original question, it would depend on how they calculated the statistics. By and large, if you only look at the accident rate of ABS equipped biked, then the stat is probably skewed a bit since you correctly calculated that the larger population of ABS equipped bikes are at the higher end of the spectrum, however if you break it down by segment first and look at he accident rate of sport bikes with ABS compared to sport bikes without the statistic would have more significance.

[ducpainter]

Funny how the preponderance of this forum can be categorized as ATGATT but ABS has a less friendly reception.

To the original question, it would depend on how they calculated the statistics. By and large, if you only look at the accident rate of ABS equipped biked, then the stat is probably skewed a bit since you correctly calculated that the larger population of ABS equipped bikes are at the higher end of the spectrum, however if you break it down by segment first and look at he accident rate of sport bikes with ABS compared to sport bikes without the statistic would have more significance.

I believe them being mandatory is what irks people.

Gear is a choice.