No Way  By  w650 (Read 3,210 times)

You are a skilled rider W650, that can manipulate the throttle and brakes by feel, sound and experience.
-New riders do not have that skill and experience and some will never acquire it. They just are not wired for it.
-Guys like me, that have been riding on and off road since the 70s may not benefit from the gadgetry, but inexperienced riders will. Yes, there is more maintenance involved with the gadgets, like annual brake fluid flushes.
-Will having traction control and anti-lock brakes prevent new riders from acquiring the skills? That's a whole new debate.

Even without ABS you still need to flush the brakes and coolant every 2 years.

As for ABS and traction control even the engineers that design these systems, who have sat at my dining room table discussing this, admit that they are nowhere as close to the level of perfection that the industry would lead you to believe. Once you exceed their capabilities then all bets are off. Driving/riding to match road conditions is still the best coarse.

My 2009 Aprilia is my daily driver and it does not have ABS or Traction control niether does my 78 Fiat 124 Spider. Both brake and handle predictably while my more mordern vehicles with all the modern assists will suddenly get confused and not be able to cope with certain road conditions. If you do not hit the button fast enough to turn them off you could loose control.

Around here we see too many ABS, Traction and Stability controlled cars rolled over when the systems were overloaded or confused and acted inappropriatly. It sometimes seems like there's one of these rollover incidents per week.

They sometimes get confused and apply braking to the wrong side causing a spinout and rollover such as when comming out of a corner on a wet road and hitting a small bump dislodging a bit of brake dust/road dirt partially blocking the sensor so that in the moment before the system recognizes the fault your out of control. You really need to be anal about flushing ABS systems and keeping everything around the sensors clean.

On some ABS vehicles I have owned the rarity was when the system went a full day without having an issue of some sorts. This was mostly on Ford Super Duty trucks in the 10 ton range.

Btb, I do want to say that I do better with panic-stops on my scooter, at least in the MSF class. At the test I was going faster than their requested speed and stopped in a very good short distance without quite locking up either wheel. So no "brake-stomping" there.

Just wish I could transfer that to cars, sigh.

>'Kat

Most of us realize by now that ABS on most Chinese bikes is not really ABS but a pressure reducer or restricter to limit how fast you can lock up the front brakes. There are no sensors or intelligence just a spring to cause the valve to restict fluid flowing to the front brake when you do a fast pull on the lever.

I really see both sides... Old-school simplicity AND modern high-tech. Lots to be said for both.

I can service my old Kymco Grandvista myself, but I can't even find the SPARK PLUGS on my Honda Accord V6. Both rides seem to be "bulletproof" and drop-dead reliable. But... If the Accord ever DOES act up, Heaven help me... LOL!

Some of these new cars don't even have the steering-wheel connected to the front wheels... The accelerator isn't connected to the throttle and the brake-pedal isn't connected to the brakes... They just enter "inputs" into the computer and it turns the wheels, opens the throttle and applies the brakes. I dunno... Seems like a recipe for a runaway car, or "no-stop" or "no-turn" scenario.

Somehow they seem to perk along anyway. As for DRIVERLESS CARS... I'll NEVER believe THEY are a good idea. Sorta like a "self-shooting" gun (and even THOSE are in the works).

I think ANYTHING potentially dangerous needs to have a REAL person (not brain-dead, not texting, not smoking a joint...) in charge of it. I feel anyone too lazy to drive, and too disconnected to care to guide his/her own ride would be better served with a good pair of walking shoes. Just me...

Too much stuff out there today "just because it can be made"... I do NOT want to scroll through a menu on a TV screen to figure out how to turn on my headlights, wipers, change the radio station, etc.  And I am not in love with a radio-knob to change gears... LOL!  Lots of answers to questions nobody's asking... LOL!

Ride safe, even if you're napping while a computer in La-La land is driving your scoot...  It'll wake you up when you arrive at Grandma's house...  I hope... LOL!

Leo in Texas

A couple of points here. I was raised in the age of leaky, cranky British bikes and Harley 74s. Drum brakes were all that existed. Read the magazines and see the Rocket Science existing in today's bikes. Traction control, ABS, computer compensated valve timing, variable throttle maps, Yaw controlled traction control that compensates for lean angles. Fuel injection and ABS are but a small part of the equation.

While I know this will raise hackles I am a firm believer in carburetion. The diaphragm carbs on our scooters and my motorcycles work by engine vacuum. The engine says what it wants and the carb delivers. No sensors to go bad and require $100 analysis by a technician plus the expensive parts. Good gas and a little Seafoam and you're in business.