Stop Relying on ABS: The Hidden Danger & What to Do Instead

[@packmanbp]

ABS is like the net for aerial acrobats : it's here to save your life when all else failed, not for when you just want to get down

[@zyghom]

I started biking only recently after driving cars for over 30 years. I have never expected how riding is much much more difficult than driving a car! And I am learing every day, every ride. I find your videos and your course very helpful, thank you!

[@lIlIllIlIllIlllIllIIIIIIIIIlII]

I did the opposite started on a bike and still don't know how to drive cars lol maybe one day

[@NoFrictionZone]

No need, sold my car, have big scooter as a work horse, and a Motorcycle for fun.​@@lIlIllIlIllIlllIllIIIIIIIIIlII

[@simzblack1571]

Got my license and started driving at 18 but was learning at 17 (currently 22). You can say I have been driving for 5 years but I also drive for a living at the moment and when I learnt how to ride a bike I just thought how are people doing this so casually. My instructor told me it was like driving a manual car which slightly annoyed me because in my opinion anyone who says that is lying. Sipping the clutch, braking, turning with the clutch at the friction zone at slow speeds and other things, nothing is similar to driving a manual car. I definitely found it hard. Took me 3 attempts to get my cbt (American equivalent would be msf course) then two attempts for both mod 1 and mod 2 (I don’t believe there is an American equivalent)

[@tarnand6376]

ABS ... the LAST line of defense after your actions and decisions failed completely.

[@Mikhail_Peskov]

The last line is equipment. After your mind, control skills and all this electronic assistant systems.

[@lassebrustad]

ABS, like other safety features are for emergency, when your skills can't save you. if safety systems fail, the the gear are supposed to do it's job saving your life. if your gear fails, then your body is the last hope to make sure your still alive. if your body has to suvive at this point, hospital is for sure your absolutely last solution

[@3GingerCats]

Sometimes the ABS interferes with what you have to do and STOP you being able to control the bike. Last week I went for a gravel ride on a cheaper entry level ADV, It had ABS that cannot be turned off like on the better bikes. there was a number of times where locking up the rear would have not only slowed the bike, but helped to rotate it as well. every time the ABS kicked in, the only thing that could be done was to stand it up again and ride it out hoping like hell it would eventually stop without hitting something or running off the road entirely! (if it were fitted with 50/50 tyres rather than the 70/30 tyres, the corners could have been made easily, but the rear brake only would still have been needed to set it up for the corner)

[@arunkumaru.k6293]

😮😅

[@komanguy]

Excellent advice! Learn to break without triggering the ABS, you’ll be safer. I have ABS on my bike, but ABS comes to rescue very rarely.

[@katrinc5859]

ABS is a tool meant to compliment good riding skills, not meant to be a substitute for them.

[@3GingerCats]

good riders can lock up the rear brake, slide into a corner and power out... on ANY surface! ABS doesn't compliment that, It removes the ability!

[@katrinc5859]

@3GingerCats Yes, but that's not the point of my comment.

[@asturiancetorix2552]

It´s wise to buy a motorcicle with ABS brakes, but it´s not mandatory. I think it´s way more important to learn how to drive properly, as having better brakes doesn't replace having more skills.

[@robertYTB78g]

My three crashes as a youth in the 1970's were all low speed lowsides as a result of applying too much front brake in an emergency. The bike had powerful front brakes, and without training it was pretty hard for me to avoid when the s**t hit the fan, in one case on black ice on the way to work. I practiced braking on my more recent non-ABS bike, but have since swapped it for one with ABS. Even with (normal... :)) practice you can't be sure how you will react when suddenly confronted with a real emergency or very tricky road conditions, so ABS seems the way to go to me.

[@cyko5950]

0:41 my bike has EBS (external braking system) leveraging stationary external objects it can instantly stop. it only works once tho

[@megyaszaipeter]

Sir, i just want to inform you, i found your channel, and i am in the process of watching all of your videos from the first one. I will buy in your courses as well when i am finished. A million thanks for you!

[@nonyabusiness4151]

He's very good

[@MotoControlEn]

Welcome to the channel!

[@Ramon51650]

As you apply the topics that you see in his videos, you will notice a significant change in how you approach riding.

[@lassebrustad]

I'm glad you too found this channel. I watched a lot of videos from this channel before I got my class A license, in Norway, and I'm still watching, because the content is probably the best fact based on KZbin, with high quality standards, as well as both real-life examples where he film himself doing something, and videos from other people if it's not worth filming for it's purpose, like crashing

[@oplkfdhgk]

riding my bicycle is really good for learning proper braking technique.

[@DigitalJeremy]

u had me at nuclear wessles Love your content, man! Thanks for this.

[@mikuramsay]

Absolutely sir! another tip for newer riders is to check your mirrors more often, especially if you feel like the vehicle in front of you might put into a situation where you would need to perform hard braking, you may be able to stop fast, but it isn't always the case for the person behind. so, try to adjust your position in the lane or change your escape strategy in that case. Ride safe guys!

[@jameswhitaker1324]

My first experience with abs on a bike was my 1996 r1100rs. The only time that system even pretended to function was in warm, dry weather. It always failed to initiate if it was cold or rainy. In dry, warm weather, it would kick in when I didn’t need it to and extended my braking distance. The best I can say is that the abs on my 1999 k1200rs always successfully initiates and hasn’t gotten in the way yet, so I guess I won’t delete it. Maybe. Almost all of my bikes have been abs-less and I’ve never needed it and never had a mishap that abs would have averted. If it weren’t for the extra weight and expense I guess I’d be ambivalent, but it’s an extra expense in the purchase and especially in the maintenance and it’s heavy, so I’d rather do without, given the trade offs. I feel the same way about abs in cars and trucks also. Abs was invented in the 1930’s for large airplanes and I think that’s still its best use case. Remember, for a skilled driver, abs will always extend your stopping distance, even if only by a little bit.

[@RandomOMV5869]

I've been watching a few of your videos and I really like them. You explain each point clearly and very well even though English is clearly not your first language, great work❤

[@tshlk]

Happy new year Andrei!! 🧿🧿🤲

[@MotoControlEn]

Happy New Year!🎉

[@vijayam1]

Happy New Year Anderi. You've made a big difference to my riding..

[@MotoControlEn]

Happy New Year to you too! Glad I could help 😁

[@dictolory]

Remember, ABS only tries to fix your mistakes not prevent them.

[@nielr6922]

I can't believe these things even need saying! But I'm still glad you did. Please practice everybody, just master the basics and ride responsibly and safely! And ofcouse have fun! Happy motorcycling! ^_^

[@hermanderaeymaecker4134]

I've never had front ABS kick in, but I'm still glad I have (had) it on some of my past and current bikes. I try to be a defensive rider, but you never know if the additional help will prevent worse.

[@_GasNature_]

Ive almost fell because I was like, ill just brake because bikes got abs but then I started sliding and ive realised that it wasnt working anymore. I didnt fall, somehow ive recovered it.

[@ChadrikThunderCaulk]

On new bikes I leave abs on. On older bikes you could out brake abs but on new bikes it's basically impossible. Plus even on the old tests, those are people expecting to have to emergency brake. First bike had no ABS, second did, saved me at least once. Its an invaluable tool for the time something catches you off guard or when just shit happens honestly. I always recommend pulling the fuse and going to a parking lot and experimenting with your brakes though. And leaving it on its track setting if you have that available for road use.

[@rienkhoek4169]

Bedankt

[@MotoControlEn]

Gracias amigo! Happy New Year🌲

[@malimefrantza5918]

You are the master of all masters!

[@soos4818]

I have a Monster 900. It does not have ABS and it's a bit scary when there is gravel on the road. But i still love that Bike. Ride safe everyone ✌🏼

[@ariesmarsexpress]

It's best just not to think about ABS at all. Assumptions about what it will or won't do will likely be wrong. I started riding on a bike without ABS. I practiced in the parking lot a lot with it. Much later, I got a different bike with double the HP, Torque, and weight... not strictly speaking relevant to braking, or so I thought. My first time in the parking lot, I set up to practice emergency stops. In my head at that moment, my thoughts were the bike is heavier, and it has ABS so when I hit the brakes the braking will be overall slower to stop the bike. This was a major miscalculation. The first thing wrong with this idea is that the actual braking system itself was far more robust and had a far larger set of braking surfaces as well as brake cylinders. The second thing was that the way this particular ABS worked prior to the braking maxing out, and it's anti-locking feature kicking in, was to maximize the force front to back between both brakes, thus applying even more stopping force to the bike. i.e. they are far more efficient at stopping. The net effect on my first run was that I nearly threw myself over the handlebars in the first emergency stop. If it hadn't been for my windshield, I probably would have ended up in front of my bike without it ever engaging the anti-lock aspect. This was all purely due to my mental miscalculation of what I expected to happen.

[@allenhuling598]

Another great video....thanks Andrei! Happy New Year!

[@MotoControlEn]

Happy New Year to you too🌲!

[@rueda-roja]

Happy New Year, all the very best to you and your family! Couldn't possibly appreciate your videos and courses enough!

[@MotoControlEn]

@@rueda-roja Happy New Year!

[@James-dt7ky]

1976 XT500..........drum brakes. :P

[@Diabeekei]

I have a 2023 Z H2 and street mode’s abs is stupendously intrusive. I prefer riding it on sport/ rider with TC/ABS control on the lowest setting possible, no chance I’m turning that off 😂. On other news, my tnt135 and 06 r6 is a blast to ride, full mechanical and little tech to bother you. Finally, my Bananamerica Special(2023 HD Pan Am) gets the most tech on all the time, i ride it on almost any weather 😅

[@Murad.bn2]

I never got my front ABS engaged on a drive pavement, just made sure it works on a sand. Rear was engaging several times at steep downhills, when most weight goes on the front wheel, and once during emergency braking (stopped via front brake, as I used to), but it is just a reminder to practice more. CF Moto 300NK.

[@rainerlovesjapan9468]

Happy New Year🎇🎆🇦🇺🦘

[@sorin.n]

Cool video! ✌️

[@mattthomson3464]

Practicing ABS sessions may likely reduce the need for “dozens” of real-time applications….

[@omgitsabloodyandroid5161]

Ran many high powered sports bikes. Favourite is Gixxer K7, last really good one, fully MANUAL.

[@MiroVaclav]

Perfect Andrej….. Simply said even you have a magic bike with wonderfull features this will not help you if you do not know how to use it👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@aluisious]

I didn't have ABS on my first, second, third...most of my bikes. Now I have lean sensitive ABS and semi active suspension on my Multistrada. I don't need it most of the time, but ABS is the kind of thing that if you need it once, it's worth its weight in gold.

[@bearwolffish]

drz 400 no abs was first bigger bike, and do think getting used to riding without out having the option of, is helpful, because as confident as got with it once I bought a bike with abs, I felt nervous to turn it off and practice, or to have to get it right in a bad situation. Where as when I didn't have a choice I worked within those constraints. It's a bit like mirror deletion, for sure it's better to have mirrors but when you don't, your life savers become engrained because they have to, your awareness peaks because it has to. You don't get complacent.

[@LoneLeeRider]

"looking for nuclear vessels" 😂😂😂 they're across the bay, in Alameda!

[@3GingerCats]

Just look for the UAP's they are hovering Above the Vessels

[@mikeonabus]

Try Alameda, across the Bay

[@RollWithSoul317]

My very first bike was a brand new, off the showroom floor 1979 Yamaha XS650 Special, and they didn’t make anti-lock brakes back then, at least not for that bike. So I am just fine without that feature! There was no drive or throttle by wire either, and I am fine without that as well! Happy New Year to all, and Ride Safe-Ride Smart!!! 😎 🏍️💨✌️

[@fonsty]

Interesting explanation of abs.

[@Space4ODC]

So, maybe dumb question, but if I max squeeze the front brake, will the bike not make a front flip and catapult me forward, regardless of antilock ? I guess that depends on the bike geometry and tires?

[@papajulietromeo-650]

It depends. In general, ABS does not prevent stoppies, although many riders do think so. It all comes down to weight, geometry and (most importantly) front wheel grip. With warm sports tires on asphalt, many bikes will lift their rear wheel way before the front wheel loses grip. ABS cannot prevent this from happening, it will only kick in if the front wheel starts slipping.

[@GhostRider020]

Cause or effect. Correlation vs causation. Safety nuts less likely to crash are more likely to opt for abs.

[@xxxhades1204]

hey moto control. I just bought my first bike and I really enjoy watching your tutorials. may I know before I try them if these tutorials works on a lower CC motorycles? I noticed its all high cc motorycles xpp just keeping it safe

[@oscartravis5740]

Amen! I love my back-to-basics bike that doesn't need a computer to do everything because the second a computer breaks down on your bike, you'll be stood at the roadside completely f***ed, a spanner and allen key won't fix it for you 😂

[@3GingerCats]

The last time ABS kicked in on my bike, the fact it WOULD NOT LET ME STOP put me at great risk of going over a cliff. granted ABS is not designed for anything other than Tarmac. but the inability to turn it off and be able to lock up the rear brake and skid to a stop is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS! Out of the dozens of times ABS has kicked in on this bike, only once was it some help. the rest of the times it put me at greater risk of crashing because I could not even slow down. and it has made for some very heart stopping moments. and does it affect stooping distance on dry tarmac with plenty of grip? YES Practicing emergency braking in a controlled environment, with a set starting point and start speed. Braking to the maximum without allowing ABS to kick in stops the bike quicker than letting ABS control it. and from 40km/h the difference was about 1 meter. and brought it down to 3 carpark widths... (from the 3.5 carpark widths) and swapping from the factory fitted tyres to some decent rubber had it stopping in less than 2 carpark widths from 40km/h and that was on ONE wheel only, as now the rear was being lifted off the ground! another thing I tested was front only, both brakes and relying on ABS, and front only was the same as using ABS, while both brakes stopped it that 1/2 carpark width faster.

[@marianpelmus]

very shot version: ABS is good but practice using it thank you sir 🍻

[@kneadedmassage9751]

I hope most riders understand that ABS is for that 1 lifetime moment when your training hasn't been enough, on its own. I need to train more E braking with the telelever suspension I now have...

[@mavrichek]

Андрюша! Наконец то стал норм вещи говорить) бэк ту зе рутс) но опять зашел с черного хода, типа абс не так уж важно) но все равно, молодец) мотоджитсу гордится тобой)

[@bilginsaricikli6088]

С новым годом Андрей! Всего хорошего из Турции

[@MotoControlEn]

С новым годом!

[@JeanRoi]

Even with ABs you still have to brake. Some of those make it seem as though a biker doesn't need brakes or should apply brakes

[@beardannyboy]

Unexpected Star Trek IV reference, I'm here for it.

[@neonsamurai1348]

ABS can absolutely save your life if you panic, but good threshold braking is better (Though in most cases for most people it is very close).

[@piterpunx]

I don't know about you but everytime the ABS comes in, my first reaction Is to release the brake

[@papajulietromeo-650]

That’s why you should practice it. If you’re under do your motorcycle license in Europe, this is one of the exercises in the exam: you have to show that you can do emergency braking to the point where ABS is kicking in, and that you keep applying brake pressure until the bike stops.

[@piterpunx]

​@@papajulietromeo-650 not here in Italy, i would much prefer the wheel locking like on my old motorbike, at least i know what's going on

[@papajulietromeo-650]

@@piterpunx Depends. I learned to ride way before ABS was a thing in motorcycles, and as a beginner, it took me some time to notice the slipping tire. I really like that immediate feedback from ABS.

[@piterpunx]

@@papajulietromeo-650 same here! Ive been riding a Cagiva Mito for 20 years, got myself a tenere and the ABS gets in the way 🤣

[@thepowerhat]

Riding a KTM in winter here, I honestly don't know how I could ride without ABS (especially rear), not so much a skill issue IMO, just looking at the road isn't enough to predict 100% how much you can brake, am I missing something?

[@lIlIllIlIllIlllIllIIIIIIIIIlII]

I drive a 400 and trigger both abs often it is annoying too, I know I can brake more for a fact stop disabling the brake

[@APerez-bb4kt]

Lol, he finally said it!

[@serezhka2943]

С новым годом, Андрей! Желаю тебе купить мотоцикл с ABS! А если серьёзно, то всего самого наилучшего! Чтобы твоё любимое занятие наполняло твои дни счастьем! Успешных успехов тебе. Ну и здоровья! 🎉

[@MotoControlEn]

Спасибо! Счастливого нового года!☃️

[@marsoelflaco5722]

ABS should supplement good riding skills/habits. It shouldn't promote laziness.

[@nonyabusiness4151]

I hate ABS on bikes, and I HATE ABS on cars. Hate technology. Linked brakes are fine though.

[@MotoControlEn]

I don't hate technology, but I certainly hate that we don't have a choice anymore🌚

[@mattthomson3464]

I once rode a bicycle equipped with a “linked pedals-to-locked-rear hub” system. Although the feedback loop provided infinite sensitivity under acceleration and deceleration, the most effective panic-braking relied on dragging both feet on the ground. So I always wore safety equipment on the feet. Somehow, I upgraded to an English 3-speed ‘men’s’ bike, learning to ride sort of side-saddle because of the silly crossbar…the seat was way too high for me anyway, so no loss. I rode that bike absolutely everywhere for a full year or more…❤️

[@loui260756]

My bike has no ABS, no traction control, no electronics ... No need 😊 Suzuki Bandit 600, 1995 😊

[@nonyabusiness4151]

It's always nice to not go sailing passed your turning point.

[@loui260756]

​@@nonyabusiness4151Well, we must adapt our speed, to be always able to stop in sight range. 😊

[@aussiebloke609]

My bike has no ABS, no traction control, no electronics ... but I wish it did. Would be nice to know it's there if I run out of talent mid-corner. '79 Honda CH750-F.

[@nonyabusiness4151]

@@aussiebloke609 I have more problems with it kicking on when I didn't need it to, then needing it and not having it.

[@aluisious]

Nuclear wessels 😅

[@danboyd6180]

For The Al Gough!!! Who ever that single eared dude is?!?!?

[@TheUnsungVil]

I actually pulled the ABS fuse and disconnected the warning indicator light in the dashboard on my BMW F 650 GS (2004 model)- especially those early and fairly primitive ABS systems do more harm than good 🤯 Rather riding a little more careful than being pushed in to a ditch by an erratic and unexpected ABS engaging.

[@thedeanalex]

1st...!

[@prototype9904]

In 40 years = I've never had a bike with abs, or traction control, or wheelie control, or any electronic crutches ~ seems pointless... As you remove the danger, you remove the very freedom that the bike provides ~ and it's antagonistic to the very act of riding a motorcycle in the first place... I still ride a 1000cc Suzuki Superbike, top speed around 175mph. So, I'd put rider aides in the same category as non-alcoholic beer ~ Who the F would brag about how much non-alcoholic beer they can drink, who would care?? The fact that they allow some of this tech into the racing world is pathetic. We want to see what the rider can do, not the tech can compensate for ffs..... *I'm definitely going to yelling at kids to get off my lawn in the next couple of decades >:D

[@pawelwis7215]

In fact ABS makes Your stoping distance a bit longer