Hey, thanks for all the replies! I love this forum because everyone is very helpful.

I was pissed to say the least. Hell, I am still pissed and let him know again today. But as someone said..... Life does go on and I do love the bike. Its my first Harley, I really fell in love hard with her and I can't see getting rid of her because of no ABS.

All your responses made me feel a lot better. HD stuff is crazy expensive and it gets irritating that no matter what you buy you also need some other hardware or whatever to make it work or fit. Seems like they could include the hardware with the actual product. I am talking about a sissy bar. First you have to buy the bar, then the pad, then the mounting bracket and then for my bike i have to buy a turn signal re-location kit and a license plate relocation kit. Total price ends up being 540.00 for a damn sissy bar. Thats pretty retarted.

I just purchased the "Boom!™ Audio Cruiser Amp And speAker kit –
windshieLd mount" and it requires a separate piece to connect the damn thing to power and now I am worried I may also need to buy the amp mount. I am not sure about that, but will be pissed if when it gets delivered I have to order another piece to mount it.

Ok, I will stop venting now....

 

What price did you pay for the bike? I ask because if you paid the premium, about 1200 dollars for ABS and security, then you definitely got screwed. Even if you just paid more then you would have otherwise and not the full amount. As far as having or not having ABS I like it on mine. I'm fairly experienced but even then I'm not sure I would have been able to stop as quickly when a woman ran a stop sign in front of me a month ago. Most people despite their claims can't out stop a bike with ABS, even the Harley version which isn't as good as for example, as BMW's system. Is it perfect? No some surfaces like gravel will cause issues. Of course gravel doesn't play well with bikes period. One of the things a previous poster threw out was just to not tail gate. Well, that takes care of one braking situation but doesn't address left turners and people who run stop lights and stop signs. ABS will allow you to use the absolute limit or much closer then you can get yourself of the bike's available braking traction. Given that you are a new rider having ABS and realizing it's not an excuse to ride like an idiot is the best idea for you IMHO

 

The stock brakes that came on my Bones sucked. So I upgraded them with PM brakes, fornt and rear. Expensive, but the best mod ever!


As far as how well your brakes work... They can lock up so they are more than you'll need. What you should be doing is going out and practicing your stopping so you know how well they work and how they feel. No one here can give you advice better than feeling for yourself. Don't lock them up, just apply the brakes and hard as you can WITHOUT locking up, to practice. Over time you'll be able to apply more and more. When the time comes to make an emergency stop, you'll be better prepared.

I say WHEN because it will happen. Practice will help you stay out of trouble.

 

All good suggestions for you, one other thing is that with an ABS system that when activated the stopping distance increases. I don't have ABS nor was it an option on my bike at the time, it is good but up to a point. Like has been said practice

 

Bikes got around just fine without abs for 120 years, I'm still not sure why they offer it.