This Saturday evening I was head north on Main street to go to Walmart. Traffice was lined up and heavy. I was following a van, and about 5 bike lengths behind him. Traffice was going bout 40 MPH. All of a sudden, the van swerved left, and there was a stalled truck in the middle of the road. I was about 35 feet away. I hit both brakes, the front locked up so I let off and it unlocked and started squeezing with rear still locked.I had nowhere to go on the right or the left, and the back end had stated to slew around. I kept the front pointed to a point to the right of the truck and was going to try an split the difference. But I had gone past my center of gravity and the bike came down and started to slide. I stayed with it until the very end,and then let go so I wouldn't hit the truck. I rolled onto my left side and let my Skid Lid and ArmoredMesh jacket take the punishement while I was sliding. My bike is a 08 Ultra and doesn't have ABS. would they have stopped me? I don't know but I sure wish I could have given them a try. Anyway, I did everything else I could, bike is still ridable with some comestic damage, and I have a hariline fracture of the left ankle and three small road rash spots, so my gear did it's job too. So, If you ask if you should have ABS, I say why not? You just never know. First time I've ever been down, but any wreck you walk away from is a good day. I think I used all the magic in my Guardian Bell up though Time for a new one (hint, Hint)

 

Glad your OK. I agree about the ABS, why not. My car has it so why shouldn't my bike. I haven't had the opportunity to use the ABS on my 11 Limited but I feel better knowing it's there.

 

Well here's a question for you..... Does rubber on pavement stop faster than chrome on pavement? Had you stayed up (That's what ABS helps with) you might have stopped in time.

 

I've had my ABS kick in a couple of times, takes a little getting used to the feel, but no skid.

 

Bummer... Glad to hear you weren't damaged to bad and are going to recover and that the bike like you said is only cosmetic easier to fix that than it is you. Looking Back I wish I would have gotten ABS too.

 

I commute a lot on my V-Strom. Along with a [thankfully] low speed crash due to a front-end washout on some sand in Maine, the test that convinced me to sell my perfectly good 05 V-Strom for an 09 V-Strom with ABS was:

No Fault Braking - A Real-World Comparison of ABS Systems

 

Sorry to hear you went down but the good thing is you are OK.

I have ABS on mine and got to try it out when a dog ran out in front of me. Worked like a charm.

 

Glad you're ok. It's important to keep your eyes open and make sure you have the distance to react, especially in heavy traffic.

 

You know what computer biatch, I don't need your smart *** remarks. Have you had your garage queen out this year?

 

This video from Harley Davidson convinced me that ABS is worth having. After watching it I can't see how anybody could argue against ABS.