According to that data it looks like the cars stopped about 7 ft shorter and decelerated at 1 ft greater than Harley.

 

Not looking for an argument, just my opinion, after 40 years of riding, race experience, professional driving and wrenching, however; I believe that an alert, experienced driver/rider of a non ABS vehicle will always be able to come to a complete stop quicker than an ABS equipped vehicle with an experienced driver/rider. In my experience stopping distances are increased by the ABS as they rythmically pulse and release well before lock up threshold. I think that ABS was instituted because the overall skill level of drivers/riders has degenerated drastically over the last 25yrs. ABS simply prevents the wheels from locking up, and as we all know a turning wheel is easier to steer resulting in a longer but controlled stop, BUT a skilled rider/driver has much more control over friction point and braking/lockup threshold. personally, in my 3 personal vehicles the first thing I did after purchase was disconnect the ABS. If you rely on ABS in snow, ice, water or gravel, you are going to travel a long way before stopping.

Just my 2 cents worth.

 

Try some new brake pads www.lyndallracingbrakes.com

 

You have to think that the sports car has two more brakes than your bike has but the car still weights more and is not afraid of locking up the brakes as you are!

 

You are really justifing my argument and destroying yours.

Most drivers are not alert and are not skilled. That means the norm is to be a poor driver and not to be alert. They are far more vehicles on the road than back in the 70s when we started riding. ABS enables cars to stop in a straight line vs skidding into oncoming traffic or into another lane. Data shows that disc brakes and/or ABS shorten stopping distances significantly. I had a 67 GTS, 440, no ps and 4 wheel manual drum brakes. I can be the most alert driver on the planet but that land yacht took a block and a half to come to a stop.

Making the argument that under ideal conditions one is better/worse than the other is a moot point. We could all agree that rear end collisions would be reduced if everyone maintained a minimum of a 2 second following distance, but we know that isnt going to happen.

I still want my next bike to have ABS, I want everyting going for me that I can get.

 

We had an exercise at a 3 day race car driving school where the instructors had the students drive up to a line at a given speed and then stop as fast as they could with ABS several times. Then they disabled the ABS and had us do the same exerise several times again. Then they hosed down the track and had us repeat this exercise. This was in the early 90s when ABS was new and had many doubters. There were no doubters anymore that left that school. Ever notice how often the Nascar drivers lock them up when a wreck happens in front of them? I would be willing to bet that if Nascar allowed ABS and EFI, they would all have them.

 

Plotmh. Thanks for the link. Some really interesting data. Will have to print this out for some good reading and conversation material. I was surprised how well the RK performed in some areas as compared to the metrics.

 

A couple of the BBC show Top Gear did a race between a sprot bike and a sport car. The bike killed the car in aceloration and cornering, but lost badly in braking. When in traffic leave yourself some room and a way out if you get too close.

 

My 2011 SG has ABS first week I had it I had to get on the brakes pretty hard and was totally surprised on how fast I was stopped..... Now with that being said I didn't panic and squeezed the front brake while getting on the back pretty hard....it never locked up and seemed to do a damn good job but I'm sure if I panicked things might be different. After that I did go to a parking lot and really got into the breaks and found if I just squeezed the front break and hit the rear sort of hard it did well but when I got into the front break hard with the rear it felt a lot different....less control maybe but still stopped well, so working with the breaks got me more familiar with what it will do ....now in a real panic situation could be different in many ways.... I rode in the 70's and was told NEVER use the front break knowing what I know now all I can say is WTF....... So practice,practice,practice..... Distance I try my best to stay away from everybody

 

Old thread but whatever...

On a sport bike, the front brake alone is the only thing you should be using. If the rear still has enough contact with the ground to actually maintain traction and slow you down, that's just that much more pressure that can be applied to the front.

On a Harley (or cruiser in general) the bikes are much heavier and the front brake alone won't be be able to endo the bike like a sport bike... AND not all cruisers have dual rotors in the front. Even the ones that do don't have dual calipers per rotor. The point is, on a non-sport bike, you'll want to apply a mix of the front and rear brake. If you rely on the rear brake alone, you will never stop in time. The front brake is still about 70% of your total braking power.

Once a month, go to a parking lot and practice emergency braking so if you ever NEED to use it, it will be in muscle memory and you won't lock up the tires ( or at least, less chance of it ). I do this once every two weeks because I commute daily and always want to have the option available. Laying the bike down is never a good idea versus an escape plan or the ability to maximize braking efficiency.