Braking with ABS

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Braking with ABS
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Braking with ABS

An anti-lock braking system makes a lot of things easier
Braking with ABS

A motorcycle with an anti-lock braking system (ABS) can be decelerated much more safely even under extreme conditions such as a panic braking than one without.

Nicolas Streblow

02.03.2017

ABS cannot be felt at all during normal operation; almost all braking maneuvers are carried out as on machines without ABS, namely below the control range. Only when a wheel reaches the locking limit can the difference be felt. Whether during a panic braking or inadvertent overbraking in a slippery place – the stability that a driver without ABS has to restore himself by releasing the brake and applying it again is retained by the ABS owner. The risk of falling due to an over-braked front wheel is just as averted as a rear breaking out caused by a locking rear wheel. The driver can simply continue to brake with all his might to a standstill.

Braking with ABS

“Motorcycling good and safe” can also be found as a booklet printed in MOTORCYCLE 6/2017

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Practice braking with ABS


Braking with ABS


BMW

But if you have never done this before, if you are still afraid of the blocking front wheel and the breaking out rear wheel, you will not reach all the way in and perhaps give away crucial meters of braking distance. Braking should therefore be practiced consciously in the ABS control range.

In addition, enormous forces are at work in the event of severe emergency braking. The driver has to counter these with the correct sitting posture and body tension: the knees firmly against the tank, the upper body as upright as possible and the arms not pushed through, but tense. Side effects such as screeching tires, pulsing levers or a beating drive train if you forget to pull the clutch do not affect the effectiveness of the anti-lock braking system. However, they can irritate the driver so much that he will let go of the brakes in fright if he has never experienced or practiced this before.

In extreme cases, the stern rises


Braking with ABS


www.factstudio.de

The forward somersault is the horror scenario, but even a lack of ground contact behind affects stability and controllability.

As mentioned, front-heavy machines like super sports bikes tend to stoppies, while rear-heavy machines like cruisers put little weight on the front wheel and encourage locking. With modern ABS motorcycles, manufacturers try to take the fear out of these differences in braking by appropriately coordinating the systems. Many modern machines can also be used to set various driving modes, which often affect the control behavior of the ABS. You should therefore know exactly how your own system works and not blindly trust ABS.

Because even anti-lock braking systems are not infallible. The aforementioned tendency to stoppie can lead to rollover in older or particularly sporty systems. And on washboard-like bumps, the braking distance can be longer because a jumping bike in the air does not brake even with ABS.

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