Dammit, Honda!

[VStarRider]

Well put.

Agreeing with your agreed. ABS is just behind oil and tires as a topic that generates opinions. I don’t think one’s ability to maximize braking minus electronic assistance in a panic stop is a physical attribute, it’s a mental one.

We can practice threshold braking every day, but I don’t know how to practice for not impulsively grabbing the brake when a vehicle pulls out in front of you suddenly and you have 50 feet and one second to manage that situation. One could make the argument that a series of events led up to a scenario like this, and I would agree...but sometimes it’s too late to reverse those factors.

With my ABS equipped Wing, I’m not riding any further degree of risk than I am when I’m driving my airbagged, stability controlled Subaru compared to my 87 Dodge Shadow, which had none of these features. I do ride with a feeling of confidence that, in the event of a panic stop situation, my decision making reserves can be applied to an escape route, not threshold braking with several possible other factors instantly accounted for by the ABS and not my brain.

[Travelor]

We can practice threshold braking every day, but I don’t know how to practice for not impulsively grabbing the brake when a vehicle pulls out in front of you suddenly and you have 50 feet and one second to manage that situation. One could make the argument that a series of events led up to a scenario like this, and I would agree...but sometimes it’s too late to reverse those factors.

With my ABS equipped Wing, I’m not riding any further degree of risk than I am when I’m driving my airbagged, stability controlled Subaru compared to my 87 Dodge Shadow, which had none of these features. I do ride with a feeling of confidence that, in the event of a panic stop situation, my decision making reserves can be applied to an escape route, not threshold braking with several possible other factors instantly accounted for by the ABS and not my brain.

Well said. Preparation is one thing and absolutely necessary for safer riding, but the reality of a panic driven handful of front brake is quite another. The tires were chirping and the ABS chattering the other day on my K1600GTL when the teenager driver looked right at me and pulled out anyway.