I guess this thread is as good a place as any to report today's ride experience (since it is kind of related to rear braking). I was touring a visiting biker around,, and he was driving his 2001 BMW R1200c. He is a competent rider,, and the Beemer is a really artistic and solid looking bike,,, c/w new rubber and a 2nd gen abs system. The conditions were warm with intermittent light showers,, just enough to wet down the roads. Anyway,,, I led around an intersection,, and then I heard that dreaded skidding sound from behind. Glancing in my rearviews,, I saw him sliding through the intersection, still riding the bike on it's side. After we picked everything up again,, with the help of about 4 motorists who stopped to assist,,, we started assessing the damages. He ripped his shorts,,, and his hoodie got a bit wet and dirty from the slide,,, yup,,, that's was it. The bike's RH saddle bag took the worst of it,,, and he is going to learn all about repairing plastic. Other than that,,, the crash bar is a bit scuffed up,, the front brake handle snapped the end off,,, and a couple of other minor nick's. So it could have been a lot,, lot worse. He has since rode it back to Toronto,, about 100 miles away. But what caused the incident,, the rear wheel lockup,, and resulting slide. My non-abs ST13 did not even notice the wet conditions. The BMW's abs seemed to fail,, and the tail kicked out like it was on ice. His new rear tire was a D404,, which I run myself on my CB's,,, and it has always served me well in heavy rain riding. I asked when the last time the brake fluid was changed,,, and he thought,, about never,,, which was at least 15 years ago. The incident reminded me of one of our earlier threads on the value of abs. And I think I said then,, that you don't really need abs,, until the day that you do !! Maybe the BMW's abs is not active on the rear circuit,, I don't know,, but will try to figure it out. I don't ever want to see a wingman go down again,,, Cat'
