ABS Brake Conversion?

[Sadlsor]

Oh yeah, I've seen them.
Also watched a HIGHLY skilled stunt rider hooning around a course at Barbers Vintage Festival, tossing around the 650lb GS Adventure like it was a mountain bike, or a trials motorcycle.
Totally awesome performance, but as my good friend Clint Eastwood reminded me, "A man's GOT to know his limitations."
Wheelies, stoppies, burnouts and sliding tires... I know my limitations in each of those exercises.
Meaning, I ain't a-gonna do none of that. Not on my bikes, and not even on yours.

 

[SMSW]

Meaning, I ain't a-gonna do none of that. Not on my bikes, and not even on yours.

This guy selected a volunteer - the woman who had organized the BMW exhibit at the Western Reserve Historical Museum and had her stand in the middle of the parking lot. He then rode his bike to the far end of the lot, turned around and raced directly at her, doing a stoppie in front of her. He ended up giving her a quick kiss as the bike slowed to a stop on the front wheel before it fell back onto two wheels away from her. This might have been rehearsed, she did not flinch. Dangerous? A banana peel on the ground in front of her would have spelled disaster. Hard way to steal a kiss.

 

[Andrew Shadow]

There is a limited amount of traction in our tires, and you can spend that traction on cornering (swerving in this instance), or on braking in an emergency or quick-stop situation.
Attempting both simultaneously will usually result in a fall, and should always be separate actions.

That is the entire point of ABS, to never exceed the limit of the available traction. It allows a person to apply maximum braking force AND simultaneously maintain steering control because the available traction is not exceeded while performing both actions. Skidding tires don't steer. Is ABS perfect under all possible circumstances? No, just as nothing else is.

I use "emergency" intentionally here, because panic is to be avoided. That implies the rider was unprepared, or caught unaware.

There is no amount of preparation that can mitigate the completely unknown. A person can be prepared to take evasive action but if precisely when that action needs to be taken is impossible to know it can't be planned in advance.

I use the term panic as it is commonly used in reference to an action that is taken with extreme urgency, not one taken with a lack of purpose or control. If the word emergency satisfies that paradigm better so be it. What I know is that when that deer jumped out of the bush four feet in front of me I hammered the brakes as hard as I could and steered away from it at the same time. ABS allowed me to do both of those things at the same time because it prevented the tires from skidding. Skidding results in a lesser level of steering control. I could not prepare for the deers appearance in advance because the timing of its appearance was unknown and very inconsideratly unscheduled, making me unaware of when it was about to grace me with its appearance so yes, I was caught unaware.