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Honda has announced that it will have ABS as stock or as an option on virtually every one of it's motorcycles by the 2006 model year, and pre-installed stock by the 2008 model year. The other Japanese manufacturers will be following suite, and by 2008, virtually every new Japanese bike on the market is expected to have ABS as a standard feature or at minimum, as an option. The three basic reasons are:
(A) The prices for the hardware have dropped far enough to make it commercially feasible without significant price-bump on the existing bikes (expect a $100 - $150 premium at first for ABS);
(B) The accident rates will drastically reduce as most wipe-outs due to loss of front wheel control under breaking in bad stuff will be greatly reduced, thus reducing insurance costs for the industry as a whole; AND
(C) Testing has shown that even experienced racers (and all newbies) tend to stop faster with ABS than without because it removes the consideration of front-wheel lock-up when applying maximum front brake pressure.
No word yet on whether the industry will also make it standard for rear brakes.
Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet
(A) The prices for the hardware have dropped far enough to make it commercially feasible without significant price-bump on the existing bikes (expect a $100 - $150 premium at first for ABS);
(B) The accident rates will drastically reduce as most wipe-outs due to loss of front wheel control under breaking in bad stuff will be greatly reduced, thus reducing insurance costs for the industry as a whole; AND
(C) Testing has shown that even experienced racers (and all newbies) tend to stop faster with ABS than without because it removes the consideration of front-wheel lock-up when applying maximum front brake pressure.
No word yet on whether the industry will also make it standard for rear brakes.
Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet
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