Would you do it?

The /2 is I believe equipped to have ABS fitted (wiring is there) so was thinking about doing it.
It is a 1988 and ABS was an option. The instrument cluster has the 4L fuel light as an ABS light.

Probably at great expense so it may not happen.
But if you could get the parts at a reasonable price, would you do it?

nope....I have a perfectly good yellow bucket that does not have a ABS unit in it....the reason I say this is I have seen more ABS in yellow buckets than fitted to K's...

There seems to be a younger generation of riders now that are worried about riding bikes without ABS ! WTF. What ever happened to good throttle & brake control by the rider, or does everything have to be idiot proofed these day's. I'll agree with Klompy, if it's not on there now, then you wont have any problems with it breaking  down .

Yellow buckets?

That is a bit harsh Mr Klompy.

This younger generation of rider likes his ABS and also thinks it's a definate plus to safer riding.
On a dry road there are many riders who say they can outbrake an ABS system and very conclusive tests have shown that the occasional rider or driver can indeed outbrake ASB about 10% of the time but put them on a wet road and to the best of my knollege it has never been done and even very experienced riders cant come within 10 meters from 50mph.
Mainly because you will try that little bit harder and go arse up or you are leaving a bit in reserve because you dont want to go arse up where a good ABS will do it on the limit every time and it will have altered pressures due to a change of traction long before you would even realize it was needed.
In answer to your question rossco, if you can get the gear at a reasonable price off a bike where it is currently working then yes it is worth having.
If you can demonstrate that you can outbrake ABS every time in all circumstances then don't have it.
The one thing you don't do is ride harder because you have ABS or rely on it to get you out of a bad situation.
Its the same arguement that went round for years "If you don't have to kickstart it, it's not a real bike".

Having ABS or not would never influence my decision to own a bike. If it has it, all well and good. If not, then I'm equally happy. If I have it and it fails, if it cannot be fixed easily and cheaply, I'll get rid of it (the ABS that is, not the bike).

I couldn't ever imagine fitting it if it wan't there originally (even if the plumbing and stuff is already there).

Some people like ABS, some don't.  Personally, I'm middle of the road and think equally of bikes with and without it.  It's an early system that is "clunky" (long modulator cycles) but it does work and, under certain circumstances, it can save your bacon/bike - at the cost of more weight and a little more maintenance to bleed the modulators.

To answer the original question:  There's a lot involved (brake lines, rotors, calipers, sensors, peg plates, modulators, main wiring harness, instrument cluster, tail cowl wedge, etc...) involved in upgrading a non-ABS K75/K100 to ABS so IMO you'd be better off just buying a bike that already has it if you want ABS.

There you go rossko, buy a bike that already has working ABS.

Here it is, and with upgraded V2.2 ABS that works no less   

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/carindale/motorcycles/bmw-r1100rs/1028913172

And it's a Honking big twin to boot ..... You know you want it .... 

100K/Hr@3K RPM. Redlines at 8K. get in quick


As for a retrofit. Forget it. You will have to fit ABS sensors to each wheel and the thingamebob rings on the wheels to make the sensors work, then measure them to get the shim sizes to go under the sensors. Forget it. If it was a GS on dirt roads maybe ... But they already have it anyway.

That R1100RS is looking pretty good now isn't it

Thanks all.
It was just a thought. I have taken the old RT off the road to do some maintenance and I swapped the rear brake over to the /2. For he first time since I have had the bike I can lock the back wheel at anything over 5kph.

RicK G wrote:This younger generation of rider likes his ABS and also thinks it's a definate plus to safer riding.
On a dry road there are many riders who say they can outbrake an ABS system and very conclusive tests have shown that the occasional rider or driver can indeed outbrake ASB about 10% of the time but put them on a wet road and to the best of my knollege it has never been done and even very experienced riders cant come within 10 meters from 50mph.
Mainly because you will try that little bit harder and go arse up or you are leaving a bit in reserve because you dont want to go arse up where a good ABS will do it on the limit every time and it will have altered pressures due to a change of traction long before you would even realize it was needed.
In answer to your question rossco, if you can get the gear at a reasonable price off a bike where it is currently working then yes it is worth having.
If you can demonstrate that you can outbrake ABS every time in all circumstances then don't have it.
The one thing you don't do is ride harder because you have ABS or rely on it to get you out of a bad situation.
Its the same arguement that went round for years "If you don't have to kickstart it, it's not a real bike".

If they ever  fit seat belts to Motorcycles you'll probably feel that little bit safer again.

I've been trying out a few modern BMW's (K1600GT wow!) lately and with modern, powerful brakes and the Duolever front end, ABS is a must.
The brakes on the our K's are different in that they need a good squeeze and I think this makes us plan our stopping a bit more, as we should.
My last LT had ABS and I never felt it kick in during the five years I owned it. Just never wanted to be in a situation that I needed to depend on it.
Don't think I would go to the bother of a retro fit but if its already there, great.
Genuine 'accidents' are rare when you analyse them. Just treat everyone one else on the road as blind, deaf and insane.
Modern bikes are so well designed now that it can make anyone feel that they are a pretty good rider and may be tempted to push a bit harder than they should.
Add in riding gear with lots of armour, the latest full face and, of course, you can walk away from any accident. Can't you?
There have been one or two studies in Europe recently that have looked into this 'invincible' attitude.

smithy wrote:

RicK G wrote:This younger generation of rider likes his ABS and also thinks it's a definate plus to safer riding.
On a dry road there are many riders who say they can outbrake an ABS system and very conclusive tests have shown that the occasional rider or driver can indeed outbrake ASB about 10% of the time but put them on a wet road and to the best of my knollege it has never been done and even very experienced riders cant come within 10 meters from 50mph.
Mainly because you will try that little bit harder and go arse up or you are leaving a bit in reserve because you dont want to go arse up where a good ABS will do it on the limit every time and it will have altered pressures due to a change of traction long before you would even realize it was needed.
In answer to your question rossco, if you can get the gear at a reasonable price off a bike where it is currently working then yes it is worth having.
If you can demonstrate that you can outbrake ABS every time in all circumstances then don't have it.
The one thing you don't do is ride harder because you have ABS or rely on it to get you out of a bad situation.
Its the same arguement that went round for years "If you don't have to kickstart it, it's not a real bike".

If they ever  fit seat belts to Motorcycles you'll probably feel that little bit safer again.

I shall choose to ignore that rediculous statement for the moment.
I thought better of you Smithy

Comberjohn wrote:I've been trying out a few modern BMW's (K1600GT wow!) lately and with modern, powerful brakes and the Duolever front end, ABS is a must.
The brakes on the our K's are different in that they need a good squeeze and I think this makes us plan our stopping a bit more, as we should.
My last LT had ABS and I never felt it kick in during the five years I owned it. Just never wanted to be in a situation that I needed to depend on it.
Don't think I would go to the bother of a retro fit but if its already there, great.
Genuine 'accidents' are rare when you analyse them. Just treat everyone one else on the road as blind, deaf and insane.
Modern bikes are so well designed now that it can make anyone feel that they are a pretty good rider and may be tempted to push a bit harder than they should.
Add in riding gear with lots of armour, the latest full face and, of course, you can walk away from any accident. Can't you?
There have been one or two studies in Europe recently that have looked into this 'invincible' attitude.

On the invincible attitude thing I recall reading some time ago about a programe that was introduced in Sweden (I think) where the young learners were put through a very comprehensive driving training course on the premise that it would cut down on the number of bad crashes that were occuring in the just started driving brigade (as they do in most places) and much to their amazement found the crash rate went up because the young guns thought that the training made them invincible and they took even more risks.

Klompy the grey brick wrote:nope....I have a perfectly good yellow bucket that does not have a ABS unit in it....the reason I say this is I have seen more ABS in yellow buckets than fitted to K's...

I dont understand, why is ABS plastic always Yellow??
You should try it Rossco might be a buzz having an ABS neckid to ride

Klompy ..... can I have my yellow bucket back?  I have something I want to put in it.  Two actually.

There is no doubt in my mind based upon personal experience and on several authoritative tests that ABS on a bike reduces accidents and reduces stopping distances. Some incredibly skilful and experienced riders, usually only top race bike riders, can do better than ABS but when we are being frank with ourselves the number of us who can really match their skill is very rare. With passing years and increasing traffic density the risk goes up, especially with local councils not maintaining the roads as well as they did only a few years back, what with new plush council offices to pay for and so on.

Would I buy a bike without ABS? for me the answer is no not now I have had a bike with ABS. In the same way if I ask myself would I buy a car without it, the answer is the same, it is too good a thing to have when the emergency happens.

Even the early generation ABS we have on the first K's is better than no ABS is my belief, YMMV.

Would I like to have traction control - absolutely, you only have to look and listen to an S1000RR being ridden hard round twists and turns to see what an amazing advantage traction control and ABS are on a bike ridden to the limit, Tom Cutter has written about both of these from his own personal experience.

On our K's when do we hit the limit? Sadly that usually happens when the unexpected diesel fuel or spilled oil confronts us or an idiot without any warning pulls out on us, in those fractions of a second that is when we need all our skills and all the electronic assistance we can get to stop us going down or into the vehicle that has pulled out.
Regards,
K-BIKE