USA to require ABS on motorcycles

[Stig / Major Tom]

Interesting article in the news today that NTSB is considering requiring all bikes sold in the USA to have ABS....and is studying requiring ATC ( traction control) as well.
Lots of personal opinions surface around ABS on two wheelers....
I, for one, will never buy another bike or scooter without ABS.

KYMCO has proven that ABS needn't be a $500/$600 option.
Europe required ABS on 125+cc scooters in 2016.
Stig

[eamartin]

Big Brother stuff.  Make it an option and let me make the choice.

[boo]

Big Brother stuff.  Make it an option and let me make the choice.

I agree. Sick of the government mandating everything. Consumers pay out of the bazoone for all these new gizmos. I have ridden motorcycles for 50 years without ABS.
People should have a choice.

[CROSSBOLT]

While the technology may be an improvement in safety the government has no business mandating it. They are not authorized to do so by the Constitution. However, most if not all bureaucracies ignore the law and just post regulations anyway. There is the added attraction of regulations imposed that will favor a certain company while barring others. This usually involves payoffs, tips or bribes. Like helmets, seatbelts, safety glass and airbags are/were good safety ideas that were forced on the public "for our own good." The most glaring have been DRL and airbags. Air bags were a "passive restraint" that worked in ONE TYPE of collision: straight ahead. Shoulder belts and lap belts were good in all crashes but people just would not put 'em on so they passed a law "for our own good." Daytime running lights were becoming popular in Kansas when I was commuting to school in the early 60's. Kansas, the home of half-blind farmers who would stop on a highway, their pickup doors inches apart to discuss whatever farmers discus, totally blocking the road! Kansas, the home of the single white light in the center of the grille to warn oncoming drivers there was a vehicle ahead. This idea was inspiration to GM to develop a diode circuit for the headlights so they would be about 60% of full voltage brilliance and be on anytime the ignition was on or after engine start. GM was, I suspect, instrumental in legislation to make this mandatory. This produced another phenomenon of people driving around in the dark with no tail lights!

Now we have a situation where riders by and large think ABS on two wheels is a good idea and manufacturers are starting to put them on their machines. That is the way things are supposed to work. So why are some outfits sending ABS bikes everywhere but HERE?! Is it a set-up to make it a law so legislators get more lobby money? So manufacturers can get more money per model? I would not doubt it but I'M a cynic.

[stuo]

Amen, Karl!

It's reassuring to know we share more then the love of riding, that we also share libertarian beliefs about the gummamint's role in our lives. I won't ride without a helmet but I bitterly resent Big Brother telling me I must, or else. Freedom=choices and when we lose the right to choose we lose our freedoms.

Stu

[Tiny]

as with the auto industry the motorcycle industry is now being told by the governments to protect the end user for their own stupidity as to how they are using said products. to the point where the products are safer but way more expensive then they need or aught to be.

[Forbes1964]

I’m in the minority here. But if the technology is ready, I’m for it. Panic stops are not things we plan to happen. Also, remember that remaining in control helps us to avoid hitting OTHER people or vehicles. If abs was only to save the rider, I’d agree to it being only an option. There’s a delicate balance between common sense regulations and over regulation. Requiring Traction control may indeed be OVER regulation. But in my opinion (I don’t claim to know it all) Requiring ABS (if the technology is ready) seem more on the side of common sense regulation on cycles that are capable of certain speeds or weigh a certain amount.


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[AMAC1680]

Choice please.
All part of The dumbing down.
“Help please mr government man save me from myself”.

Ya know training wheels would also be helpful ....

AMAC

[stuo]

Honda has developed an air bag for motorcycles. Should they be required on all motorcycles/scooters?

[klaviator]

I hope this never happens but it probably will at some point.  ABS just doesn't make sense on some bikes like small dual sport bikes.  While I think ABS makes sense on street bike I hate big brother telling me what to do. 

[Stig / Major Tom]

I think I might have better said: "The USA will be getting ABS on all new bikes, and maybe traction control."

NTSB: "Insurance Institute for Highway Safety determined that anti-lock brakes could reduce motorcycle fatalities by 31 percent."

Then we could argue technology----maybe change the tenor of the responses to the OP.

Stig

[Forbes1964]

I think I might have better said: "The USA will be getting ABS on all new bikes, and maybe traction control."

NTSB: "Insurance Institute for Highway Safety determined that anti-lock brakes could reduce motorcycle fatalities by 31 percent."

Then we could argue technology----maybe change the tenor of the responses to the OP.

Stig

I don’t have to change my response that much. [emoji16][emoji16]. If the technology is “ready for prime time”, I think the manufacturers should make abs standard on every cycle/scooter that’s capable of a certain speed or weighs a certain amount. I believe the information exists that will help determine what that speed/weight should be. Manufacturers have a vested interest in preserving the health and life of their customers. ABS and traction control started out as options on high end cars. Then it move down to the least expensive. At its heart, it’s simply a computer which takes advantage of already existing equipment. As with cars, most scooters already have wheel speed sensors, and the technology is not very expensive at all once it’s on every scooter.


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[Snoopzilla]

I get both sides of this.  Though I don’t get why people wouldn’t want abs, unless they are doing some off roading and don’t some BMW dual sports come with the ability to turn off the abs and traction control when desired?  I may have to do some digging, can’t remember where but was reading something about a guy testing the abs brakes in all sorts of terrain and found it stopped better and had more control with them on, which surprised him.  But I know if that Genuine Buddy I was riding last November would’ve had ABS, I wouldn’t of gone in that slide that fractured my ankle.  That’s why I am so happy to have it now on my Kymco Like 150i.  Granted I live in Minneapolis and pretty much everytime I go on a ride someone is either looking at their phone or just not paying attention and suddenly just pull out right in front of me, so my hands are always at the ready of the brake handles, just too many idiots out there.  I love libertarianism and wish we all could be left to do as we please and be left alone in peace, but there’s all these idiots out there where it just isn’t possible.  I don’t look at Government mandated ABS as a training wheel thing, it’s just more an added safety protection against idiots.  I mean ABS is only there when you need it.  And ABS systems have come so far.  Plus if every manufacturer has to add it, it will bring the price down.  But speaking of price...what was the sticker price for the 200i vs the 150i again?   If Kymco can do it.....  I really do wish that they could ship all the idiots to their own island and over govern the ones that need it and leave us civilized folk alone and peace love and happiness and all that.  But since the technology is here and keeps people safer from harm, whether self inflicted or due to others.  Then why not?  At Least it isn’t CBS.  But maybe offering a way to turn it off would be a happy medium. 

[Forbes1964]

I get both sides of this.  Though I don’t get why people wouldn’t want abs, unless they are doing some off roading and don’t some BMW dual sports come with the ability to turn off the abs and traction control when desired?  I may have to do some digging, can’t remember where but was reading something about a guy testing the abs brakes in all sorts of terrain and found it stopped better and had more control with them on, which surprised him.  But I know if that Genuine Buddy I was riding last November would’ve had ABS, I wouldn’t of gone in that slide that fractured my ankle.  That’s why I am so happy to have it now on my Kymco Like 150i.  Granted I live in Minneapolis and pretty much everytime I go on a ride someone is either looking at their phone or just not paying attention and suddenly just pull out right in front of me, so my hands are always at the ready of the brake handles, just too many idiots out there.  I love libertarianism and wish we all could be left to do as we please and be left alone in peace, but there’s all these idiots out there where it just isn’t possible.  I don’t look at Government mandated ABS as a training wheel thing, it’s just more an added safety protection against idiots.  I mean ABS is only there when you need it.  And ABS systems have come so far.  Plus if every manufacturer has to add it, it will bring the price down.  But speaking of price...what was the sticker price for the 200i vs the 150i again?   If Kymco can do it.....  I really do wish that they could ship all the idiots to their own island and over govern the ones that need it and leave us civilized folk alone and peace love and happiness and all that.  But since the technology is here and keeps people safer from harm, whether self inflicted or due to others.  Then why not?  At Least it isn’t CBS.  But maybe offering a way to turn it off would be a happy medium.

That makes sense. Technology evolves. But some is invisible and we don’t know we need it until we need it. Abs is one of those things. I didn’t appreciate ABS in cars until I made a panic stop and was actually able to steer. Until then, I thought it was just a gimmick.

If you compare a 1966 to a 1967 automobile, you’ll find dual chamber master cylinder on the 67. It’s not something a person would have likely chosen because they didn’t understand the need. It’s only needed when 1/2 of the brake system fails. In the 66, a leak in one wheel would take out the entire system. Yes, the government mandated it. In my opinion, that was a good thing. Anyway, li believe that technology should be used once it’s affordable and EFFECTIVE.


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[jeeves]

ABS is mandatory on all motorcycles in EU since (I think) 2017.
Can't buy a new motorcycle without it.