indecision

[Coronet]

 Having a hard time deciding if I want to remove my ABS or leave it on. Did a little research and what I found suprised me. Botton line seems to be that you can stop quicker 99% of the time with ABS -- than you can without. 
I started riding mini bikes at 8 years old and have always owned and ridden both street and dirt bikes for the past 40 yrs so I consider myself to have lots of real world experence, BUT in the test results I read,  "experenced"  riders also stopped quicker with ABS than without. Go Figure.
The factors behind wanting to remove the ABS are - want to replace the brake hoses with stainless steel lines and the cost to replace all the lines for the ABS is about $400.00 -- and with my luck the day after I put the new SS lines on the ABS pump will quit working.    Cost of new ABS pump $3200.00 - bout fell out of my chair.
I also have a 17 inch rear wheel I want to put on the bike and don't want to screw with trying to adapt the ABS to the new wheel.
Been real close to just trashing the ABS and being done with it but then I get to thinking  - hey mabe this does make the bike a little safer.
Any thoughts or opinions on this would be appreciated.

Thanks
Mark H.

 

[andyb]

I'd imagine that those tests also refer to rather more modern ABS systems.

Dunno, have you tossed a bike badly enough because of locking the wheel(s) during braking to decide to keep it?

On the plus side of removing it:
-Lines will cost a bunch less
-Bleeding things will be a load easier
-Less weight
-Brakes (should) feel a bit more precise/direct
-Wouldn't have to worry about an expensive unit failing

On the debit side of removing it:
-You lose some piece of mind on slick stuff (including patches that looked ok but turned out to be slick!)
-Bike is that much less close to stock (possibly hurts resale)
-uh...

Really only a question that you can answer. 

[Pat Conlon]

Hello Mark, you ask a very good question.
We know our 17" rear wheel mods enhance our bikes, offering a greater selection in modern tires, and motorcycle tires are a critical component to motorcycles, but...
I agree with you, that IMHO a *working*ABS is a good thing to have....in theory and in practice.
What I don't know is IF the FJ ABS performs well. I've never ridden a FJ with ABS.

However, IF the FJ ABS is a good thing, a additional safety feature, I would keep it.

By doing so, would I stay with the oem 16" rear donut?  No friggin way. So here's what I would do:

1) Take your 16" oem FJ rear rim (with the ABS ring on it) and send it to Sandy Kosman and he will cut off the narrow 16" rim and weld on a 5.5" wide 17" rim on it: http://www.kosman.net/weldup.htm

2) Go ahead and invest in a complete SS line set. Yeppers expensive, so consider this a one time, lifetime, investment and besides your oem rubber lines are WAAAAY overdue for replacement.

3) In the meantime, keep a eye out on eBay for folks who are selling their FJ ABS components and buy them as spares as they come up.

Finally, again, I can not answer the question: Is the oem FJ ABS worth it to keep?

Cheers amigo! Pura Vida    Fr Paddy

[Coronet]

 Never tossed a street bike from locking the brakes (knock on wood) - was t-boned one time but that's another story.
I wondered about the ABS being slow and/or outdated so I found a big emty parking lot an decided to do a little testing, suprise, suprise, the damm thing worked really well.
Had a fast response time and kept you right at the edge betweem the tires sliding and rolling --- you could not lock the tires up no matter what you did.
It really was amazing how fast you could drag the "heavy" FJ to a stop from 70 mph. 
Guess the only real factor in choosing is the cost associated with keeping it. I'm a little woried about the damm thing quitting working after I spend the money on the bizillion replacement SS lines needed for it and the cost of the rear wheel mod, altho I like the idea of keeping the stock hub and just cutting off the rim and replaceing it with the 17" - wider rim (Thanks Pat).
Did a little looking on flea-bay and did find the control compute/box for sale -$500.00 used -  . Must be golds plated. 

Wish somebody would make up my mind for me.        

[Pat Conlon]

  Wish somebody would make up my mind for me.        

Ok let me see if I can help you. Answer these 5 questions:
1) Do you like your bike?
2) Wanna keep it for a while?
3) Do you ride in wet weather? 
4) Is there a possibility that a fully functional ABS *might* save you some future grief ?
5) In the future, if you ever want to sell your bike, do you think the bike will be worth more with a fully functional ABS with updated SS lines?



My recommendation: Based on your report on the effectiveness of FJ's ABS:

Keep the ABS and invest $$ accordingly.

Yes, $400 for all the various SS ABS lines is expensive, but...
How much skin can you get grafted on your body for $400?

Pat

[Coronet]

 Thanks Pat for making up my mind.   

Looks like I will be keeping the ABS. Whats the saying anyway - oh yeah - Its Just Money!

Looks like I have a 1994 FZR rear wheel for sale if anyone is interested. Will not be using it now.

Thanks
Mark H.