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Consumer Reports gives it a round of applause
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In the article I found a great quote.
Non-ABS owners/ABS Bashers please take note:
"A proven safety feature that we all take for granted in our cars, ABS has been standard equipment on new passenger vehicles for years, and we believe it has even greater lifesaving potential for two-wheelers with its ability to prevent brake lockup and a skid that can lead to a crash. A recent Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) study has shown that motorcycles equipped with antilock brakes are 37 percent less likely to be involved in a fatal crash than models without ABS." - Consumer Reports
Non-ABS owners/ABS Bashers please take note:
"A proven safety feature that we all take for granted in our cars, ABS has been standard equipment on new passenger vehicles for years, and we believe it has even greater lifesaving potential for two-wheelers with its ability to prevent brake lockup and a skid that can lead to a crash. A recent Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) study has shown that motorcycles equipped with antilock brakes are 37 percent less likely to be involved in a fatal crash than models without ABS." - Consumer Reports
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That's a big number. I wonder how they got it. There are much fewer ABS bikes on the road. It would have to be figured on deaths per miles driven for each model. The number for non fatal accidents would be even several times higher. I'm sure that most single bike low side crashes from grabbing too much front brake are not fatal.
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Yeah that's a big number to swallow for you non-absers.
All I know is I feel good knowing my wheel won't ever lock up from pulling the brakes. $500 buys you piece of mind. I'm glad I didn't cheap out on this one.
Consumers Report says I made a smart decision.
Most of the reduction in accident claims for ABS bikes occurs within the first few months of purchase. After that, there's a significant but less dramatic effect.
The IIHS and FARS stats are pretty amazing. If you bore down, you'll find that if you're licensed, helmeted, riding close to speed limits, and (incredibly high %,) not drunk (!), your chances of being killed on a motorcycle are very low.
The coming proliferation of motorcycle ABS (IIHS is lobbying to have it made mandatory, and I hope it is) will serve to give us much more robust statistics, but it's pretty clear it's a winner. Implausible as it may seem, the stats never came in like this for automobile ABS, though it's just been made mandatory as a byproduct of being a prerequisite for ESC, which proved to dramatically reduce injuries and fatalities.
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Until recently ABS has only been available as a much greater cost option on some fairly fancy machinery. The buyers would have been mainly well heeled, more experienced, safety conscious types. The sample would be quite skewed. I reckon says more about the riders than the technology It is more useful for assessing insurance risk, than as a study of how much safer it makes an inherently dangerous vehicle.
On four wheels ABS can effectively idiot proof emergency braking. Slam on the anchors and you can still control the direction of the car, as such it is a safety feature for sure.
On two wheels ABS can improve the bike by allowing the rider to brake heavily more confidently, no matter what the conditions. It still does not allow you to steer the bike under heavy braking. The idiot that tries that will land up on his or her arse, ABS or not.
In all my years of riding steering clear of trouble has always been more important to me than stopping in the face of it. One of the advantages of a motorcycle id that it can tread through gaps where a car would have to stop.
Be aware of what you want to avoid, but look for, and where you want to go.
ABS is a useful piece of technology for a bike such as the CBR250R, which is mainly used on paved roads, but I remain unconvinced that it is a major advance in safety on two wheels. It is not a substitute for learning proper riding skills, and road craft. On a motorcycle, safety is in the hands and head of the rider, not the machine.
Actuaries don't do anecdotes.
Even if they're off by 10%, if every motorcycle on the road had ABS, we'd save 1200 lives a year and countless injury accidents.
I did the BRC2 course this weekend and got to light up the ABS quite a bit. It's goddamn confidence-inspiring.
I'd think it would be terrifying lighting up the ABS like that. I'd just be thinking: "Holy crap, if I were on pretty much any other bike, I'd be in real trouble right now. I should really learn to brake better!"
As to the statistics, ABS bikes aren't as common as non-ABS bikes, so of course ABS-bike crashes make up a smaller percentage of crashes.
I'm not against ABS, per se, but personally, I'm going without it. This is a learner bike/commuter bike for me. What's the point in a learner bike if it doesn't teach me everything it possibly can (i.e; proper braking)?
As to the statistics, ABS bikes aren't as common as non-ABS bikes, so of course ABS-bike crashes make up a smaller percentage of crashes.
I'm not against ABS, per se, but personally, I'm going without it. This is a learner bike/commuter bike for me. What's the point in a learner bike if it doesn't teach me everything it possibly can (i.e; proper braking)?
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The main difference between ABS and non-ABS is that on the non-ABS, if you overdo it on the brakes, you'll probably fall off, on the ABS you probably won't. In most real road situations, you're going to be able to stop quicker on the ABS bike. Mine's non-ABS, because it was a second hand bargain, if I was buying new I'd go for the ABS model, it's only £150 extra over here. A no brainer, really. 
They aren't using the raw number of crashes, they're comparing crash rates as a percentage of how many bikes have ABS. Someone in IIHS is undoubtedly breaking it down further by age, experience, risk factors, displacement, etc. and they're still strongly recommending it be made mandatory across the board.
Of course you're going to need to be upright to be able to perform a panic stop. No amount of gadgetry will overcome the limited dynamics of a two-wheeled vehicle. But it's one less thing to screw up in a snap-SHTF moment. Just squeeze and stomp that bastard as hard as you can. People had the same reservations when automobile ABS was new.
That's funny because it's not true.
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The first sentence is false. The second sentence is obvious. The third sentence is false.
When car seat belt data first came out, it similarly showed significant decreases in mortality. I'm sure there were also a few logicians back then saying, "I'd rather not wear a seat belt, because it will make me complacent, and I'll think I don't have to drive well." Nonsense.
Yes, the rider is the biggest safety factor. But everyone writes big checks that may or may not clear the account at some point in their life. And lots of texting, left-turning morons write big checks against our accounts that we have no control over. I'll take superior safety skills AND superior safety equipment over superior safety skills alone every time.
The equipment dictates the safety procedures. This is true in aircraft, cars and cycles. An emergency stop in an aircraft, car, or cycle with ABS means hard, consistent brake application until stopped. There is little finesse on the pressure.
For the ABS rider, there is danger operating a vehicle without ABS and not having the skills to do so safely, but this is easily prevented by practicing emergency stops with maximum braking short of ABS actuation.
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I've said it before, and it bears repeating:
If you are determined to learn how to properly stop your motorcycle and willing to practice, you should never hear/feel the ABS engage. In that case, ABS gives you an extra layer of insurance.
If you think that ABS resolves you of the ability to learn how to operate your motorcycle properly, you are a pending statistic.
9 times out of 10 when you have to apply your brakes with any serious pressure on the street, it's due to a mistake in judgement - too fast into a curve, not watching traffic, etc. Your primary focus should be on three things:
Whether you have ABS or not, routinely pick a place (mine is on my way home from work, on a back country road, right before my last turn) where you can practice stopping - known brake application point, consistent speed, and good technique. If you're modulating the front brake correctly, near the end you will have no rear brake applied at all. Yes, I realize that this means my front brakes will have to be replaced sooner, and no, I don't care.
If you are determined to learn how to properly stop your motorcycle and willing to practice, you should never hear/feel the ABS engage. In that case, ABS gives you an extra layer of insurance.
If you think that ABS resolves you of the ability to learn how to operate your motorcycle properly, you are a pending statistic.
9 times out of 10 when you have to apply your brakes with any serious pressure on the street, it's due to a mistake in judgement - too fast into a curve, not watching traffic, etc. Your primary focus should be on three things:
- Operating your motorcycle in a manner that precludes panic stops - safe following distances, 12-second scan, logical prediction of vehicle movements, avoiding situations where drivers can't see you.
- Stopping your bike with consistency and skill - progressive application of the front brake and de-emphasis of the rear brake as the weight shifts.
- Weighing your other options - develop your situational awareness so that you can choose between braking and manuvering to avoid a hazard. ABS or not, you can change lanes a lot faster than you can stop.
Whether you have ABS or not, routinely pick a place (mine is on my way home from work, on a back country road, right before my last turn) where you can practice stopping - known brake application point, consistent speed, and good technique. If you're modulating the front brake correctly, near the end you will have no rear brake applied at all. Yes, I realize that this means my front brakes will have to be replaced sooner, and no, I don't care.
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NADA guides lists the average retail of a non-ABS CBR250R as $200 less than ABS, so $300-$400 of that investment erased in one year. A few more years and the difference will be negligible.
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Actually, in most real world riding situations, a non ABS CBR250R can and will be able to stop in a shorter distance than the ABS equipped bike, in the hands of an experienced rider. ABS will actually prevent maximum braking, which is achieved when braking just short of locking up. Braking distances are increased with ABS. Honda even states this in the O/M, page 11. That said, certainly ABS is a great feature for new riders. It would also have an advantage on wet roads, to prevent wheel lock up.
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This is a misconception. On any ABS equipped vehicle (plane, car, bike), the emergency stopping procedure is to firmly apply the brakes and let the technology do its job, NOT prevent the technology from working. Practice it regularly and get used to the ABS doing its job.
ALSO practice hard braking just shy of ABS engagement to build "routine" braking skills. But when a car turns left in front of you, mash the brakes.
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