Fort Worth Motorcycle Riders

My 4 wheeled car must have seat belts, airbags, traction control, and ABS. But my 200hp 2 wheeled motorcycle (if I had one) needs none of these, plus I don't even have to wear a helmet anymore. ABS is now a requirement in Europe since 2016. I know it's not cost what with economies of scale and the availability of said systems already in Europe. I don't think it's that people don't want it, you can turn it off if you want on most every system. I can't get an R3 with ABS at all, not offered, but standard in Europe. The new R6 has ABS standard, TC too, and most KTM street cycles have ABS standard. When will the US catch up to the Europeans? You know it will be required here eventually. Not enough dead people yet?

I don't understand the logic of ABS on a motorcycle to being with. Here in the US, very few riders will go out in rough weather. My guess is less than 5% will choose to ride in the rain. How many lives would be saved by ABS? How many lives were lost solely due to have a tire lock up under hard braking? From my understanding, very very few of the overall fatalities yearly for motorcycles.

Americans still want to be free, not nannied. The fact that the same company, building bikes side by side, choose not to even offer in the US tells you that their market research tells them not enough people would want it to make it a viable choice.

Given the choice, most consumers of modern vehicles would rather save the money than get those features. I will bet, that with the exclusion of a 3 point belt and a frontal airbag, most conusmers would tell you to take the rest out, remove the government emissions items on it, and save me the $6000. I know I opted out of several nanny features, that I could have gotten, but didn't want to spend the extra money on when I just bought my Tahoe.

I hope it never does become mandatory here. Just another thing I don't want, adding weight, cost, and complexity to a vehicle that doesn't need it.

Less government, more freedom!

I have to say I have had abs save my ass several times when people pulled out in front of me

Why don't we make it a requirement for a five point harness in all cars. Let's start saving everyone!

With 3 point belts, crumple zones and airbags, 5 point harnesses are overkill.

And yes ABS saved my bacon a couple of times for sure, and both instances were in the dry, one on the track.

I just want a 4 or 3 cylinder, under 600cc, with ABS and traction control, ride modes would be nice for that rare occasion I get get caught out in the rain, that I don't have to spend $12,200 on a new cycle to get. The used market has some options but they are few and far between for sure.

I've never used ride mode on my GSXR

I've never switched out of track mode on the ape, even in the rain.

TC on a bike with under 600cc doesn't make much sense to me, the only bikes I've ridden with enough power to break traction was the 750cc when I had on shit tires, the ape, and the GS. The 600cc in my garage runs good for a 600cc but I call it the gutless wonder of the world, unless your running around at 12,000 rpm all the time there isn't enough power to do much of anything except for maybe spin it up on sand. Below 12,000 rpm I want to get off and push.

It's more of a just in case safety net, I may never use it, but if I do I will be glad for the features. I'm researching a track bike and that's what brought these issues to mind. I will be looking for a 2013-2015 636 as this is the only Japanese offering that meets my needs.

I am sure if you went to a dealership and said you wanted the traction control version that they have in Europe they could find a way to get one shipped. Not sure how much it would cost but if that is what you really want I think they would find a way to make it happen for you. I could be completely off though.

The only times I can ever recall locking up the wheels was when I was trying to do and endo and my one wrecka. Regarding the wrecks, ABS would not have helped, as there was barely enough time to hit the brakes.

The only reason for TC to me, is for the high HP bikes that simply can not be controlled by hand because the throttle is too twitchy with so much power available.

5-point harnesses are not a good idea on the street for the simple reason is that it's too hard to get the person out of the vehicle in the event of a crash. If the locking mechanism gets jammed you have 5 belts to cut and they are typically much thicker or wider than standard seat belts. They also limit your movement too much and no auto tensioners. Standard seat belts there are only 2 belts to cut. For racing modifying safety equipment is the norm. I wouldn't want to modify the safety equipment of a street vehicle especially because your insurance could invalidate a claim because you made the vehicle "less safe" or modified DOT equipment by installing non-DOT belts. For an occasional track day car, use a removeable harness that attaches to via snaphooks and ring mounts because I would want to move the harness far enough out of the way as not to sit on it when not using it. Race harnesses also have a 2-year expiration date to comply with racing standards.

ABS: The only major issue I have with my CBR 1000rr is that the ABS often glitches and then defaults to the "standard" brake mode. The second required to change from ABS to standard brake mode can be of the longest moments of your life as you squeeze nothing happens until perhaps too abruptly the brakes come back on line in non abs mode. When that happened on my first track day on the approach to Buzzard neck at MSRC I had one of those Holy F+c! moments and was able to negotiate a 2005 R6 into the garage to take to the track. On the other hand, 20+ years ago ABS may have saved my LTD 550 from the junk pile and me from my first failed flight lesson!