I want ABS
I understand why motorcycle manufacturers don’t bother to send their current standards to the US; if it isn’t a cool cruiser or an xtreme sportbike, no one buys it. This is hopefully going to change as more people are actually using their motorcycles (as opposed to the occasional weekend ride). What really bothers me is the lack of ABS options. This is once again a market-driven problem. Many motorcycle riders believe that ABS is either useless or only for newer, less skilled riders. The larger issue is that anything designed for safety is automatically uncool with the cruiser crowd. The sportbike crowd is at least accepting of some safety gear, most likely because many of them idolize the racetrack heros. I could write an entire post about the guys in shorts, flip-flops, and no helmet, but I’ll get back to my point. I love my CB750, but I’ve already locked the front a couple of times while hitting oil patches and such. It would be quite comforting to know that something was there to back me up in case the STOPNOWGRANNYTURNEDRIGHTINFRONTOFYOU panic keeps me from actually modulating my brakes. Highsides, I hear, are no fun.
So, here’s my problem. Retrofitting ABS onto the Nighthawk isn’t really an option. There are very few bikes available with ABS, and almost all are around $10k and up (new). Even disregarding price, most are either heavy touring bikes, ill-equipped for the small town commuting that I enjoy, a few sport bike offerings, or, of course, BMW. Suzuki, it turns out, offers two bikes that fall outside of these categories: the V-Strom and SV 650N. Both share a v-twin, which is supposedly a good motor, but unfortunately has less power and torque than my current ride. The Vstrom is a street-heavy “adventure” horse while the SV is a modified sports bike. I have sat on an SV and seriously considered a used model when I was first looking at bikes. While it seems like a good bike, it isn’t as comfortable as the NH, particularly since the footpegs are much closer to the seat. The Vstrom is more tempting, with a riding position like mine (still a crap stock saddle in my opinion, but that’s easy to change) and the dual-headlight fairing that would add to the bike’s usefullness. Both have a great aftermarket, as opposed to the nearly zero availability of NH parts. Unfortunately, not only would I be stepping down on power, I would be paying about 4x for the insurance without insuring the bike itself. Not really sure why slower bikes would injure others more often. Most of all, there’s the reliability issue, especially critical since I would be buying used. Despite their problems with the tech-heavy halo bikes, nothing beats a Honda for reliability. I was tempted by the BMW R1100R but the BMWs, despite a reputation of solid build and reliability that’s attached to anything German, break. Expensively. I recently ran accross an amusing illustration of this phenomenon on ADVRider; two guys expecting few dirt roads send their Nighthawks over to Russia to ride with a KTM and a BMW GS (big dirt bikes, essentially). Turns out they ran a significant amount of siberian “highway” that BMWs are made for. Except the Eurobikes break, repeatedly and the Hondas keep going. So, this brings me to my ultimate point. I want to live the life afforded to the Europeans by Honda. I want my bike, only better. I want an ABS-equipped CB1300F.
Tags: transport