Electronic aids?

[Skeptisk]

I started biking in the 90s so I am used to bikes with no electronic aids. However more recent bikes have had lean sensitive ABS and traction control.

I haven’t been able to own a bike for a couple of years but we are moving back to the U.K. this year so can start thinking of buying a bike again.

I quite fancy an original R1 or K5/K6 GSXR1000. However my inner pussy is thinking that perhaps I should get something new with the full suite of rider safety aids.

If you currently ride new bikes, would you go back to one without the electronic aids?

(I must be getting really old as also contemplating for the first time a GS!)

[Skeptisk]

Probably most of the time would be dry weather road riding with possibly some light touring (rucksack plus one or two nights). That wouldn’t exclude having to ride in the rain.

[Skeptisk]

black-k1 said:

Initially I thought this was an Ann Summers tread but hey ho ...

I have been saved a few times by riding aids when something totally unexpected happened and thus want them on any new bikes I buy but, if I was buying an old bike that didn't have them than I'd not let that stop me.

I suppose the contradiction in my mind is that I wouldn’t buy a new bike without them…yet I’m not applying that logic to old bikes…

I suppose the problem is that there are quite a few old bikes I would prefer to own than newer bikes.

[Skeptisk]

the cueball said:

I find the mentality around the electronics quite interesting..

I hear many a hero going on about how the t/c kicked in, they needed the ABS on that corner and OHHH MAWWWW GWAAAD the anti wheelie saved them..

I'm sitting there on my bike with no help, no ABS, no aids, on the same roads, doing the same things and have no drama at all.

I think most of them are full of it... they feel like it's some sort of macho thing to have your dashboard blinking lights at you rather than riding the bloody bike..

I could be a riding god of course... there is that..

It didn’t seem like people were bragging about the electronics saving them.

The electronics can change your riding style as you can be less vigilant, which is perhaps not a good thing.

I’m not sure if the electronics have actually saved me or whether I would have dealt with the loss of grip/traction anyway.

[Skeptisk]

black-k1 said:

This is 100% the case. There's a huge difference between getting the lights flashing and the riding aids actually saving you. I know ABS has saved me on a couple of occasions in the last 30 years. On those occasions something totally unexpected happened on wet roads at nigh and I grabbed a fist full of front brake. Had I not had ABS I am 100% convinced I would have been on the floor. I know I shouldn't have simply grabbed a first full but in such situations none of us can be 100% sure how we'll react.

I have unintentionally fired the ABS off a few more times than that but I'm not sure those situations would have resulted in an accident if I hadn't had ABS. Close calls likely, but probably not an accident.

I've only once fired off traction control where it may possibly have saved me but, as above, getting the lights flashing is not too hard especially if I up the intervention level.

But, looking at it the other way, there have been a few incidents related on here where electronic aids would almost definitely have saved the day, and that's even with some very experienced riders. That's why I wouldn't buy a new bike without including every electronic aid available. However, I'd still happily buy a second hand bike I wanted even if it didn't have such rider aids.

ABS would definitely have saved me from my first crash. My first bike was a knackered C70 (which my older brother bought and insured…well he told me he had got insurance…for about £100 “borrowed” off my nan…don’t judge, I was young!). Decided to ride from South London to Berkhamsted to see a friend for the weekend. On the way back the bike kept playing up - stalling as I was going around Hyde Park wasn’t much fun. By the time I got within 400m of my brother’s flat I was knackered and not concentrating properly. Wet roads and overreaction to an oncoming car saw me grab the front brake - with obvious consequences.