UIUC Motorcycle Rider Program Director John Sudlow and Assistant Program Director David Saam demonstrate the effectiveness of ABS on March 14, 2009. This is a demonstration that was modeled after the one presented at the State Motorcycle Safety Administrators Conference in 2008. A long strip of sand is placed onto the pavement. Dave accelerates to a speed of approximately 30 MPH and maintains until he reaches the sand strip, and applies maximum braking. Note the fact that his bike stays upright, in a straight line, and he comes to a complete and safe stop, despite being on a low traction surface. For those of you that think that ABS is unnecessary or will not save lives, this video clearly presents evidence to the contrary. While many ABS doubters will claim they can pulse their brakes or apply them "with the right amount of force" to avoid crashing, I doubt that claim. Perhaps they can perform the feat successfully in a controlled test, it is highly unlikely that in an uncontrolled and immediate situation that anyone can monitor, detect and compensate for wheel slippage 24-100 times per second. Dave's BMW adjusts and compensates 4 times per second, which is both audible and visible during this video. ABS is a solid and proven safety feature and one that everyone should pay serious consideration to adding to a new bike purchase.
