What would you put into a "3rd Generation" VMax?

[twistedmax]

it has ABS , wish I could turn it off

 

[Itgoes]

I've got the track time proving ... my threshold braking beats ABS 'puters every time.

I can believe that.....on a track. The street is completely different. You've got gravel, slick spots, rain and immovable objects like cars and trucks that turn in front of you. My guess is that in a panic situation and faced with imminent contact with something, more than 90% of riders will grab the brake and continue to squeeze until the front wheel locks and sends theme sliding down the street.....Iv'e seen it happen more than once.Your instinct when faced with an stationary object in front of you is to pull the lever and keep increasing the force in order to stop short. ABS will always keep you from a skid and fall.......and in almost all street circumstances will not increase your stopping distances.

 

[MaxMidnight]

Wot he said.....+1

 

[jbretthorton]

+2 what Mark said....
I am a FIRM believer in ABS on the street.
And I also track ride as well and consider myself a good rider....
But when faced with a dumb ass pulling directly in front of you, I feel you need every available help you can get...

 

[yubamike]

A 6+ gallon gas tank and a 6th gear. Make it lighter. 240 rear tire stock. About another 30hp. Move the info display up by the speedo. I'll keep the ABS but don't add any other nannies ( traction control, engine modes, electronic suspension ). It is after all, a VMax. You had better know what you're doing and have some respect before you pull the trigger!

 

[Rusty McNeil]

Just my humble opinion. Based on cars not bikes. No idea if this applied to bikes.

ABS is proven technology that will out do any human alive when it comes to squeezing maximum braking power out of a system and ease up just short of lockup, and it does it 100's of times a second.
No human can beat that.

As mentioned earlier throw in all the variables that come the tires way due to road conditions during an emergency stop and it's hands down a better way to do the job.


If this carries over to bikes I have no clue.

Having said all that I don't think I would want it on a track bike used under predictable conditions.

 

[Hellboy]

I know the V-max is not an off-road bike, but many of us venture down the occasional dirt or gravel road and I can tell you that ABS is crap in that situation. That is why BMW and many other adventure bike companies tell you to turn it off when not on a paved road.
You also don't have to be a racer to be good at breaking and/or want to have the full feel of the brake levers. ABS certainly has it's place for some riders but I've never in 36 years of road riding, crashed or fallen, and I've never had ABS. You should always ride to the conditions and your own skill level. Brakes are only one reason you might fall due to oil or gravel on a road, your probably much more likely to fall turning at an intersection were all of the cars sit there and drip oil and other fluids all over the place. ( no emergency situation at all) than you are when coming up to a stop on a bike without abs.

P.S. I have ridden many bikes with ABS, I just haven't owned one. I've also never had it kick in on me due to the fact that I am braking properly in the first place.

 

[Chopcor]

I too have never had an ABS equipped bike until this Max, and have never had an issue, but I will say the ABS saved my ass a couple weeks ago when an idiot cager did a left turn in front of me. Had I been on my 85 max, I would almost certainly have T-boned the moron in the passenger door. The ABS got me stopped 6" short of hitting him, and I was only doing 35 mph at the time. So, I am a believer. :biglaugh: it works, and is unobtrusive 99% of the time.

 

[Rusty McNeil]

I totally get the in appropriateness of abs for dirt riding. Lots of times in dirt riding you WANT the brakes to lock up, particularly the rear, in order to execute a turn. I rode/owned an XR650 for a few years and I'd have to say abs would have sucked most the time.

 

[Chopcor]

You had better know what you're doing and have some respect before you pull the trigger![/QUOTE]

Amen to that!

 

[Hellboy]

Unfortunately, not so far in the future they will remove the choice and we will all have to learn to live with it even if we'd rather not. Who knows, maybe if it actually saves me sometime, I'll change my mind.

Matt

 

[wild8900]

I'm with everyone else on the bigger gas tank.
I fucking hate having it underneath the seat.
But put that sucker on the top - Then I'd have a wider selection of seat styles.