VOL. 54 ISSUE 25 JUNE 27, 2017 P117
MSC (MOTORCYCLE STABILITY CONTROL).
M
ost motorcycle accidents and
fatalities happen from riders who
grab too much front brake midcorner
and either fall down or the bike stands
up and goes wide. Bosch wanted to
develop systems that would make
cornering a motorcycle safer.
Motorcycle Stability Control deals
with some of the latest real world
rider aides of our time. Electronic
Combined Brake Systems (eCBS—a
system that electronically applies
rear brake to your machine when the
system deems it beneficial), ABS with
lean-angle sensitivity, traction control
with lean-angle sensitivity, rear-wheel
lift control, and wheelie control were
some of the systems we were going
to test to their absolute maximum
parameters. Oh dear.
We headed to Bosch's enormous
skid pad to test the various types of
ABS and MSC systems, and each
of our fleet of top-shelf motorcycles
came equipped with various systems.
Some had simple ABS, some enjoyed
full eCBS linked braking systems,
while others had with rear-
wheel lift control fitted.
The linked eCBS was
far less intrusive and scary
than I thought it'd be.
Under hard front braking
at full lean angle and while
still scraping my knee, the
bike would just slow down at a mas-
sive rate, with no front tuck and the
rear wheel remained planted and tidy.
Outrageous.
At the end of our sessions, I
thought I'd get more cheeky and
physically try to lock up some wheels.
With all my strength, I pulled and
pushed down on brake levers to no
avail. The bikes slowed, and my leath-
ers never got scuffed.
While testing each additional varia-
tion—be it simple ABS or enhanced
ABS—overall, every system worked as
they were designed. I must say I was
happily surprised at how far motor-
cycle braking aides have come and
where they aim to go. I used to hate
ABS on motorcycles with a passion,
now I'm thinking if they can keep a
rider with my experience from crash-
ing even when he's trying to, imagine
the number accidents that could be
avoided by the public at large.
Motorcycle ABS units
have steadily decreased
in size since the late 90s.
They will only get smaller
in the coming years.
Hitting the brakes as
hard as you like in the
middle of the corner
can't fool the Cornering
ABS system, which is
standard fitment on
bikes like the KTM
1290 Super Duke GT.
