Quote:
Originally Posted by CTCruiser
I would love here an explanation as to how such a obvious component as ABS brakes in the Cruiser/Tourer market could have been so completely over looked.
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Same reasons they're not available on all models of everyone else's bikes either.
It's still a relatively new technology for two wheels. Consistent, dependable behavior on a bike is more critical than if you have four wheels under you. As dougl noted, even the "big guys" have trouble with that sometimes...not just BMW, but also Honda, if I recall correctly from a couple of years back.
You can't just buy ABS hardware off the shelf, ready-made, one size fits all, either. It takes a bit of customization, and that requires R&D, and that means you're going to have to expect to sell enough of them to make that investment back. The Sprint and Tiger are substantially the same chassis, so one ABS can work on both with a bit of tweaking to account for suspension differences. Together, those two models sell somewhere around four times as many units each year as the Rocket family does. It's just barely viable on them from a dollar standpoint, and it's only been the last year or two that they've even made it available on those two models.
Those two models are also mid-size and middle weight, so it's somewhat easier to achieve the necessary precision there. On a very light bike like the Street Triple, to cite one extreme example, the problem is that the total bike+rider mass can vary so widely from ride to ride that it's hard for the antilock braking system to adapt. (Not to mention that model's sportbike ancestry, and neither sportbike riders nor hooligans particularly like anything interfering with their feel of the machine. Even though the Speed Triple is the same basic platform as the Sprint and Tiger, you'll notice they have not offered ABS on it yet, either.)
At the other end of the spectrum, namely the Rocket, there's an awful lot of energy to dissipate during most any braking action. Reliability becomes extra critical. Can you imagine being used to braking hard all the time to take advantage of the ABS, and then suddenly having it default to non-antilock mode right when you need it most? Locking up the rear wheel is kind of a thrill on the Rocket!
Then, too, Triumph have never tried to be the most modern at everything. The basic, no-nonsense nature of British bikes is part of their appeal. They make a decent effort to keep up with the times--Triumphs don't leak oil any more, start consistently, last for ages, etc.--but they make no pretense of being on the cutting edge of technology. Since there are so many other bikes in the world that don't have ABS yet either, I doubt that there was ever any feverish discussion in the design department about keeping up with the Joneses.
Now, the mandatory disclaimer for any nitpicky types who sometimes lurk among us and enjoy arguing about things no one has said: I'm not saying ABS is a bad idea in general; just answering the request for an
explanation of why Triumph hasn't made it available on all models yet. These are some of the fairly good reasons why Triumph hasn't jumped on the ABS bandwagon willy-nilly. In point of fact, I wouldn't mind having ABS myself on some types of bike, maybe even the Rocket--but only after I'm darned sure they've got it right!
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