ABS not working?

[Michiel900GT]

Every now and then I like to practice a few of the basic maneuvers like riding an 8 figure, short turns and emergency braking. Just to keep the feeling with the bike.

Today I practiced emergency stops at speeds between 30 to 60 km per hour (18 - 37 miles per hour). At 55km per hour I hit the brakes and to my suprise I didn’t feel the ABS kicking in on the front brakes and I actually did a front wheel stoppie. I did a few extra runs and I could definitely feel the ABS on the rear brake but not on the front brake. And given the fact that I actually did a series of front wheel stoppies (never happend to me before, I do not dare to think what will happen at higher speeds) I started wondering if the ABS might be broken. 

On the dashboard no ABS warning light is burning (it does burn when I turn on the bike, and goes off when I drive faster than 6 miles. That’s normal).

Edited July 29, 2020 by Michiel900GT

[roadrash83]

Have you bleed the brake system or replaced the brake lines?

[HGP61]

Dosn't the ABS system only kick in when the wheels stop rotating, If it was working properly on a dry tarmac surface and you were stopping it must be ok. 

[FJ29ER]

If both wheel speeds do not match the ABS will "butt" in. That is why if you try to skid it wont allow you too because the rear wheel is trying to rotate slower then the front.

If you were in the dirt and just grabbed the front brake then it will "butt" in. If you tried to do a nose wheelie at 10+MPH it would not let you. By saying "stoppie" I assume you were almost to a complete stop when the rear tire lifted. It wont "butt" in at a near stop. I have been able to skid a few feet when going below 5 mph just enough to look cool lol

[Soullancer]

 

Does the stoppy happen at the end of your braking when coming to a halt or immediately at the beginning of braking?

Stoppy means your front wheel has grip!! Alot of it. If it starts sliding, grip is gone.. 

Don't expect it to go sliding on dry asfalt to be honest (and ask for the abs to kick in). That's more something for the rear wheel as you figure out the weight distribution and thus braking balance between front/back.

 

In this case I think it's a combination of getting your suspension right, and using the right technique.

 

It involves leaning backward a little and keeping your arms in the right position. Don't get your weight over or near the tank.

 

[betoney]

1 hour ago, Michiel900GT said:

Today I practiced emergency stops at speeds between 30 to 60 km per hour (18 - 37 miles per hour). At 55km per hour I hit the brakes and to my suprise I didn’t feel the ABS kicking in on the front brakes and I actually did a front wheel stoppie.

To check your front ABS, ride in grass, dirt or gravel and grab the lever, make sure to have both feet down like outriggers.

I am very surprised how much grip the front tire has, I was bedding in new brake pads on a rainy day, several very hard pulls on the lever and the ABS never activated on the wet pavement. 

[Michiel900GT]

I did the stops on a dry tarmac with lots of grip (around 23 degrees Celsius / 73 Fahrenheit). The stoppie happend when I almost came to a stop, with the rear brake vibrating due to the ABS.

I expected the ABS to kick in on the front brakes, as I braked pretty hard. However, I didn’t leave any (visible) rubber marks on the tarmac which might indicate that my front wheel wasn’t locking and ABS didn’t have to kick in.

I don’t know....Maybe it is just me. It just felt different than other times I practiced emergency braking. And I would rather discover something is wrong with the ABS during practice than finding out when you really need it.

@Soullancer I do believe that the front suspension is really too soft and it needs adjustments. The bike really nose dived way more than I would like it to do.

@roadrash83 I didn’t bleed the brake system. Only thing I did was loosen the bolts on the right caliper to install the Roadlok, which didn’t work out so I removed it. No further actions from me on the brakes.

[Motocheck]

I was feeling the same as posted by OP. Wasn’t able to find a way to make sure front ABS is working until one day coming hot into a corner and grab hard on front brakes before entering and yeah front ABS kicks in. Honestly the ABS vibration feeling was too weird for me. 
This is my first bike with ABS 😊

[Stew]

13 minutes ago, Motocheck said:

I was feeling the same as posted by OP. Wasn’t able to find a way to make sure front ABS is working until one day coming hot into a corner and grab hard on front brakes before entering and yeah front ABS kicks in. Honestly the ABS vibration feeling was too weird for me. 
This is my first bike with ABS 😊

It is wierd, but you get used to it. Use the back brake, it kicks in quickly, so you can get the feel of it.
The first time I tried it, on my old FJ1200, the brake lever started pulsing so I let go the brakes again. Once you get used to it, it is awesome , but I hope none of us ever end up in a situation where we need it.

[dazzler24]

6 hours ago, betoney said:

To check your front ABS, ride in grass, dirt or gravel and grab the lever, make sure to have both feet down like outriggers.

As per the above quote... get into some loose dirt or grass etc and try it.  You'll know if they're working then and you don't even have to be going too fast for the test.

I recently changed my brake lines to braided and bled the entire brake system and needed to check the ABS function afterwards and to ensure all air was removed.  The above test was sufficient and repeatable for the front for me.  Rear is easy to do on any surface.

[Wintersdark]

8 hours ago, Michiel900GT said:

Every now and then I like to practice a few of the basic maneuvers like riding an 8 figure, short turns and emergency braking. Just to keep the feeling with the bike.

Today I practiced emergency stops at speeds between 30 to 60 km per hour (18 - 37 miles per hour). At 55km per hour I hit the brakes and to my suprise I didn’t feel the ABS kicking in on the front brakes and I actually did a front wheel stoppie. I did a few extra runs and I could definitely feel the ABS on the rear brake but not on the front brake. And given the fact that I actually did a series of front wheel stoppies (never happend to me before, I do not dare to think what will happen at higher speeds) I started wondering if the ABS might be broken. 

On the dashboard no ABS warning light is burning (it does burn when I turn on the bike, and goes off when I drive faster than 6 miles. That’s normal).

To test to be sure, don't use the rear brake and, at reasonable speed, hit the front on dirt.  See if it turns on.

It generally will only trigger on the front if the front stops turning *while the back is turning*. 

It should not trigger during a stoppie as during a stoppie the front wheel is still turning. Activating ABS in this situation would be counterproductive as you'd increase braking distance.  

 

Edit:this is all pretty normal.  On any reasonably sport centric bike (that isn't insanely heavy or long anyways) on dry pavement you'll always lift the rear before losing traction on the front.  Thus ultimately in any maximized braking scenario, your braking performance is limited to (basically) 1G, at which point the forces forwards are overcoming gravity and you just roll over the front wheel.

If you just grab a fistful of front you can break it loose, but if you apply braking pressure gradually (like you always and only should) you shouldn't be able to lose traction in normal, straight line circumstances.

 

Edited July 30, 2020 by Wintersdark

[Michiel900GT]

Well, thanks for all the responses. I guess my previous motorbikes were not so eager to lift the back, but they weren't very sporty either. 

Just to be on the safe side (and have a good excuse to take a short ride in today's beautiful weather) I took the bike to the dealer to have either some peace of mind or have it fixed in case something needed to be fixed. Turns out, only my head needed some fixing 😃

The mechanic took my bike for a short test, and boy did he put it to the test. I could barely watch as he made a few high speed stops....oh my poor bike....But the ABS works fine. 

Now another quest lies ahead: how to tune my front suspension. I already thought my suspension was very soft but after doing some hard braking I realised that the bike is really prone to nose diving. Ah well, with the weekend coming up I hope I can find some time to start studying the ins and outs of suspension.

(Which reminds me, back in 2001 I had my Yamaha XJ 900S upgraded with WP suspension. It turned out to be a completely different bike after that....)

[betoney]

2 hours ago, Michiel900GT said:

Now another quest lies ahead: how to tune my front suspension. I already thought my suspension was very soft but after doing some hard braking I realised that the bike is really prone to nose diving. Ah well, with the weekend coming up I hope I can find some time to start studying the ins and outs of suspension.

These is a lot of great information on this forum, many owners have upgraded their suspension,  You don't need to break the bank, just getting the correct spring rate front and rear makes a noticeable difference.  You have read it here before that suspension will be the best money you can spend on your bike.  If you have questions, please ask.

[Wintersdark]

16 hours ago, Michiel900GT said:

Well, thanks for all the responses. I guess my previous motorbikes were not so eager to lift the back, but they weren't very sporty either. 

Just to be on the safe side (and have a good excuse to take a short ride in today's beautiful weather) I took the bike to the dealer to have either some peace of mind or have it fixed in case something needed to be fixed. Turns out, only my head needed some fixing 😃

The mechanic took my bike for a short test, and boy did he put it to the test. I could barely watch as he made a few high speed stops....oh my poor bike....But the ABS works fine. 

Now another quest lies ahead: how to tune my front suspension. I already thought my suspension was very soft but after doing some hard braking I realised that the bike is really prone to nose diving. Ah well, with the weekend coming up I hope I can find some time to start studying the ins and outs of suspension.

(Which reminds me, back in 2001 I had my Yamaha XJ 900S upgraded with WP suspension. It turned out to be a completely different bike after that....)

Yeah, the base springs are super soft (like for a 140lb rider) and often the stock suspension settings are squishy as well.

 

When I bought mine, I could bottom out the forks by braking.  While I don't have my new springs yet (lost in the mail and refunded, alas) having set up the suspension at least stops the diving.

[betoney]

10 hours ago, Wintersdark said:

I don't have my new springs yet (lost in the mail and refunded, alas)

That sucks.  Sorry to hear that.