An average rider that has been riding a few years can stop a hair faster without ABS. The great thing about ABS is you take the same average rider that's tired or not fully concentrating on the road and his perception and reaction time are slowed and he may hit the front brake a little to hard or run over a few rocks in the road and it's ass over tea kettle. With ABS you just see and grab with no real repercussions. Without ABS grabbing the front brake while feathering the rear brake takes concentration to stop as fast as the ABS but it can and has been done. I had my first ABS on my 2014 Rocket and it took a little getting use to as I didn't feel like I had control over braking. In reality I didn't need to as ABS really does it all for you but once again, a hair shorter stopping distance without it. I am now a proponent for ABS as I ain't getting any younger so any help is appreciated. Cheers.