What a difference a tire makes!
Ishrub,great info,but how far can we go with non abs equipped rockets before we shoot ourselves in the foot
 
Good point and I was keen to get the ABS equipped Roadster when I bought my used Rocket. With an ABS or non-ABS equipped bike, the better the tire the less likely a situation arises that requires it. It is less likely for ABS to activate as better tires do not lose traction as easily as poorer performing tires on a good surface. ABS or better tire performance is not a failsafe however, as if your road speed is higher when you encounter a bad surface or material on the road that causes extreme loss of traction/contact you may be travelling at a higher speed than would have been the case with less trust inducing rubber and your ability to react in time to avoid a fall or obstacle may still be compromised. Braking is also only one of the inputs between road and rubber to cause loss of traction. Excess throttle, lean angle and contact patch are not addressed by ABS at all unless the brakes are applied and even then it varies in its effectiveness by design and features engineered into it. Early ABS on bikes like the BMW late '80's K100s was fairly rudimentary with much slower modulation and truly effective only when upright and travelling in straight line. I would expect the R3 version to be similar but the more informed may chime in. I still appreciate the extra margin it provides for my lack of skill and/or potential lack/loss of 100% attention.

You still need to ride to the conditions and allow a margin for unforeseen circumstances unless you are on a controlled surface like a race track. Very highly skilled racers do not generally use ABS as they rely on skill and their ability to modulate brake pressure and use the throttle and brakes to control wheel spin as Freddy Spencer and his peers mastered in the 1980's.
 
YES the 140 front tires work great like you say feels like a different bike I havnt tried the avon yet but others seem to like them
 
WEVE raced for years without the electronic controls that come on the new bikes I ride with a crew of sportbikers and all of the bikes have as many as 5 riding modes BUT they are still crashing on a regular basis I watched one guy flip over in front of me after he put the bike in race mode broke his ankle and collar bone and was trapped under the bike I had to lift it off him So much for those little short sportbikes
 
YES you can lower the fender by drilling new holes
 
I decided I wanted a lighter looking front fender so got a glass one in from the U.K. it was very well made BUT ! when I mounted it on the bike it just didn't look right, first I cursed that I'd spent $ on something that didn't work and was all wrong
But then just looking at it (As I do) I realised that sitting it lower on the forks so as not to have that big gap, the radius of the Fender didn't match the Radius of the tyre (I should say here that I fitted the 140 section tyre some years ago, would never go back to the 150)
So I put the standard Fender back on but was back to the original problem of too much gap




Maybe it's not so bad, but at first impressions I wasn't happy.
I must say that this is because of the smaller tyre, nothing to do with the Fender itself.
The quality of the product was excellent.
Total cost landed here in NZ, NZ$140.00, US$100.00.
 
IMFASTTOO said:
YES you can lower the fender by drilling new holes
Click to expand...

Sooo, you installed 140 ?? 17.

I just installed a Shinko Journey 150 80 17 Same as on the Valkirie. Big improvement from the stock Metz. Easier side to side roll and feels more forgiving in the bumps. We'll see when it has 5000k on it.
 


Yea Paul, that looks good with the 140 tire - I don't like the way the 140 looks with my stock fender leaving too much gap. Like you though - Never going back to a 150
 
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