Husqvarna Nuda 900 and Nuda 900R

That was my issue when I test rode the F800R - plenty of torque, but a heavy flywheel and the motor didn't exactly like to rev. Yeah, it went ok, but it wasn't real playful.

Cool looking bike, but I don't think I could get with a bike named after a brand of condom. :huh

Press intro going on in Sardinia - we will have some ride reports very soon.

In the meantime... it's easy to see that the target for this bike is the European motard/crossover, Hyper 796 buying, younger demographic:

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Still very cool, even all street legal and stuff.

I like the touring setu but whats with the afterthought front fender?

Why would you want ABS on a bike like this?

Because over here they will be used heavily as city commuters and there's always at least one idiot that'll cut you off. You can talk about honing your braking skills all you want but ABS helps in the type of usage this bike will see in Europe.

Also because it's a matter of demand. The buying public wants ABS. Dealers find it very hard to push non-ABS street going bikes these days (sport bikes being the exception to that rule and even they come with ABS these days).

On a big heavy bike I can see the need or desire to have ABS. NOT on a light Street fighter type bike like this.

What an abortion! Makes the new V-Strom 650 look like an MV Agusta.

right back at ya

You don't live where we do therefore you don't get it.

Try commuting in our cities and tell me you have no desire for ABS, regardless of bike size.

Also, you left out part two. Demand...it's as simple as that. Those who buy want ABS therefore the bikes come with ABS.

I have and do commute and ride all over Europe. I have no desire now nor have I ever done for abs. People believing ABS will save them and then riding with increased confidence and less care and feel is more dangerous. Yes this is just my opinion.
Manufacturers are building bikes with abs because the the all knowing dictatorship of the EU parliament are about to make it mandatory. The rest of my post belongs in YM.

I have to disagree.

Mind you, i'm not saying that i believe that without ABS i'm dead. My Tiger doesn't have ABS. My Daytona doesn't either. And yes, i agree with you that in many cases ABS can lead to sloppy riding. I saw a moron just this morning that would've locked up and crashed if he didn't have ABS because he was riding like a douche and was too close to the car in front of him.

However...i have seen non-ABS bikes languish in showrooms because people now for the most part have been convinced that ABS is necessary. Look at the threads here where people say they wouldn't consider bike X because ABS isn't available.

You might not want ABS. I might not care either way. Others do and supply must reflect demand.

P.S. Your RT is non-ABS? Damn, i thought the base model BMW was an urban legend

But....how are you supposed to stoppie up to every stop sign and back it into parking spots if you have abs?

That is why you want the option of turning the abs off. But as I understand it that is not an option for European sold bikes anymore or is it?

Unfortunately there is no option for ABS or not on the RT so I live with it, but I have to say because the RT is heavier the ABS doesn't cut in like other BMW models at unwanted times. The F800 was so bad I sold it before I ended up running off the road or worse because there was a minuscule bump in the road!
You are absolutely correct about buyers, the abs hype has driven consumers to demand it. So why make a law to mandate it I wonder?

:huh
Are you serious? From everything I have heard seen and read... Riding over there is MUCH safer than over here.

On a bike like this one I don't care where I ride it. I have "NO DESIRE FOR ABS" On a heavier bike I do like it. (I have owned 4 bikes with ABS brakes so I am not speaking out of ignorance here) Most over here do NOT want ABS on their bikes. They prefer to simply learn how to ride.

This post from a thread about the 2012 Speed Tripple has it right.

I think ABS is great, but I wouldn't buy a bike that I might ride off road that did not allow it to be turned off! And I would definitely be sliding this around in the dirt!

Seen and heard, have you?

Dead fucking serious...i commute on a bike day in and day out and there isn't a single day that someone doesn't try to take me out. Not one.

It doesn't matter what you want or not. I look at people here and they want ABS.

And kindly spare me the crap about "they simply do not want ABS on their bikes". Look at how many people jeered when Kawasaki brought over the Z1000SX without the ABS option.

And since when the fuck does wanting ABS on your bike mean you can't ride?

Oh good - a thread about ABS! We were missing one of those...

What has the weight of the bike got to do with it? If you lose the front what are you going to do, catch the bike with your legs because it is so light? As long as you can turn it off when you want, why would you not prefer to have ABS? Oh right... you "learned how to ride."

Tell you what, let's do an experiment.. night time, a curvy unfamiliar road. We are not being "hooligans" or anything, just going home. I'll spill some diesel on the road at a corner entrance, right where you get on the brakes, and you don't know where. I'd love to see how you with your ninja skills would ride a bike without ABS in such conditions. You'd be going at a snail pace, never touching the front brake, because you know that if you lose the front on a bike you go down in 99% of cases - it is basic one-track vehicle physics.

ABS can prevent that in a lot of real life situations. When you are using the bike for transportation, as opposed to being on the track, in a canyon or stunting, then it seems like a no brainer to me.

With that said, I don't think it should be mandatory and it should always be possible to disable it, but if they are going to make something mandatory I'd rather it be ABS than some bullshit HP or displacement limit.

Hang on a mo,, let me see what was at item 2 on the EU agenda......................

Their demo truck visited here, and after a test ride I used their survey iPad to tell them to bring the fucking ABS version.

The US gets the Ninja1000 with ABS for 2012.