Call it whatever you want. It might be something new, but it might not be progress. Reading many comments here, a lot of folks are saying we are going backwards.
My 1983 XS400 made 45 hp when new. We have progressed so much, that none of the new 399 and under bikes make 45 hp.
If ABS is great: why can't we find a reliable rating system? Top ten ABS systems. Some say BMW systems are really good. How does that translate into a comparison to other bikes? How do we know the ABS system on the bike we just bought, is as good as another bike. I watched a test of none ABS, with training wheels, versus a bike with ABS. They used an SV1000S like mine. You can not turn off the ABS on that bike. I suspect some trickery.
ABS has to be a bit like traction control in reverse. We know that getting traction control correct is difficult, because the MotoGP teams tell us it is one of the most difficult things to do. They wisely do not use ABS. If traction control has its problems, ABS must have its problems. How do we know it is working properly. Ever tried to adjust it?
Most of the positive reviews come from younger folk, who have mostly never practiced extreme braking, and never experienced a lot of dirt riding, and locking the wheels. Plus the magazine folks who flog everything as progress.
We have gone from adjusting valves on a lazy afternoon, at home for free, to having no idea how to adjust the valves, and or buying a shim kit for $125, or paying the bike shop $500 to adjust the valves. That is progress.
We do not have to refer to Margez. Any expert rider, who has raced against other expert riders, and placed reasonably well, will have a good idea of how to stop.
If you ride defensively, and sensibly, the need for the absolute bestess in braking is not an absolute requirement. Besides, I am going to guess that there are only a few here, riding a bike with the bestess in brakes.
And then there are the tyres. Did you pick them for their braking ability, or the number of miles they will last? Or what they do in the rain? The bike magazines are still using 60 and 100 as their main units for braking distances.
ABS will not fix the problem of a rider entering a corner to fast, going to wide, and nailing something solid. Their target fixation may cause them to grab the front brake, as hard as they can, and I suppose praying.
What Critter said, way up there.
UK