How to ID an ST1300 ABS

[ST.George]

G'day STriders,

After reading thru the posts by BikeBugger recently one of the issues was an ABS light on a supposedly non-ABS bike.

Looking thru my Haynes manual I was unable to find any photos of ABS sensors. Why I am querying this is coz I bought my 2003 STeed a cupla years back, from a Honda mechanic in Qld. The bike was described and sold as non-ABS. However the rego papers said it is a 1300A and a sticker under the seat also states that it is a 1300A. Does the pic below show anything definitive that indicates ABS or not - is that a sensor on the fork?






Also there is no ABS light in my instruments that I have noticed so it's very likely not 2 b ABS.

So I thought if anyone can tell from these pix or has pix that clearly ID an ABS system that would be gr8.

[saaz]

I don't know on which side the sensor should be, but there will be an extra ring inside the rotor with lots of perforations (pulser ring) with a sensor that reads wheel rotation. If the other side of the front wheel looks like the right side shown, no ABS.

Just looked in the manual, and the pulser ring is on the right side pictured, so you don't have the A model (ABS)

Other bikes will vary. The FJR1300 for example, has the disk which is part of the ABS hidden under a cover on the left side front so you have to look closer for the ABS sensor.

[Gordo]

ST. George
If you look at the attached photo of my bike you can see the ring that saaz is referring to for the ABS. I think that the sensor you are referring to is a connection for the bikes linked braking system.

GORDO

[Gordo]

Try that again with the attachment this time.

GORDO

[alans1100]

ST. George
If you look at the attached photo of my bike you can see the ring that saaz is referring to for the ABS. I think that the sensor you are referring to is a connection for the bikes linked braking system.

GORDO

You should also have a sensor for the rear wheel with the mount possibly mounted on top of the final drive like they do with the 1100

[ST.George]

Gr8 stuff guys, thnxalot. 

Wyvern definitely not ABS and Wyvern says "That's good master coz when I wanna skid - man - I WANNA SKID!". I dunno about u guys, I'm not upset about not being ABS coz I remember on my pushie days as a teen I used to come to a far better controlled stop when traction is lost by steering into the slide and then accelerating when the direction was right. Come to think of it I did do something like that when I had my YammieDT360 dirt/trail. Hence ABS must be absolutely useless on a loose surface - correct?

[alans1100]

Hence ABS must be absolutely useless on a loose surface - correct?

Not completely useless......ABS just prevents wheel lock up but on a bike (at least with the ST) unless it's vertical straight line braking it won't make much difference. Depending on road surface etc. you may take longer or shorter to stop than a non-ABS equipped bike. Regardless you shouldn't rely on it and just maintain your usual braking method.

Where a lot of people get into trouble with is the CBS (combined) brakes which is standard on all 1300's so you no longer have independent front and rear braking.

[Biggles]

Where a lot of people get into trouble with is the CBS (combined) brakes which is standard on all 1300's so you no longer have independent front and rear braking.

After 124,000 kays on ABS ST13s, I'm still waiting for the braking system to let me down.  It's a marvel in the wet.  I don't do enough gravel roads to know if it would help me there.

[saaz]

ABS on the more modern bikes is fine in gravel, at least for a road bike. I have never come near having the ABS kick in on gravel roads, as you can brake pretty hard if you try, and the traction control for the rear wheel is hard to get kicking in (I know the ST1300 does not have traction control). I tend to try and not go near that limit in gravel and the wet through old fashioned restraint, but you can go a lot faster than you think. Combined braking also works fine, at least the Trophy system does, and I think even better than rear brake only.

On a dedicated dirt bike than having the ability to disable ABS and traction control can be a plus, but only for a rider that can use those extra limits to control the bike balancing the front and rear by controlled power. For most punters ABS is a far better bet in all conditions.