ABS Sensitivity

PomGP · Jun 16, 2014

How sensitive is the ABS on your bike?
My Strada seems to activate on the rear wheel for next to nothing. I must admit that some of the black top roads in South Africa are not good and are rippled or bumpy, bot quire often whilst braking normally the rear wheel ABS kicks in with even the slightest chatter from the road surface.

What setting for the ABS is the most sensitive? Perhaps I should turn it down from 1.

Suggestions please guys.

Thanks.

zippy49 · Jun 17, 2014

Owner's manual, page 85. 1 is the medium setting, 2 has more intervention and zero is off. Maybe you are using a bit too much rear brake; the Strada's center of gravity is quite high and there would not be much weight on the rear under hard braking.

For most riding I find that the engine makes enough compression braking that I very rarely use the brakes at all, unless coming to a stop.

BTW my settings are "Touring" mode with TC at 3, ABS at 1, and engine power at "medium." Haven't felt the need to change anything (or switch to another mode) since I bought it.

PS... are you sure it's not the TC you feel? Try winding it down a notch or two. I think that either would activate the red light on the dash.

PomGP · Jun 17, 2014

I read the book last night and I have turned the DTC down a peg or 2, let's see what happens now. I may be laying the rear brake on a little heavy, I have just traded my 2012GS1200 in and trying to stop that beast is a little harder than the Strada! Old habits die hard!

I also rarely take the bike out of "Sport Mode" I do even know why they bothered with "Urban"

Braaap · Jun 18, 2014

zippy you engine brake? haha NOOO!
I use to do that & it is NOT a good idea. I don't work for ducati, but putting excessive wear on your clutch & transmission is never a good idea when you have "okay" brakes to use. haha. My brakes squeak, which is why i call them okay.

niiico · Jun 18, 2014

The wear on the clutch and transmission seems much less when you engine break than when you accelerate.

Could you explain your statement?

NurseDaddy · Jun 18, 2014

"I also rarely take the bike out of "Sport Mode" I do even know why they bothered with "Urban""

I find the modes useful. Urban is great for just that... city stop and go traffic, where having all the horsepower might result in getting into a scary situation even quicker than usual. The throttle is sensitive, and with the bumpy roads I find that it's easy to unintentially blip the throttle as the jolt to the handlebars occurs. Were I to keep in Sport, I'd be a dead man.
I rode to work in the rain in Urban with the TCS cranked all the way up and was pleased to find it impossible to break the rear tire loose on the wet roads. I especially like Urban for splitting lanes because throttle application is smoother with less power on tap. Splitting is an illegal thing in NY and many other places outside California - but the fact is I just can't sit still in stop and go traffic risking being rear ended by a texting *****, so anything under 20mph and I'll sneak between lanes. Not that people appreciate that and give me space. Most think they're cute and move over to make it harder for me to get through.

Most of the time though, I keep it in Touring. Even if I head to the mountains for some twisties. I find it smoother for transitions in and out of turns.

Sport seems pretty abrupt to me, and maybe as I become more familiar with the bike and its powerband (having come off a 650 single) I'll use it more. I find the more safeguards I have in place, the better off I'll be.

zippy49 · Jun 18, 2014

Braaap said:
zippy you engine brake? haha NOOO!
I use to do that & it is NOT a good idea. I don't work for ducati, but putting excessive wear on your clutch & transmission is never a good idea when you have "okay" brakes to use. haha. My brakes squeak, which is why i call them okay.

Nonsense. It's called "pace." You can look it up. I'm not talking about using big revs, just an easy rhythm. This is on back roads. I slow early for stops, too. And I have been riding this way for a very long time, with no resulting damage to any of my bikes. Ever. These days I am usually leading another rider or two, and I generally only use the brake when approaching a difficult corner, to warn those behind. Of course I use the brakes to stop, and when I'm haulin' butt.

The gearbox is loaded in reverse when you close the throttle. There is no effect on the clutch unless it slips. I know that the 821 clutch is supposed to slip a bit, but I never feel it as I'm not running at 9000 rpm. And the only time I feel it grab is if I let the lever out too fast w/too many revs, leaving a stop. So I think that the 'slip/grip' feature is only activated if you overdo it. The amount of compression braking per cc seems no different from our SV 650, my Buell 1200, or our 1600cc Harley - all V-twins.

BlueSwede · Jun 18, 2014

Agreed Zippy. I engine break all the time to regulate speed and I have done so on all my bikes. Have not been hard enough on it to get slipper-clutch to actually slip yet. That might require a track day.. hmm,.... there's something else I need to plan!

Braaap · Jun 19, 2014

I was referring to people who are going, say, 60 mph and start to downshift all the way to 1st & let the engine slow the bike down within a matter of seconds.

I have felt my slipper clutch "work" a few times while riding hard, but I try to brake as much as I can when coming to a stop.

gatdammit · Jun 19, 2014

I still disagree. Using the engine to slow from any speed is no different than using it to accelerate. I've done it in every car I've owned and at worst it saves brake wear. The dual clutch auto in my car even downshifts as I'm coasting. So, everytime I'm decelerating in my car, I'm doing damage I can't escape from?

This may be just me but, the bike feels more in control when engine braking. I don't like coasting with the clutch engaged.

NurseDaddy · Jun 19, 2014

If I'm slowing, I'm downshifting.
I try to keep the bike in the right gear for the right speed. Don't want to lug the engine, don't want to rev the crap out of it either. By having it in the right gear for the speed as I slow down, should I need to accelerate again I'll be able to. Now that I think about it, if I'm doing 60, and need to come to a stop that I can see way in advance, I'm probably only braking for the last 100' or so.
My Honda Fit with paddle shifters goes through brakes infrequently because I downshift that too.

PomGP · Jun 20, 2014

NurseDaddy said:
"I also rarely take the bike out of "Sport Mode" I do even know why they bothered with "Urban""

I find the modes useful. Urban is great for just that... city stop and go traffic, where having all the horsepower might result in getting into a scary situation even quicker than usual. The throttle is sensitive, and with the bumpy roads I find that it's easy to unintentially blip the throttle as the jolt to the handlebars occurs. Were I to keep in Sport, I'd be a dead man.
I rode to work in the rain in Urban with the TCS cranked all the way up and was pleased to find it impossible to break the rear tire loose on the wet roads. I especially like Urban for splitting lanes because throttle application is smoother with less power on tap. Splitting is an illegal thing in NY and many other places outside California - but the fact is I just can't sit still in stop and go traffic risking being rear ended by a texting *****, so anything under 20mph and I'll sneak between lanes. Not that people appreciate that and give me space. Most think they're cute and move over to make it harder for me to get through.

Most of the time though, I keep it in Touring. Even if I head to the mountains for some twisties. I find it smoother for transitions in and out of turns.

Sport seems pretty abrupt to me, and maybe as I become more familiar with the bike and its powerband (having come off a 650 single) I'll use it more. I find the more safeguards I have in place, the better off I'll be.

Point taken, no problem, but down here in the bottom end of Africa the weather is very predictable. We have about 300 days per year of sunshine in Johannesburg. Summer rains are normally huge electric storms late in the day, and there is no rain at all for almost 5 months in Winter.

It's mid winter now, temps down to the low single digits over night with days varying from +12c to +20c. Basically the roads are pretty much dry all the time. It is an ideal bike riding climate, hence no need for "Urban" mode.

I must admit that I have ridden and owned pretty much every style of bike from scooters to 180bhp superbikes, perhaps I just like the thrill of riding the Hyper like a bit of a hooligan, no in fact I love it!

Anyone who has seen the "World's Greatest Motorcycle Rides" by the British journo Henry Cole will have seen what a great biking country this is. In fact I had some couch surfers stay with me a few years back, they were from Seattle and Ontario, they raved about the place.

Braaap · Jun 20, 2014

I never said anything about coasting with the clutch engaged. I am referring to people who slam the gears down (not matching engine speed with road speed) and allow the bike to rev to 10k to slow down.

Explain to me how this is good for any bike?

BlueSwede · Jun 20, 2014

Agreed, slamming down multiple gears and engine braking to 10k would be unnecessary abuse.

gatdammit · Jun 20, 2014

Braaap said:
zippy you engine brake? haha NOOO!
I use to do that & it is NOT a good idea. I don't work for ducati, but putting excessive wear on your clutch & transmission is never a good idea when you have "okay" brakes to use. haha. My brakes squeak, which is why i call them okay.

I read this as don't engine brake. Use your brakes instead.

zippy49 · Jun 23, 2014

Braaap said:
I never said anything about coasting with the clutch engaged. I am referring to people who slam the gears down (not matching engine speed with road speed) and allow the bike to rev to 10k to slow down.

Explain to me how this is good for any bike?

That's not how your original post sounded. As I wrote, that's not what I do. I usually stay in one or two gears and have not much interest in breaking the speed limit on the straights. I am sensitive to machinery, and rarely abuse them. As a result, I have enjoyed numerous test rides and have returned the favor for various 'adult' riders.

This is all on my favorite roads, which tend to be 90% corners and 10% straights. Things are different on straight highways and city streets.

Braaap · Jun 23, 2014

I am glad we were able to clarify b/c i didn't want to come across as an arrogant person.

ABS Sensitivity

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