ABS Pro Retro-fit

Hello,

Anybody else get one of these notices from BMW Motorrad? Curiously, mine lists my local BMW car dealer instead of the MC dealer, which is only one or two miles away....

???

36654 said:

Hello,

Anybody else get one of these notices from BMW Motorrad? Curiously, mine lists my local BMW car dealer instead of the MC dealer, which is only one or two miles away....

???

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Braking should be much improved when you get your bike back with four wheels.

Have not received a card so far.
I see on the R1200RS forum some riders in Europe have done the update for $315 US installed.

I noticed another US rider received a card and his also listed a BMW car dealer

Mine arrived today. It shows Engle Motors which is the dealer where we bought our bikes.
$485 plus labor seems like a lot for a software download.

I checked our bikes and both have the needed lean angle sensor in place.

Lee said:

Mine arrived today. It shows Engle Motors which is the dealer where we bought our bikes.
$485 plus labor seems like a lot for a software download.

I checked our bikes and both have the needed lean angle sensor in place.

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It's just software????

I think I'll pass.......

You should be so lucky as to have your BMW car dealer also selling motorcycles.

That's the case for Albuquerque and Santa Fe (same ownership) and they are fabulous dealers.

lkchris said:

You should be so lucky as to have your BMW car dealer also selling motorcycles.

That's the case for Albuquerque and Santa Fe (same ownership) and they are fabulous dealers.

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I'm thinking it was a typo..........

I got one too.

I think this option is a HIGHLY profitable add on for BMW and the dealer, but offers little benefit to the rider. I do not intend to buy this.

I have given this some thought and tried to find out EXACTLY what this option does...with little success...just some nice sounding but vacuous marketing feel good words.

All of our bikes have ABS...which works well and has saved my butt at least once.

Here is my speculation....based on physics because BMW does not share specifics of what ABS pro does.

When we are leaned over in a curve, two fact dominate the physics of the situation.

1 for a given tire contact area, not all the contact area /adhesion potential is available for braking as a side forces increasingly use that adhesion, so adhesion for braking is reduced. ( more complex than this but the essence is correct)...so corning braking limits are less...ie limited/reduced by ABS pro algorithm. This is not very much at low 0-20 degree lean angle but is very significant at 45 degree plus lean angles.


2 The radius of the tire changes as on leans over. ABS systems compare front and rear wheel speeds to detect wheel lock up/slipage and release/modulate the brake system pressure. The standard system we all have does this. There is built in tolerance (error band width) to account for the wheel and tire diameter differences, tire pressure based diameter changes and difference in tire manufacturer diameters.
When we lean over the front and rear tire speeds differ evan more. The rolling radius of both the front and rear tire decrease as we lean over. This makes for a necessary loosening (widening) of the wheels speed difference before ABS break force reduction/modulation should be applied. Lean angle sensing is one way to do this.

So my speculation is that ABS pro reduces the amount of braking, less than the normal ABS levels, that can be applied in cornering/leaned over situation to reduce the potential of wheel lockup causing a low side fall.

If this is worth $485 to you..buy it.

I'm putting that money toward my next trip

bobzeliff said:

Here is my speculation....based on physics because BMW does not share specifics of what ABS pro does.

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https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/glob...bs-for-supersports-bike-retrofittable-abs-pro

Lee said:

https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/glob...bs-for-supersports-bike-retrofittable-abs-pro

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Thanks. Does supply a bit more information.. Pretty much confirms my speculations.

bobzeliff said:

I'm putting that money toward my next trip

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I concur, some other use of that money could be found.......

Think I'll wait until spring before I decide on the upgrade. Might as well sit back and see how it goes.
It's a lot of money, over $1,000 to do both bikes.

I keep telling myself it's too much to pay, but then I remember we each paid $1,000 for the ABS option back in 1991 when we bought our K75Ss.

I received an email about this just the other day. I just took delivery of a new R1200R last week. Seems if it's just a software upgrade then they should provide it for free, that is if our bikes already have the necessary equipment. They give software updates all the time at service. Why should this be different?

I contacted the dealer and also BMW North America and they were unable to determine if ABS Pro was active on my bike based on the serial number. I was able to ascertain that it indeed is a software upgrade only, all of the hardware is present on my bike. I was told that because my R12R has the premium package, ABS Pro should be active. However, ABS Pro is not listed as an inclusion of the premium package for the R on the BMW website but was listed for my GS. The only way to be sure is to take it to the dealer and plug it in to the diagnostic computer and see if it's active.

Personally, I find it strange that BMW is charging for a simple software update, especially to the tune of $485+. Since it's a braking enhancement, I would think that BMW would want all of its customers to have the complete safety benefits that their motorcycle is mechanically able to provide.

rtsteve said:

I contacted the dealer and also BMW North America and they were unable to determine if ABS Pro was active on my bike based on the serial number. I was able to ascertain that it indeed is a software upgrade only, all of the hardware is present on my bike. I was told that because my R12R has the premium package, ABS Pro should be active. However, ABS Pro is not listed as an inclusion of the premium package for the R on the BMW website but was listed for my GS. The only way to be sure is to take it to the dealer and plug it in to the diagnostic computer and see if it's active.

.

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I thought ABS Pro was only active on the 2017 models for the R1200R and RS . I think production of the 2017s started Aug 2016.
What's the build date on your bike? It printed on the forks.

Lee said:

I thought ABS Pro was only active on the 2017 models for the R1200R and RS . I think production of the 2017s started Aug 2016.
What's the build date on your bike? It printed on the forks.

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BMW NA said there were a few R's and RS's at the end of the 2016 run that received the ABS Pro update. My bike was built in April so most likely did not receive it.

bobzeliff said:

So my speculation is that ABS pro reduces the amount of braking, less than the normal ABS levels, that can be applied in cornering/leaned over situation to reduce the potential of wheel lockup causing a low side fall.

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I should also add, that if you are going too fast in a corner, and ABS Pro limits your braking so much (to avoid a low side fall per above) you may not be able to scrub off speed and may be forced of the road to the out side and crash badly. So maybe..just maybe...not having the $485 option you may be able to brake enough to avoid any crash, or worse case brake too hard and low side. Would you rather have a low side or crash off the road at higher speed???

In my dirt riding enduro days, I intentionally did many low side crashes to avoid crashing into trees, gullies, etc.

Just thinking!!!

bobzeliff said:

I should also add, that if you are going too fast in a corner, and ABS Pro limits your braking so much (to avoid a low side fall per above) you may not be able to scrub off speed and may be forced of the road to the out side and crash badly. So maybe..just maybe...not having the $485 option you may be able to brake enough to avoid any crash, or worse case brake too hard and low side. Would you rather have a low side or crash off the road at higher speed???

In my dirt riding enduro days, I intentionally did many low side crashes to avoid crashing into trees, gullies, etc.

Just thinking!!!

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I prefer neither

In both those scenarios, having learned many years back, I would think one would learn from their over driving and practice safer riding skills.
Have always stayed on bike and done everything I could to undo my bad decisions
and never layed 'er down on purpose...except once on a Rupp mini-bike when I was
14

Technology is a fantastic thing, but shouldn't replace riding skills and brains.

rtsteve said:

Personally, I find it strange that BMW is charging for a simple software update, especially to the tune of $485+.

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There's precedent.

I've paid twice for software upgrades on R1200RTs to retrofit ASC, i.e. traction control. Think I needed to buy off switches in conjunction, too, but obviously the switches connected to wiring already there.

The "free" upgrades everyone thinks of are improvements in systems already on the bike, essentially warranty fixes. Adding a new feature is something different ... even if the wiring and a sensor are already there. It's apples/oranges.

I believe Bosch is the inventor/supplier of cornering ABS and they have plenty of expense tied up in developing and testing this product and the costs for the product need to be recovered--they're in business and to quote Navin Johnson, "it's a profit deal." It's quite the feeling of "entitlement" to think software should be free or cheap, and I'd suspect plenty of software developers might resent the implication.

henzilla said:

Technology is a fantastic thing, but shouldn't replace riding skills and brains.

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Clearly so, but it's highly unlikely this product is offered if it's worthless.

In 2016 if a safety improvement exists, the climate of liability practically mandates that it be fielded as standard equipment. Especially on high end motorcycles like BMW, Ducati, and KTM--more affluent customers probably have better lawyers. Businesspersons likely conclude that when they offer safety systems they ought to collect some dollars for the pot of money set aside to pay claims.

I've paid to retrofit ASC to two BMWs and can't say I've ever felt it activate but still feel better having it. Not thinking of it as an excuse for not having skills and brains and for sure not dismissing the effort of the folks that developed it. I appreciate their efforts and they deserve to be paid for them.