I don’t know whether I’m getting soft or smart.Lately I’ve been riding a few bikes with anti-lock braking systems (ABS) and traction control, and I find more and more I’m expecting those rider aids to work, and work well. I’m a little at sixes and sevens as to how I feel about that.
It seems like only a few years ago early ABS was a primitive hammering under the boot that caused so much distraction it just wasn’t worth having. It felt like riding over nasty corrugations. Traction control is newer in adventure bikes, and it seems as though it’s hit consumer bikes in a far more refined state than ABS did, but it can still be an unwanted limiting factor in certain situations.