KBTexas Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 Does anyone here have experience with the Yamaha NMax or Honda PCX with ABS? If so, could you let me know if it actually works to keep the bike upright in emergency braking? In 5 years of driving the scooters here, I have hit the road twice due to a wipe out during emergency braking. These bikes are so light that the death wobble happens early and easily. I rode motorcycles most of my life before coming here, and am comfortable with them, but this tendency of the scooters to dump you if you need to brake hard is not something I can continue to accept. If the scooter has a good ABS system, then it should help keep the front wheel from locking up during heavy braking, thus negating the death wobble, thus negating the spill. As we all know, Thai drivers make some strange decisions that sometimes defy any logic, so you really do need to be able to brake heavily at times and it would be nice if you did not hit the road when that happens! Unless you plan to drive 25KPH everywhere you go, you are going to get into situations where you need to brake hard. Most of the time the bike handles it, but in true emergency braking situations (e.g. STOP NOW!), the bike itself becomes your worse enemy. The NMax offers ABS for the front wheel as standard and I believe the PCX offers ABS as an option, but am not sure. Any first hand info on scooters with ABS would be most appreciated. I think this has become a must have option for me. KB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guzzi850m2 Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 I am pretty sure the pcx is not offered with abs. I too are interested in the nmax, considering getting one next year when my pcx turns 5 years old. I never really felt I needed abs on my pcx, over more than 12k km covered, +95% Pattaya city riding. The reason I am interested in the nmax is not so much because of the abs but a wee bit more power and trying something different, but I will likely rent one before making up my mind. On my 650cc bike I love the abs, saved me a couple of times. No mater what you ride, riding too slowly compared to the other scooter traffic is risky, it's better to flow with the current, so to speak. Getting rear ended is the last thing you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bung Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 My nmax stops on a dime. Disc brakes front and rear. I ride with one or two fingers on both levers at all times. I had an emergency stop and it was amazingly good, great bite and feel. abs didn't engage, was a dry road. Well worth having IMO. Wish all my bikes stopped as good as it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KBTexas Posted August 13, 2016 Author Share Posted August 13, 2016 Thanks for the info guys. @BungI am surprised that a panic stop did not activate the ABS, even on dry roads. I know if you hit the brakes hard enough in a car with ABS, it will activate on dry roads also. Or maybe it did and you just did not notice? Anytime the front wheel is about to lock up, ABS should kick in and release a bit of the pad pressure. Hopefully it works the same way on bikes. My main idea of ABS on the scooter is to do away with the death wobble these smaller scooters have when the front brake locks up, because once that starts, you are off the bike in a hurry. @guzzi850m2: As for riding slowly, my philosophy of riding is to find a place by myself. This gives you more options than when you are in the crowd, and takes away at least a few of the variables. Speed up or slow down, but get somewhere where you are not surrounded, and since I am American, I usually speed up. Unfortunately, as in the case of the two spills, this is not always possible when someone does something totally asinine! I am seriously looking at the NMax just for the ABS option. My Elegance has been a good bike once I found good tires for it, but I am getting too old to be picking myself up off of the road and dealing with road rash and other injuries. And yeah, my full face helmet did it's job. My head bounced off the road pretty hard, but no issues there. Still the same crazy as before the spill! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canthai55 Posted August 13, 2016 Share Posted August 13, 2016 Had my PCX 150 for 3 years. Great bike. Did a fair few panic stops - no issues. Keep the rear brake adjusted, get some steel braided brake lines for the front, and good to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henryford Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 I was riding my NMAX behind a PCX a while back when a car suddenly pulled out in front of us. We both braked hard and the PCX went down in a flash. The NMAX came to a controlled fast stop. The brakes on that thing are amazing. Get ABS you know it makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canthai55 Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 2 hours ago, Henryford said: I was riding my NMAX behind a PCX a while back when a car suddenly pulled out in front of us. We both braked hard and the PCX went down in a flash. The NMAX came to a controlled fast stop. The brakes on that thing are amazing. Get ABS you know it makes sense. Or learn to ride - and learn to panic brake, not just panic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KheeeeMotocyyyy Posted August 14, 2016 Share Posted August 14, 2016 Challenge with fast-panic-breaking is that scooters have most of its weight on the rear wheel. In order to efficiently panic-break you have to first transfer as much of that weight to the front as possible before applying front break. On my PCX i've developed the following panic-breaking-routine, squeeze the rear break to the max, lean forward, and progressively squeeze the front break. If i were to buy a scooter today, i'd consider the NMAX or even tricity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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