As you say Dylan , the idea of ABS to stop the bike skidding under extreme/emergency braking is attractive and would under normal circumstances be reassuring .
But assisted breaking , not needed , you can haul my bike to a hard stop with two fingers!

If any of the **** that those guys have experienced happened on my bike , I'd sell it in the blink of an eye . That's some dangerous fault they got on those bikes , the factory should pull out all the stops and fix it for free!!!

 

Assisted braking, brake by wire, linked brakes are all things I'd avoid. ABS I'd get. If an ABS system on a regular hydraulic brake system fails, the brakes should operate as normal. Meaning if you lock them, you'd better know what to do next.

I don't like things that try to make decisions for me. Admittedly this does make me wonder about the S1000rr w/ traction control. But again with that system, its never engaging the throttle. Just modulating it to correct user input. Worse come to worse, it should let you rip the throttle regardless of traction / lean if it fails.

 

Dylan,
thanks for your research on this. I've read most of the posts ont hat link and there's one which kind of fits this scenario as follows:

power assist brake failure
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 2006-08-07 17:55.
I also ride the same bike and I recently experienced a power assist brake failure which resulted in a front wheel lock up. My alternator failed causing my battery to drain which resulted in a complete loss of electrical power to include the power assist and ABS. I was making my way to the shoulder of the freeway with a very slight pressure on the front brake so I could get the bike stopped when the front wheel SUDDENLY locked up. I was in busey rush hour traffic and was fortunate to not go down. I released the front brake lever wich allowed the front wheel to turn and the bike stood back up. needless to say this was a scary incident. I am a police officer and I ride this bike every day yet when I informed our local bmw shop I got the impression they thought I somehow applied too much pressure to the lever causing the lock up. I am also a police motorcycle instructor and I know the diffenrence between rider induced lock up and a faulty brake system. If you lose all electrical power to your bike and your power assist is not functioning then stay off the front brake if possible. Ride safe

Now that's coming from a cop. A cop bike instructor no less. If his account is true then there is something beginning to smell like the fishermen's overalls after a couple of days at sea out of Grimsby going on here.
How can so many BM riders be telling such a similar tail about failures and potentially life threatening events and this not hitting the news at ten. It's starting to become more outrageous by the minute. I may have to consider keeping extra distance when riding behind the Beemer brigade from now on. There's enough of them about.
What have Honda and other Jap manufacturers offered in the way of ABS. I'm out of touch. Someone enlighten me. More importantly, are they good systems and are they reliable?

 

I know a lot of the new Hondas have ABS as an option. Haven't heard anything about failures. No power assist as far as I know.