Gen 5 ABS conversion, anyone ever done it?

Love my Gen 5 but I thought it could have benefited from ABS. I'm sure the inverted fork de-linked M/C purists wouldn't go for it, but any good reason why not?  Are the Gen 6 parts transferable?  Seems to me like it would be largely a nuts & bolts project but I don't know what is used for an ABS module.  

Any thoughts?

[image: View Post]Squamishvfr, on 18 October 2011 - 08:10 PM, said:

Love my Gen 5 but I thought it could have benefited from ABS. I'm sure the inverted fork de-linked M/C purists wouldn't go for it, but any good reason why not?  Are the Gen 6 parts transferable?  Seems to me like it would be largely a nuts & bolts project but I don't know what is used for an ABS module.  

Any thoughts?

I had thought about doing this for my 6th-gen non-ABS bike.  It's a harder job as you don't have the underlying platform which the ABS option was a modification of (i.e. a non-ABS 6th-gen bike).  Off the top of my head you'd need the following:

• ABS modulators
  
• ABS PCV
  
• All rigid hoses brake hoses and flexible brake hoses
  
• 6th-gen forks (to mount ABS sensor) and front wheel (to mount ABS ring)
  
• Possibly 6th-gen swingarm (to mount ABS sensor) and wheel hub/axle with brake rotor (to mount ABS ring)
  
• ABS module
  
• Dedicated fused circuit for ABS
  
• A 6th-gen ABS model main wiring harness to cut up and take the ABS module, ABS sensor and ABS modulator connectors and wiring out of (and chuck out the rest)
  
• Custom-mounted ABS status light hooked into your ABS wiring harness

I also assume you would need the 6th-gen calipers due to the difference in the way CBS is balanced on the 6th-gen bikes.

Other than all THAT, I guess it's possible.  It would be MUCH easier on a 6th-gen bike without ABS, as all the mounting points are there and it's essentially just a swap of parts or installation of new parts.

Two much work and cost IMO!

Honda did do it as the Japanese Police 5th gens had ABS. :ph34r:

Well in my mind I was thinking of a wrecked Gen 6 ABS.  Seems like alot of work but it is really nuts and bolts and very little fab. Where does the modulator live on an ABS?  For the ABS owners is it a valuable asset that saved your bacon or just a chance to point at the reflector wheels and say wow?

[image: View Post]Squamishvfr, on 20 October 2011 - 12:59 AM, said:

Well in my mind I was thinking of a wrecked Gen 6 ABS.  Seems like alot of work but it is really nuts and bolts and very little fab. Where does the modulator live on an ABS?  For the ABS owners is it a valuable asset that saved your bacon or just a chance to point at the reflector wheels and say wow?

Every man with ABS will tell you that they'd never go back, I'm sure of that.   Anyway, since you're thinking a wrecked Gen-6, you're on a roll and you're right it's not so much a fab job as it is just moving parts around.  The wiring will be the hardest part I'm sure.    I am unsure where the modulators live but they will be listed in the service manual, as well as in the parts fiche.  We have a 2006 parts fiche PDF file in the downloads section which will help you out.

Two modulators - One on the front left and the other is on the right under the seat.
I bough an ABS after I locked up the front and collided into a u-turner.  Would ABS have saved my bacon?  Can't tell.  BUT I'm sure that it would have minimized the damage to me and the bike.  One of my biggest injuries was a dislocated left shoulder when the bike slid from under me as the result of a locked front wheel.

It is an ambitious project.
Good luck with it.

Can it be done while keeping the 5th gen ECM?

That would be the most difficult part of the conversion in my mind.

I have kicked the parts list around already for converting one of my 5th gens (ok, Minicarver's now) to 6th gen linked brakes (along with forks, triples, etc...) and if you are just looking at adding modulators and the correct rings on the wheel/sensor on the rear to get ABS then it shouldn't be as big a deal. you could provide a power to the system from a fuse panel and not incorporate the 6th gen wiring.

If any of the ABS solutions run through the 6th gen ECM then it could be a much bigger task.

Just thinking of every angle here . . . presuming the installation went well, other than the ABS system warning light, any thoughts about how would it be tested?   It would be a bummer to be in a real world emergency counting on it only to find out that something wasn't quite right.

[image: View Post]Cogswell, on 20 October 2011 - 01:58 PM, said:

Just thinking of every angle here . . . presuming the installation went well, other than the ABS system warning light, any thoughts about how would it be tested?   It would be a bummer to be in a real world emergency counting on it only to find out that something wasn't quite right.
Easy.  Get on gravel or grass and apply front brake.

[image: View Post]Rice, on 20 October 2011 - 02:18 PM, said:

[image: View Post]Cogswell, on 20 October 2011 - 01:58 PM, said:

Just thinking of every angle here . . . presuming the installation went well, other than the ABS system warning light, any thoughts about how would it be tested?   It would be a bummer to be in a real world emergency counting on it only to find out that something wasn't quite right.
Easy.  Get on gravel or grass and apply front brake.

Going down would also be easy if it's not working.  Grass is a good point - and might be a soft landing - gravel's probably little if any better than pavement.  I wouldn't want to put a bike down on any surface to test it.

[image: View Post]Squamishvfr, on 20 October 2011 - 12:59 AM, said:

Well in my mind I was thinking of a wrecked Gen 6 ABS.  Seems like alot of work but it is really nuts and bolts and very little fab. Where does the modulator live on an ABS?  For the ABS owners is it a valuable asset that saved your bacon or just a chance to point at the reflector wheels and say wow?

For me, that second one on bold characters! But the day it saves my life, if it ever does, I will be thankful.
That's an ambitious project for sure. I'll look at it from a different angle: how about getting a wrecked 6th gen with ABS, and then grafting a 5th gen motor in it? (since I know you don't like VTEC)  I will assume that wiring would be a problem, right? But what do I know.
C

[image: View Post]Cogswell, on 20 October 2011 - 02:37 PM, said:

[image: View Post]Rice, on 20 October 2011 - 02:18 PM, said:

[image: View Post]Cogswell, on 20 October 2011 - 01:58 PM, said:

Just thinking of every angle here . . . presuming the installation went well, other than the ABS system warning light, any thoughts about how would it be tested?   It would be a bummer to be in a real world emergency counting on it only to find out that something wasn't quite right.
Easy.  Get on gravel or grass and apply front brake.

Going down would also be easy if it's not working.  Grass is a good point - and might be a soft landing - gravel's probably little if any better than pavement.  I wouldn't want to put a bike down on any surface to test it.

Never tested mine in 3 years for fear of locking it--I know, I should and maybe I will. Rice, you are a brave soul to test on gravel--is it not easier to try and lock the rear wheel instead of the front one? I sure hope it works if I need it...

[image: View Post]Polarbear, on 20 October 2011 - 02:40 PM, said:

[image: View Post]Cogswell, on 20 October 2011 - 02:37 PM, said:

[image: View Post]Rice, on 20 October 2011 - 02:18 PM, said:

[image: View Post]Cogswell, on 20 October 2011 - 01:58 PM, said:

Just thinking of every angle here . . . presuming the installation went well, other than the ABS system warning light, any thoughts about how would it be tested?   It would be a bummer to be in a real world emergency counting on it only to find out that something wasn't quite right.
Easy.  Get on gravel or grass and apply front brake.

Going down would also be easy if it's not working.  Grass is a good point - and might be a soft landing - gravel's probably little if any better than pavement.  I wouldn't want to put a bike down on any surface to test it.

Never tested mine in 3 years for fear of locking it--I know, I should and maybe I will. Rice, you are a brave soul to test on gravel--is it not easier to try and lock the rear wheel instead of the front one? I sure hope it works if I need it...
Thanks, but "brave" isn't the word I would use here :rolleyes:
I've just had an opportunity to find out that my ABS does indeed work when I took a very uneventful excursion onto gravel and then grass courtesy of my own...  bravery if you insist :ph34r:
The bike stayed perfectly upright.
I've also experimented on dry pavement with the same outcome.

First I'd like to clarify that I intended to write "reluctor wheel" damn auto correct (could'a been worse).

I don't think the Gen 6 would run the ABS functions through the engine ECU though I really don't know.  I'd be expecting to see a seperate module.  As far as the wiring goes I suppose one could fillet apart the gen6 harness for the wiring but really the lions share of it is the two sensors the power supply(s) and the warning light.  If the ECU was part of the mix that would end it right there.The modulators could fit anywhere as the steel plumbing isn't likely to fit anyway and if I'm a poor enough rider to see the merit in ABS (as opposed the invered fork purists) I'd want to duplicate the linked braking plumbing as well.  This would only work if one could buy a whole ABS wreck, peel and strip and sell the rest.

I was hoping someone has done it already...have to keep an eye out for a Gen 6 up here...

As far as the reverse engine swap V-tech thing, no way.  No I don't choose the Vtec and the timing chains but really I never liked the styling on the G6.  I'm stuck in the late 90's I guess with one headlight and smooth curves.  If I had $15K to spend on a bike honestly I don't know what I would do... It took me ten years to get the bike I always wanted lol

Interesting discussion.

[image: View Post]Baileyrock, on 19 October 2011 - 07:39 AM, said:

Honda did do it as the Japanese Police 5th gens had ABS. :ph34r:
Ah, so.... The elusive RC49.

Ciao,