Honda’s brake-by-wire system for sportsbikes - Combined ABS

So Honda has announced that future supersports bikes will carry a new electronically controlled braking system that adds antilock braking to an evolution of the Dual Combined Braking system in an effort to prevent brake lockup and allow maximal braking power with less of a tendency to pitch forward.

The new Combined ABS system will certainly be an evolution in terms of rider aids and safety equipment - and it’ll probably be a technically elegant system - but is anyone really asking for this on a sportsbike? Honda claims it’s designed to add minimal weight, given that it’s a supersports-focused innovation, but even the old hydraulic Dual CBS system on the old Blackbirds and VFRs doubled the number of brake lines and made for a generally more complicated and harder-to-fix motorcycle.

So now we’ve got computer chips deciding how much throttle we *really* want when we twist the go-tube, and more computer chips deciding how much braking force we want to apply to the front and rear brakes, even if we only press one lever. Is there an override button if we wish to launch stoppies?

The march of technology seems as if it may one day make 160-horsepower, 160-kilogram superbikes as friendly and easy to ride as a fast scooter. Any dunce will jump on and be able to twist the throttle without spinning up the rear and terrifying himself. He’ll grab big dopey fistfuls of brake or merrily stomp the rear because his inputs are smoothed out by a computer chip and rendered free of danger. He’ll know no better. Is that the sort of riders Honda wants to create?