Compact technology for greater safety New Bosch ABS generation for motorbikes

· Smallest and lightest ABS with even better regulation

· Featured in BMW, Kawasaki, KTM, Moto Guzzi, and Suzuki

· ABS can prevent about ten percent of all serious motorbike accidents


The last few weeks have seen the market launch of the first motorbikes with a further improved antilock braking system (ABS) from Bosch. The ABS8M generation is the smallest, lightest motorbike ABS currently available in the world. It weighs only around 1.5 kilograms, and has a volume of about 1 liter. Engineers have also been able to improve its function: the brake lever vibrates less severely when regulation becomes active, and the system adjusts braking force more quickly to the different levels of friction when maximum braking is applied on a non-uniform road surface. This shortens the braking distance even further. Depending on the manufacturer and the type of bike, the driver can switch off the ABS when riding on racetracks or off-road.

Several motorbike models are being launched with the latest ABS generation from Bosch. The BMW R 1200 S, BMW F 800 S, BMW F 800 ST, Kawasaki ER-6n, Kawasaki ER-6f, KTM 990 Adventure, Moto Guzzi Breva 850 and 1100, Moto Guzzi Norge 1200, and the Suzuki V-Strom 650 are fitted with the system, either as a standard or as an optional feature.

Best possible deceleration without wheel lock-up
It is not easy to achieve optimum braking on a motorbike. In emergency situations, many drivers are afraid of locking the wheels, and so do not brake strongly enough, or they brake too heavily and fall because they have locked the wheels. The antilock braking system from Bosch has been specially designed for motorbikes, and makes riding significantly safer. “The driver can apply maximum braking any time, without having to worry about coming off” says Rolf Hummel, responsible for motorbike brake control systems at Bosch. “The current system is the fruit of 12 years of experience in the development of ABS systems for motorbikes. In cars, Bosch equipment has been in series production for no less than 28 years now.” In 2005, an accident study carried out by the Allianz insurance company showed that about ten percent of all serious motorbike accidents could either be avoided with ABS, or at least that the consequences of the accident could be minimized. This confirms the results of an investigation conducted some years previously at the Institut für Fahrzeugsicherheit (Vehicle Safety Institute) in Munich, which identified incorrect braking as the most common reason why motorbike riders come off in accidents, and came to the conclusion that 93 percent of the falls analyzed could have been avoided with ABS. One side effect of the technology is that, quite apart from a significant improvement in safety, motorbikes with ABS have a better resale value.

Bosch began series manufacture of the first generation of motorbike antilock systems, the ABS2L1, in 1994, and has produced more than 100,000 units since then. The first system still weighed 4.5 kilograms – three times as much as the new ABS8M generation. 1998 saw the market launch of the second generation, the ABS5M, weighing 2.6 kilograms. Even now, developers are working on further improvements: future generations of motorbike ABS will offer even greater safety, with even shorter braking distances, for example, or a further reducton in the risk of rolling over. Convenience functions are also conceivable, such as a hill start assist of the kind already available for automobiles on the basis of the ESP(r) system.


The Bosch Group is a leading global manufacturer of automotive and industrial technology, consumer goods, and building technology. In fiscal 2005, some 251,000 associates generated sales of 41.5 billion euros. Set up in Stuttgart in 1886 by Robert Bosch (1861-1942) as “Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering,” the Bosch Group today comprises a manufacturing, sales, and after-sales service network of more than 280 subsidiaries and more than 12,000 Bosch service centers in over 140 countries.

The special ownership structure of the Bosch Group guarantees its financial independence and entrepreneurial freedom. It makes it possible for the company to undertake significant up-front investments in the safeguarding of its future, as well as to do justice to its social responsibility in a manner reflective of the spirit and will of its founder. 92 % of the shares of Robert Bosch GmbH are held by the charitable foundation Robert Bosch Stiftung. The entrepreneurial ownership functions are carried out by Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG.

Additional information can be accessed at www.bosch.com.

Contact Information

Stephan Kraus

Automotive Technology

Bosch Group

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