Lbs III: the Missing Link
LBS III: The Missing Link
Expert riders may scoff at LBS, but even early iterations had merit. During 1996’s “Panic Stop Shootout,” I watched car guy Sam Mitani stop an LBS-equipped CBR1000 from 60 mph in 127 feet—11 feet less than Don Canet or I could manage. Neither Canet nor I had applied the brake pedal, focusing instead on the front lever. Hence, we were always treading the limits of front-tire adhesion, rather than playing to the system’s strengths. Best results, as Mitani demonstrated, came while mashing the pedal and squeezing the lever lightly. In daily use, however, early LBS had its problems, namely hyper sensitivity at slow speeds on slippery surfaces. Honda addressed this on the CBR1100XX by incorporating a delay valve, but not everyone was convinced. Imagine our surprise, then, when we sampled the latest version on the VFR800. Now, even experts agree, LBS is virtually invisible. Until you need it, that is. -Matthew Miles
