Mandatory ABS for Motorcycles Over 125cc from 2017

The EU commission has recently announced it plans to make ABS mandatory for motorcycles. This requirement is part of the recently presented draft framework regulation for motorcycles, and is intended to apply to motorcycles with more than 125 cc displacement.

The proposal is currently passing through the EU legislative procedure, and will likely be adopted next year. The regulation is to come into effect from 2017.

Bosch is the first to develop an independent ABS series for motorcycles for the first time.

“The ABS 9 systems for motorcycles are the world’s smallest,” said Werner Struth, president of the Bosch Chassis Systems Control division. “This is our way of encouraging manufacturers to install this life-saving safety system in all motorcycles equipped with hydraulic brakes.”

The Bosch antilock braking system (ABS) for motorcycles received the German ADAC ‘Gelber Engel’ (yellow angel) award, for its great road-safety potential, in January 2010. Bosch began producing the new motorcycle ABS in late 2009.

This is, in fact, the world’s smallest ABS for motorcycles equipped with hydraulic brakes, Weighing just 0.7 kilograms, the entry-level product ABS 9 base is half the size and weight of its predecessor.

“Experts regard the antilock braking system as a huge boost to safety. For example, a benefit analysis conducted for the European Commission calculates that the proposed regulation will allow the number of fatal accidents among motorcyclists to be reduced by more than 5,000 over a ten-year period,” a company statement reads.

“This active safety system allows motorcyclists to brake safely in critical situations without locking the wheels, and thus without having to fear an inevitable fall. Braking distance is also reduced considerably,” Bosch concluded.