I think the idea disabling the ABS for off road came came about from the way BMW calibrates their ABS, which really sucks in the dirt. My experience with ABS on a bike started with a 1994 Yamaha GTS1000 that i rode for 6 years after I bought it in 2001. I have a 1994 BMW K1100LT in the garage and had a 2003 F650GS Dakar that I bought for a 7000 mile trans Labrador highway trip here recently since my Tenere hadn't arrived yet. Now I have the Tenere with ABS. The ABS calibration behavior on both the BMW rear brakes just completely sucks for loose surfaces compared to the Yamaha's, they completely feel like they let go of the rear brake entirely for what feels like 5-10 feet before it grabs again, cycling very slowly while your are trying to stop or control your speed on slippery surfaces. The Yamaha's let off on the braking a lot less and cycle lot's lots faster, letting you have more control while the ABS is active. so much so that the brakes feel like they are still doing something, unlike the BMW's. From what I have read, the current BMW GS's still behave this way making the ABS brakes nearly useless and dangerous in the loose stuff, but I haven't actually ridden a new one to say for my self if they are any better for sure. Taking the Tenere on fire roads and easy trail stuff like in wasp's video can be lots of fun. Riding that kind of stuff at a faster pace you would want both the ABS and the traction control off because its a normal dirt bike riding practice to both lock the rear to help the bike turn quicker into turns and to spin up the rear to slide it out to help make it through the turns faster. It's also just fun to do along with getting you through a section faster. Going fast on anything beyond relatively flat and easy is probably a no no on a behemoth like the Tenere. I would consider the Tenere not to be a real dirt bike in the slightest and more like a 4 wheel drive SUV that you would buy at your local car dealer that while you can still go most places with it, you just need to do it slow and easy vs. a race truck that you would race in the Baja 1000. For myself, I'll leave the hardcore trail riding and my need for speed while doing it to the enduros and hare scrambles on bikes made and set up for it.
