I had a 97, no ABS, never missed it. I never miss it on my Fox's either, all of which have stock brakes and stop fine.
Not to be a dick, but if you screw around and ram someone, it's not the brakes fault they didn't haul you down in 31 inches or less, lol.
That said, the only time I ever felt like I needed more than Cobra brakes on the front was the few times I went to Mid Ohio for track day.