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-   -   Honda XRE300 caught! Launch soon (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorbikes/186303-honda-xre300-caught-launch-soon.html)

Honda XRE spotted on the shop floor. Getting ready for launch. Would any one here have a tentative date and price?

I hear there is a post on Rushlane but we got the factory post.

Please chip in with more news here.

Seat height is at 860 mm. :Frustrati
That would make it the tallest bike if available in India.

No option but to give it a miss.

Fantastic! Finally honda is waking up! For the trails, this is the bike to get. The seat height is a massive concern, however it does have generous ground clearance.

The next two years is going to be very exciting times: versys 300 (should come in considering kawi is going it alone now), honda 300, ktm adv 390, bmw gs310.

Also the one in the photo is the Non ABS version.

No ABS = No New Bike

860mm thats like the Honda CRF territory- they cannot be serious to plonk in a 300cc engine and raise the seat to the stars. No bike with that kind of stratospheric seating gets a market share in India.
Just see the 'low level bombers' from Bajaj running around the streets. Amazing sales, albeit a completely different segment.
So, yes at 860- am out of here too.
ABS I would not worry too much- as the rules for bikes over a certain cc enforce the presence of the ABS.
The photo from a reliable source though, is undated and therefore anything is possible, spec wise.

Most off-roaders dont come with ABS. Brakes need to lock-up a bit so they dig into the dirt to slow down. ABS will increase the stopping distance by a large margin (only off-road). Switchable ABS would be a nice feature to have though. The Ktm super adventure comes with off-road abs which allows a bit of lock-up to help slow down.

High ground clearance and long-travel suspension means seat-height naturally goes up. Its physically impossible to have a low seat-height AND long travel suspension. Linked suspension can bring it down a bit but not by much. Lowering links can bring the seat-height down but at the cost of reduced shock-travel. Its always a compromise. I'd gladly tippy-toe than have a harsh, bone-jarring ride.

Impulse is about 820-840mm so this one goes up by only 2-4 cms which is'nt a deal-breaker IMO as the XRE weighs only 150 KGs.

Single Channel/Supermoto Mode/Off Road mode ABS is the answer.

On a Non ABS bike, one can lock the rear wheel and intentionally slide around.. But try locking the Front wheel on gravel/loose surface. Am definitely not Pro enough to intentionally lock the Front wheels

NO ABS (on front wheel)= NO Bike for me.

The XRE 300 has an ABS variant by the way. But that 860 mm saddle height!!!

If you want an ADV motorcycle with dirt bias big tyres, long travel suspension and decent ground clearance then you cannot expect the same motorcycle to have low seat height. Increased ground clearance = increased fork travel= increased seat height.

Look at the CRF250 Rally's seat height. 895mm. 860 is nothing. Its the same as that of the Africa Twin and that bike accomodates 5 foot 8 riders easily with a lower seat sliding mechanism. Marc Marquez is 5 foot 5 inches tall and he thrashed the taller AT like a pro for the commercial and manages to balance himself with one foot on the ground.



Givi already sells accessories for this motorcycle in Brazil:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dgon_Qt1FrY

Try braking with an ABS bike on dirt. It might be equally scary as you may not slow down sufficiently to make the turn.

Locking the front brakes on an off-roader might sound scary but I've tried it on the impulse and it is'nt scary at all in practice. dirt bikes come with big front wheels and wide handle bars for this reason as they wont buck as easily under lock-up and the wide hand bars mean you have enough leverage to counter-steer when needed. Smaller 17 inch road biased tyres tend to buckle easily on dirt which is the reason many road bikes crash on dirt (clip-on hand bars exaggerate this effect ) . The same effect is amplified in a scooter as the wheels are even smaller.

Ultimately its a confidence thing and unless one tries it out themselves one may never find out. But I dont suggest trying it out on public roads.

Honestly, the bike doesn't score great in terms of looks. The long suspension travel looks a little weird.

Amen. 860 mm isn't much if you actually think about it. Even in the picture, the seat height doesn't look much. Also, at 150 kilos the bike is light! the Dominar and the Himalayan weigh over 180 kgs.

Though considering practicality, there is a chance that the bike may not do well in the Indian market. My reason being the unfamiliarity of the segment. As someone here rightly mentioned the arrival of Duke 390 adventure, GS 310 and others, those somehow can be viewed as a road-bike as well. The XRE on the other hand cannot since it seems like a dedicated off-roader.

The model available in Brazil comes with Combined ABS, which avoids wheel locking, distributes the grip force and offers more safety in emergency braking.

I have couple of really bad and painful experience with front wheel locks. Front wheel ABS mandatory for me now.

I have learnt, accidents usually occurs when one is overconfident of one's abilities. ABS comes into play in such split second emergency and scary "overconfident" situations.

This may not sell in the same vulgar numbers as some other run of the mill bikes but it definitely will be a much better engineered light-Adventure bike than the impulse or Himalayan can ever be. And those are the only options on a budget currently in this segment.

There is a lot to like on this bike. Air-cooled so no worries of radiator damage or fans getting jammed, fuel injected so no altitude sickness and options to tune the ecu. 30 odd kilos lighter and same hp as a Himalayan. All the other up-coming bikes in this category are liquid cooled and that worries me. Not just because they can go wrong but the heat from the fans slow roasting my legs also.

If this can cruise comfortably at 100-120 on highways then I am sold.

This will be a dream come true to many souls who wished for a larger engine in an Impulse matching chassis.
I am sure, there would be some options to reduce the saddle height by a few cms.

We can also be very certain that this will be far more reliable than it's only other competitor, the Himalayan.

I agree with you on that (and other points you made). I have read and heard several anecdotes of ABS giving people posterior clenching moments and that is enough to convince me that I want the XRE without ABS, if it ever gets launched here.

Now this bit is interesting. I need to get more info on this, though it does partly explain why I was able to lock my old Bullet's front wheel on tarmac at slow speeds multiple times and still not wash out.

Well, the flip side is that one could get "overconfident" in the ability of ABS to save you in all such situations, though I do agree with the point you are making. I would not mind having ABS on a bike like this (if it has an off switch) but would turn it off at the mere sight of dirt. That being said, I do need to work on my riding skills, especially braking.

My thoughts exactly. If this turns out be more than just rumour and the XRE 300 gets launched - at a reasonable price - this would be my next bike until the KTM Adventure 390 comes out and spends at least 2 years in the market to iron out most glitches. I am also looking at the Dominar and FZ25 but this... this machine should be something good!

Sliding/Stopping motorcycle by intentionally Locking the FRONT?

I'd definitely like to learn that Art.