[sam_sant2005]

May be slightly OT but part of the King of roads 390, I mean the ABS.

Could the 390 owners please let us know if ABS is really worth the money. I was astonished to find that some more premium bikes like the Ninja do not have ABS option. Is there a problem with ABS on bikes? Why are the manufacturers not providing it?

I know RTR 180 was the first one to give it sub 1.5 lac but why are the others not following it, especially Bajaj who are normally right on the money with improvisations.

[man_of_steel]

Originally Posted by sam_sant2005

Could the 390 owners please let us know if ABS is really worth the money.

Absolutely. That extra bit of money you spent will save your life one day or may be lakhs of hospital bills.

[Motard_Blr]

Originally Posted by hellraizer

Sure, but I only lubed the chain using the 3M chain spray, My hands were pretty safe. I wouldn't risk my hand for the bike.

Originally Posted by naveenroy

Yes, I was talking about the finger crusher only Heard horror stories of chain sprockets eating up fingers.

Originally Posted by n_aditya

Rotate the rear wheel manually instead of firing up the engine. You could get fingers or clothes stuck in the gear teeth while cleaning and lubing the wheel. Consequences can be painful and disastrous.

Originally Posted by hellraizer

I see the service centre guys do exactly this way. They mount the bike on the stand and start the bike and engage in first gear and start spraying the lube. I thought, this is how you must lube the chain. Looking at the number of people saying it could be potentially dangerous, it's best to avoid this jugaad I guess.

Originally Posted by man_of_steel

Yes please! That is best avoided. Your fingers will be caught in between the sprocket and chain before you even realize it!

Here's a simple way of lubricating the chain safely:
When the rear wheel is free to rotate, ROTATE IT BY HAND in the BACKWARD direction. This will ensure that lower part of the chain moves AWAY from the rear sprocket and greatly reduces the risk of getting your finger caught in between. The upper part of the chain is usually covered and cannot be worked on anyway.

[The Pain]

Originally Posted by sam_sant2005

May be slightly OT but part of the King of roads 390, I mean the ABS.

Could the 390 owners please let us know if ABS is really worth the money. I was astonished to find that some more premium bikes like the Ninja do not have ABS option. Is there a problem with ABS on bikes? Why are the manufacturers not providing it?

I know RTR 180 was the first one to give it sub 1.5 lac but why are the others not following it, especially Bajaj who are normally right on the money with improvisations.

ABS is amazing and absolutely worth the money. Helps you stop without any drama at high speeds.

[lark63]

Originally Posted by sam_sant2005

May be slightly OT but part of the King of roads 390, I mean the ABS.

Could the 390 owners please let us know if ABS is really worth the money. I was astonished to find that some more premium bikes like the Ninja do not have ABS option. Is there a problem with ABS on bikes? Why are the manufacturers not providing it?

I know RTR 180 was the first one to give it sub 1.5 lac but why are the others not following it, especially Bajaj who are normally right on the money with improvisations.

Absolutely worth it.
The other day I was riding to my office in the morning as usual at break neck speed to catch the punch clock. Must be doing atleast 60-70. Suddenly one auto fellow who was driving in the extreme left decided to cut across to the right. He neither put on the blinker nor even checked for the traffic. He simply took a 90 turn to move right. I was may be 20 to 25 feet away. By the time I sensed the danger and pressed the brakes I would have been 15-20 feet away. But the bike moved in a straight line all through the braking. By the time it came to a halt the left handle bar hit the rear of the auto because the auto kept moving unmindful of my sudden braking. The left knuckle guard became pieces but I escaped unharmed except for a tiny scratch from the flying piece of guard. As per murphy's law, I wasn't wearing my jacket & gloves that day.
On similar instances on my earlier bikes I have always landed on the road with many more injuries.
Thanks to ABS !

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by lark63

Absolutely worth it.
The other day I was riding to my office in the morning as usual at break neck speed to catch the punch clock. Must be doing atleast 60-70. Suddenly one auto fellow who was driving in the extreme left decided to cut across to the right. He neither put on the blinker nor even checked for the traffic. He simply took a 90 turn to move right. I was may be 20 to 25 feet away. By the time I sensed the danger and pressed the brakes I would have been 15-20 feet away. But the bike moved in a straight line all through the braking. By the time it came to a halt the left handle bar hit the rear of the auto because the auto kept moving unmindful of my sudden braking. The left knuckle guard became pieces but I escaped unharmed except for a tiny scratch from the flying piece of guard. As per murphy's law, I wasn't wearing my jacket & gloves that day.
On similar instances on my earlier bikes I have always landed on the road with many more injuries.
Thanks to ABS !

I'm a little spatially confused. If he moved across in front of you left to right, 90 degrees, if you hit his rear, moving in a straight line, there is no way your left handle would hit. It would be the right.

Also, if you kept moving straight, you used only one advantage of the ABS, i.e. not locking and skidding. The other one - i.e. still being able to steer while braking, could have still allowed you to evade the hit.

[lark63]

Originally Posted by ebonho

I'm a little spatially confused. If he moved across in front of you left to right, 90 degrees, if you hit his rear, moving in a straight line, there is no way your left handle would hit. It would be the right.

Also, if you kept moving straight, you used only one advantage of the ABS, i.e. not locking and skidding. The other one - i.e. still being able to steer while braking, could have still allowed you to evade the hit.

Yes Ofcourse!
I have also steered the bike to the right while breaking. Still we had to converge at some point on the right side of the road since the auto fellow did not realize the problem he has created for me since there is no screeching/braking sound etc. The contact was just the knuckle guard to the body of the auto at its right back corner. If I had reacted a couple of seconds earlier, I would have avoided the contact by couple of inches.
I hope I am clear atleast now!!

[basuroy]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Also, if you kept moving straight, you used only one advantage of the ABS, i.e. not locking and skidding. The other one - i.e. still being able to steer while braking, could have still allowed you to evade the hit.

Motorcycle ABS comes in various degree of effectiveness , basic ones like the one present on the KTM are only bulletproof for straight line stopping . For ABS to perform satisfactorily while leaning (as in turning/avoiding obstacle ) , a lean sensor is required - for example present in the superduke . Without lean sensor , there is a probability of wheel lock up - nothing more than a probability but it is there nonetheless .

Don't know about you all but I personally use rear if I need to brake while leaning and the rear has a tendency to lock up in the duke even during straights (happened in my test ride , no worries as it was for fraction of a second but during turn , that might be another issue ).

If you go to the Bosch website , they have description of the various ABS modules on offer - ours is either 9M or 9M+ while the top tier module has everything from lean sensor to traction control .

[ashwin1224]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Be careful to keep your fingers FAR away from the rotating chain and sprocket when you do this. And always work on the section of chain that is moving AWAY from the sprocket.

This is REALLY important, great advice doc. I know a person who has lost a thumb when it got caught between the chain and the sprocket.

[ArizonaJim]

Some time past, one of our members was cleaning his chain with a rag so he could lube it.

He had the motorcycle on the center stand in 1st gear.

The rag pulled his fingers into the rear sprocket which promptly chopped several of his fingers off.
As I recall, the hospital tried reattaching them.

I haven't seen any posts by him for a long time, but I do hope the operation was successful.

The bottom line is moving machinery can be very dangerous whether it is a moving chain, an electric drill or saw, a rotating fan or even an electric egg beater.

Saving a minute of time is not worth living with a lifetime of injury and pain.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by hellraizer

I tried mounting the jack on the underbelly exhaust.

This does not look like a safe or a stable way to go about it. I know this is how you go about lubricating the chain, so you know better. Nearly 140kilo's of weight is a bit for the exhaust unit to take.

Though much slower as a process and not necessarily safer, I lean the bike very slightly, against me, using a wall running beside the bike, handle bar pointing straight and one bar end resting on the wall. I have not attempted cleaning the chain like this (don't think its a good idea), only lubrication.

Originally Posted by VijayAnand1

The place where people are confused is crash bobbin vs frame sliders

If the bike were to take a tumble, is a crash bobbin more effective than a frame slider/crash guard? Looking at the mount points and amount of protrusion for a crash bobbin, I can't see any benefit a crash bobbin offers.

[abhinav.s]

On the topic of chain cleaning/lubing, I think there was a you tube video put by a member in one of the threads (unable to find it). In that the guy advised that in case you do not have a paddock stand you can clean and lube the chain by pushing the bike exposing the part of chain that needed cleaning/lubing. I guess this is by far a safer alternative unless you have help of another person to support the bike while you clean/lube the chain. Has anyone tried this method? Thoughts?

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

Has anyone tried this method? Thoughts?

Been doing it like this from the day I got my motorcycle. Though its a little irritating, getting up and sitting down, sure gets the job done.

However, nothing like the freedom of being able to rotate the wheel freely with your hand while cleaning, lubricating and rim cleaning. If not the rear spools, I am surely picking up a paddock stand that can raise the front and rear wheel. It has taken me a while to get to terms with this but considering I spent a shade over 200k on a motorcycle, don't think 5k is much for a decent paddock stand and a set of front spools.

I have a flat right now and though I would like to attempt the fix myself (atleast removing the wheel), I can't.

The Bangalore folks can help me out here. Where can I get a flat tire attended. I suspect a valve leak. I live in Cox town so something close to my neighborhood will help. I can go to Madhus too.

[abhinav.s]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

I have a flat right now and though I would like to attempt the fix myself (atleast removing the wheel), I can't.
The Bangalore folks can help me out here. Where can I get a flat tire attended. I suspect a valve leak. I live in Cox town so something close to my neighborhood will help. I can go to Madhus too.

Madhus would be best. Please call up prior and confirm if they work on bikes. Some tyre shops dont work on bike punctures however much you try to convince them. Have never checked about it at Madhus so they might do the work on bikes. If they do not, then your only options are some of the less known puncture guys . Cox town has quite a few multibrand tyre shops. Try some of them too. The main issue is when the puncture guys try to remove the tyres, they tend to chip the paint off the rim a good measure causing the rims to look ugly later on. Also the brute force some use might not be good for the tyres and alloys.

[Piyadassi]

Originally Posted by abhinav.s

The main issue is when the puncture guys try to remove the tyres, they tend to chip the paint off the rim a good measure causing the rims to look ugly later on. Also the brute force some use might not be good for the tyres and alloys.

What is the need to remove the tubeless tyre? Or am I missing something?