[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by ArizonaJim

In my opinion, the only time locking up the rear wheel while riding a motorcycle on dirt is an advantage is when the rider is doing very spirited riding. (Read, "racing").

There are three ways of descending an aggressive slope where traction is dodgy, from my experience;

1. Crawl down in 1st gear if you have enough room.

2. Anchoring the rear end by locking the rear wheel to descend at an even lower pace for the trickier sections.

and finally,

3. Killing the motor and using clutch as rear brake while tip-toeing over slippery boulders.

Since we're descending and the weight is towards the front end, it doesn't make sense to touch the front brake at all, ABS if setup up right is a boon as it helps the front end make use of whatever traction is available but on some motorcycles the ABS kicks in after a slight delay, which makes it better to not use the front brake at all.

As for the rear brake, it is better to not be equipped with ABS on trickier sections because in the event that you'd need to slow down rapidly you're only left with engine braking which is not ideal in all cases and would vary depending on gearing as even in 1st gear some motorcycles tend to pick up undesirable speed when you least want it.

Which is why my vote is for Single-Channel ABS systems over the Dual-Channel ones.

Originally Posted by MaheshY1

As far as the front wheel ABS is concerned, it all depends on the calibration. I once locked up the front wheel of my SF FI ABS in an emergency and the ABS kicked in. I could tell that it's being conservative. It increased my braking distance. I felt like I could have stopped shorter without the ABS - at least in that particular situation.

During an inter-district group ride there was a situation where the rider(lead) in front of me panic braked on an open road due to an unforeseen reason, we all follow suite and the only motorcycle which made contact with the motorcycle(Me) in front was the one equipped with ABS.

Though I did hear the chirp of his tires from the ABS working about the same time I hit the brakes, what took me by surprise was the distinct 'TAK' of his front fairing tapping against by rear rack which followed a second or two later.

Now argument could go both ways, I could say that without the ABS instead of the kiss it could've been a washout where both of us and even the lead could've gone down, as the tires had squealed meaning that they'd broken traction.

But then my question is whether the rider would've blindly hammered the brakes if he'd been riding a motorcycle not equipped with ABS? Reason for this line of thought is because there were even number of motorcycles not equipped with ABS ahead and behind the said motorcycle equipped with ABS who did not brake traction or make contact.

Having said all that on an open highway with state of the art roads I'd prefer a dual channel ABS as it takes the load of having to care too much about braking which I feel would reduce mental fatigue and do good for my average speed as well.

[neil.jericho]

I got a chance to briefly check out one of the bikes at a Royal Enfield showroom recently. First impressions were quite positive. The bike competes against Bullet garage builds that the aftermarket specialists have been the champs in. From a fit and finish perspective, this is leagues ahead of the garage builds. It also gives you a customized single seater Royal Enfield motorcycle that stands out from the pack in a nice way. If there ever was a lifestyle offering from Royal Enfield, this is it.

I hear the sales figures arent that great since there is limited acceptance of a pure single seater motorcycles and on top of that, the automobile market is in the midst of correcting itself from the highs of the past. But overall, I feel its a good job by Royal Enfield. At least they are trying different things and arent just sitting back and waiting for higher sales numbers to fall out of the sky.

I do read the updates on the Jawa thread and Im fascinated by the fact that the Indian market is so forgiving to a new brand with

• their first products of which test rides reviews from magazines werent great,

• waiting periods that hark back to the 1990s,

• highly suspect social media updates that dont match their reported dispatches,

• unknown service costs and reliability and much more.

If I was in the market for a sub Rs 2-2.5 lakh lifestyle motorcycle, the Trails would be it.

[ku69rd]

Very interestingly the fork system is completely different from the classic.
This seems to be similar to the fork systems found on royal enfields that are exported.

They are very late with this model and especially after the twins are launched. the 500 CC seems to be the biggest loser with the twins being launched.
But yes the fit n finish is for sure better and the engine guard on this trials is actually cool and chic looking

[LoneTraveller]

Pros:
-Easy Flickability
-Oodles of Torque
-Lightweight, when compared to its siblings

Cons:
-Impractical as a daily driver, but hey, this is a lifestyle vehicle!
-No proper fuel meter

I recently got a chance to have a longish test ride on this bike on a two-lane road. The road conditions were mixed, good roads, bad roads and sometimes no-roads at all. Also, this was the first time I was seeing an RE Trials on the road, I had only seen them parked inside the RE showrooms till now.

One of the first things I noticed as soon as I started riding was how flickable the bike is. The short handlebar and the lightweight nature of the bike, helped in this. Be it filtering through traffic, making tight U-Turns, quick manoeuvres or tackling bad roads, I felt confident.

Overtaking on the two-laned road were a breeze, the ample amount of low-end torque really and the weight reduction helped here. The throttle response was crisp, and the brakes were sharp. The bike had a sweet and bassy exhaust note. This was too good to be true for a 350. I mentioned this to the Ride Co-ordinator when we stopped for a break and he immediately pointed out that I was riding a 500. No wonder!

There was no branding saying 350/500 anywhere on the bike. Later, while googling, I found out that the differentiator between the 350 and 500 is the colour of the chassis. 350 gets the red coloured chassis and the 500 gets the green one. In addition, the 500 gets chrome finish on the tank, whereas the 350 does not.

The ride co-ordinator also said that the bike is based on the Standard version and gets a heavier crank. Off-roading was easy on this bike. The weight reduction, off-road handlebar, suspension, torquey engine, upswept exhaust the off-road tyres etc, greatly helped. Switchable ABS would have been a welcome addition along with wider mirrors and a proper fuel meter.

I had mixed reactions when I first saw the pictures of the Trials online, but in real life, it does not look that bad, and once I started riding it, the looks didn’t even bother me one bit, I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. The Trials is indeed a good little lifestyle vehicle.

Regards,
LoneTraveller

[Gordon]

Has anyone tried retrofitting the Trials rear sub-frame, mudguard and tail unit on a Classic?