[Captain Slow]

I guess he only wore the gloves and a jackets because that's the only thing visible on the screen (When he Vlogs) I am very sure he never expected anyone would see his flip-flops.

This is a very good lesson not to trust any aftermarket brand just like that. This guy is very very lucky to be alive.

[marcussantiago]

This is also a good example of why one must be careful when diving into mods and custom bikes, especially in India where there are no regulations or certification and these parts are built primarily to show off, rather than to function.

The reason things are this way are 1) there are no regulations to meet, and no consequences for manufacturing and selling really crappy parts that can fail and endanger the rider's health / life and 2) the majority of customers (riders) also don't care about the safety or manufacturer's reputation when purchasing mods, they just want the wow bling factor to impress people with.

Which is fine if your bike is just for show, but actually riding that contraption after you've modified it to look bad-ass is a whole different scenario.

For some reason, Royal Enfield owners are especially susceptible to this phenomenon, they're easily the most commonly modified / customized brand of bike in India.

Imagine how severe this crash would have been if this rider was going at typical highway speeds! Poor dude is quite lucky. He does look like he injured his leg in the video.

[gkveda]

With all due respects to all the comments in this thread, Pardon my ignorance and difference of Opinion,

1. How did we conclude that this is a after market alloy? This is no where visible in the video.

2, Are we saying it WONT happen on a OEM Alloy supplied by Enfield? After knowing the quality issues faced by Enfield bikes, how can we conclude that if it was OEM Supplied alloy, he would have escaped?

Adding an evidence on the usage of alloy wheels, see here (The official alloy wheel show-off thread. Lets see your rims!) to know how many of us have installed after market Alloys on our cars. The no. of pages have gone beyond 365.

In my view, bashing the rider and the entire alloy wheel Industry by looking at one video is NOT fair.

PS: I am just putting the points from another perspective. I am not concluding anything with this Post.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Royal Enfield introduces alloy wheel options for Classic 350, Classic 500, Thunderbird 350 and Thunderbird 500 priced at Rs 10,000; available for new and existing owners.

https://www.autocarindia.com/bike-ne...s-10000-412003

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

This video has gone viral in biking groups, and good indeed - as I've seen many Enfields recently wearing such aftermarket alloys. Hope they switch back to OE spoke wheels or stick to reputed brands instead!

RE quality is iffy at best. Forget the aftermarket alloys. The original rear spoke wheel of the TB 350 a neighbor of mine was riding from Madurai to Chennai broke recently. Not a catastrophic failure like this, but a few spokes broke off, went inside and tore the tube. He was stranded in the middle of nowhere till help arrived. The bike was less than one year old.

[Bismaya]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Royal Enfield introduces alloy wheel options for Classic 350, Classic 500, Thunderbird 350 and Thunderbird 500 priced at Rs 10,000; available for new and existing owners.

https://www.autocarindia.com/bike-ne...s-10000-412003

AFAIK, the alloys were only offered on Thunderbird X series of bikes. Do you think the video in the OP is what triggered when to respond to this case by introducing official set of alloys? It's a good thing that they did TBH. What remains to be seen is how many owners are actually going to opt for these alloys.

[2000rpm]

Dumb to launch alloy wheel models during the strong criticism phase for poor quality alloy wheels on a RE!

[Who_are_you]

Originally Posted by 2000rpm

Dumb to launch alloy wheel models during the strong criticism phase for poor quality alloy wheels on a RE!

Currently RE do not have alloy wheel offering on any model. Criticism is for aftermarket parts .

[ACM]

Originally Posted by Bismaya

What remains to be seen is how many owners are actually going to opt for these alloys.

Originally Posted by 2000rpm

Dumb to launch alloy wheel models during the strong criticism phase for poor quality alloy wheels on a RE!

Actually all those with aftermarket alloys who have seen this video may just dump the aftermarket alloys and go for the genuine stuff. So it is maybe just the right time to launch the original alloys.

Plus those on the fence may now be able to take the plunge or upgrade their thunderbird to thunderbirdX

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Royal Enfield introduces alloy wheel options for Classic 350, Classic 500, Thunderbird 350 and Thunderbird 500 priced at Rs 10,000; available for new and existing owners.

https://www.autocarindia.com/bike-ne...s-10000-412003

Does anyone know if these alloy wheels are not applicable to Std 350s/Electras? The article doesn't mention the plain-jane "doodhwala" Electra (which I have) as being eligible for these new alloy wheels.

And yes - I never thought about getting an aftermarket alloy till now, for safety reasons. I assume RE would have done their metallurgical and material-strength research properly. With aftermarket suppliers, one can't even assume as much.

[farhadtarapore]

I had installed aftermarket alloys from RE service center on my TB500. Never had an issue. You have to check and inspect them from time to time if you ride at high speed over bumps and potholes (as I used to). Never found a crack.

RE does offer alloys on their Thunderbird X models. But like other parts of the bike, not sure how great their quality would be.

The reason I installed "aftermarket" alloys was to get tubeless tyres. Got a puncture in the rear tyre once and removing that and re-fitting that with the rear disc brakes was a herculean task even for a mechanic (I didn't dare even try it myself for fear that I'll break some wire or pipe or bend the disc). Even he was cursing and sweating when removing the wheel. So, tubeless is definitely a good thing. And one can add tubeless tyres on spoked rims as well (have seen it on few harleys and BMWs, there are lots of ways to seal the rim). The rim needs to be manufactured differently that's all. But then that would represent a cost for Royal Enfield no?

[blackwasp]

Thanks to Birmaninder Saggoo for sending this image in. Heartfelt gratitude for sharing it with other enthusiasts via this Team-BHP page!

One more such incident in Noida.