Tweet
Re: Yamaha YZF R3 Owners Reviews and Experiences
So be like Gollum 
Although would like to put my 2 cents here on this topic. I used to ride RTR 160 in 2009, that bike had front disc only (as rear disc was considered an option at that time). That bike used to have crappy tyres from TVS (Sri Chakra something) and that bike used to eat dust everytime I was on gravel and had to brake in emergency (Happened with me 2 times atleast) as the combination of tyre grip and brake force were not in sync (even used to slip on wet roads and had to be very careful with that). Only saving grace at those times were reflexes and brake modulation in split seconds (at that time GFR was under construction and I used to take that road to office, had many scary moments due to unpredictable conditions of the road at that time , Delhi-NCR guys know this road very well since 2011).
Later in 2012 I shifted to RTR 180 which had front + rear disc brakes. I toured on it and used her at its full potential most of the time. Brakes were very sharp and could lock any moment on not so good road conditions, like your case. Again same issue here, grip and brake power mismatch (as brakes could lock even on good roads if not modulated well, happened once but I controlled the situation). On wet same story, no confidence what so ever.
Shifted to my beloved R15 V2 in 2013 and it was a different game all togather. Never used rear brake unless there was no way to survive without it in scary situations. Front tyre and front brake pads took the beating while rear setup was as new when I parted ways with it recently. But the immense confidence it used to give was unbelievable, be it dry or wet. The setup of grip and brake force was best I have came across till now. There was no ABS but that was not at all required unless you know nothing about brake modulation.
Now comes in the RC390. Although people say it has this flaw that flaw but I managed to convince myself that its the best what we can get without filing govt pockets. I understand that Ninja and R3 are better when it comes to smoothness and rev range but those Metzler tyres, ABS and good amount of gadgets were very hard to resist (specially when you are not buying a bike for a lifetime, where japs shine and I am sure my R15 will outlast RC if we talk life). But as the power jumped 2.5 times, I was happy to have the safety net at lower cost of ownership. As I use it only for fun rides, I don't ride it in the 2-5k rpm range 90% of the time and above that its smooth as R15. Now on braking part, it saved my ass already couple of times because considering the speeds this bike do added with that acceleration, I feel modulating brakes can go wrong anytime with such power without ABS (who knows). And thats the very reason I opted out of buying my first SBK (Benelli TNT600i) which was standing ready for delivery. The roads are very unpredictable here.
Regarding accidents related to KMT bikes having ABS, I would only say that ABS doesn't stop the bike for you and if you can't react on time and pull on anchors in time, you can't blame ABS for this. ABS is so overhyped topic here in India and people have very bleak knowledge about this technology. What can you expect when people say ABS means Anti Braking System or Automatic Braking System. Lol I think people having accidents think they have later.
Originally posted by Gollum
View Post
Although would like to put my 2 cents here on this topic. I used to ride RTR 160 in 2009, that bike had front disc only (as rear disc was considered an option at that time). That bike used to have crappy tyres from TVS (Sri Chakra something) and that bike used to eat dust everytime I was on gravel and had to brake in emergency (Happened with me 2 times atleast) as the combination of tyre grip and brake force were not in sync (even used to slip on wet roads and had to be very careful with that). Only saving grace at those times were reflexes and brake modulation in split seconds (at that time GFR was under construction and I used to take that road to office, had many scary moments due to unpredictable conditions of the road at that time , Delhi-NCR guys know this road very well since 2011).
Later in 2012 I shifted to RTR 180 which had front + rear disc brakes. I toured on it and used her at its full potential most of the time. Brakes were very sharp and could lock any moment on not so good road conditions, like your case. Again same issue here, grip and brake power mismatch (as brakes could lock even on good roads if not modulated well, happened once but I controlled the situation). On wet same story, no confidence what so ever.
Shifted to my beloved R15 V2 in 2013 and it was a different game all togather. Never used rear brake unless there was no way to survive without it in scary situations. Front tyre and front brake pads took the beating while rear setup was as new when I parted ways with it recently. But the immense confidence it used to give was unbelievable, be it dry or wet. The setup of grip and brake force was best I have came across till now. There was no ABS but that was not at all required unless you know nothing about brake modulation.
Now comes in the RC390. Although people say it has this flaw that flaw but I managed to convince myself that its the best what we can get without filing govt pockets. I understand that Ninja and R3 are better when it comes to smoothness and rev range but those Metzler tyres, ABS and good amount of gadgets were very hard to resist (specially when you are not buying a bike for a lifetime, where japs shine and I am sure my R15 will outlast RC if we talk life). But as the power jumped 2.5 times, I was happy to have the safety net at lower cost of ownership. As I use it only for fun rides, I don't ride it in the 2-5k rpm range 90% of the time and above that its smooth as R15. Now on braking part, it saved my ass already couple of times because considering the speeds this bike do added with that acceleration, I feel modulating brakes can go wrong anytime with such power without ABS (who knows). And thats the very reason I opted out of buying my first SBK (Benelli TNT600i) which was standing ready for delivery. The roads are very unpredictable here.
Regarding accidents related to KMT bikes having ABS, I would only say that ABS doesn't stop the bike for you and if you can't react on time and pull on anchors in time, you can't blame ABS for this. ABS is so overhyped topic here in India and people have very bleak knowledge about this technology. What can you expect when people say ABS means Anti Braking System or Automatic Braking System. Lol I think people having accidents think they have later.
Comment