A recent video that surfaced on the Facebook page of Royal Enfield Riders Club has once again raised the issue of inferior quality components used by the accessory manufacturing brands in India. The owner of this Royal Enfield Classic was riding the motorcycle on a local road when the front alloy wheel broke without any visible sign of impact. The sudden event resulted in a fall and the rider was lucky as nothing was speeding behind him on the road. As he stands after the fall, the entire spoke section of the alloy wheel was missing from the motorcycle, which in fact, was seen racing ahead during the recording of the fall.
Video Source: Royal Enfield Riders Club
The rider was wearing partial protection at the moment as the video shows the gloves on his hands. The slipper that he was wearing went flying in the air, clearing the fact that riding a motorcycle with tight footwear is a safer alternative than any loose-fitting option. Well, the idea of using alloy wheels in Royal Enfield or any other motorcycle brand is to use tubeless tires for avoiding sudden deflation. Still, the quality of these moving parts matters a lot more than styling and puncture-avoidance. The impact of braking and sudden acceleration on the suspension is transferred to the alloy wheels and thus, a good quality one can only hold this amount of stress.
The stock alloy wheels are tested for lakhs of kilometres before using them in any motorcycle from any random brand. On the other side, there are only a few reputed brands for aftermarket alloy wheels in India. The low-quality copies of these products are sold by a large number of stores around the country for more profits and thus, risks the life of riders. The riders are suggested to go for company-approved alloy wheels that are available with warranty and pass through the tests that are mandatory before production. The cheap alternatives are worth nothing as they can bring high amounts of damage when riding at high speed.
