[avikrpandit]

Endurance Vs. Gabriel – A Tale of finding a good suspension for Jawa Forty Two - Nebula Blue (293cc)

The stock Jawa Forty-Two bike comes with Gabriel Suspension by default. Gabriel Shocks are a product of the company Gabriel Ride Control Products Inc. which is pretty well known in the west since 1900s. However, in my honest opinion, Classic Legends did miss out on a huge opportunity to fine tune the suspension. The stock ones seem to be something put on the bike straight from the shelf without considering the dynamics of the bike. Not saying the shocks are bad, but every motorcycle needs some amount of fine tuning of the cycle parts used to tune them to the optimum condition for the road conditions of the market where it is being sold. In my usage, I found that the 3rd setting on the pre-load is the best you can get out of it. It doesn’t make it plush but gives a good balance of stability and city commuting with the stock suspension.

Stock Gabriel Suspension:



Anyways, around Christmas 2023, my bike had already covered 50,000 odd kilometers on the odometer. I have been on the lookout of a replacement suspension for the bike. This was before the new launch of Jawa 350 (2024) so I kind of missed on the opportunity to test the new suspension that is tuned and launched with Jawa 350 now sold by Jawa Motorcycles aka Classic Legends in India.

My list of consideration was:

1. Honda Highness suspension
2. Royal Enfield Bullet UCE suspension
3. Royal Enfield Thunderbird suspension
4. Royal Enfield Interceptor suspension
5. Royal Enfield Meteor Stock suspension
6. Royal Enfield Classic 350 suspension

As you can see from the list, Royal Enfield has a major share of the consideration list. Honda Highness was crossed off from the list as the angle, fitting was not a match for my bike. Second, based on the Long-Term reviews, the suspension appears to have the same characteristics as the stock Gabriel shocks. Bullet UCE suspension, I was not able to find the OEM parts anywhere (online and offline) and the parts that were available were either used or aftermarket, so that was off the list. Thunderbird suspension and Interceptor suspension did not match the angle and fitting dimensions.

The two left were Meteor and Classic suspension. Did watch a few videos where customer have changed their suspension on their Meteor to Classic suspension that has the Nitrox. Hence decided the Classic Nitrox suspension would fit the best out of this list.

Searched online and found that the company that made these shocks is Endurance. Endurance is widely used by automakers in India marketplace. Majority of the Bajaj motorcycles use Endurance. My previous bike, Bajaj Pulsar aka Bumblebee also had Endurance shock absorbers in them. I may be wrong but it appears to be some link between Bajaj and Endurance, sister company, partnership, maybe. Also, Endurance as a company has been long since 1985 so definitely not a new company.

Finally, decided to go ahead with the shocks and placed an order from eauto.co.in. Arrived within a week, if I remember correctly. Product was new, though packaging could have been a lot better.

I mostly do DIY stuff on my own. However, at that time, I did not have the right size socket to open the locking nuts. Hence, went to one of my known workshops (not Jawa Authorized) and got these fitted. The stock setting comes at 2nd level which is very very very soft. Came back home floating and bouncing all the way through the Bengaluru roads.

Removing the old shocks and fitting the new ones:




At the point of writing this, I have clocked 6000 odd kilometers on these shocks testing all the different levels to find the sweet spot. Here’s what I have found so far in my testing. This review is of these shocks on my bike only. The shocks will behave differently with different bikes. For reference, 1 is the softest, 4 is the hardest.

1 and 2 Setting – No use of these settings, astoundingly jumpy and soft. Will cause more discomfort to your back since you will be bouncing around at every little pothole and bump.

3rd Setting – This may work if you are less than 60-70 kgs and when you ride solo. It is bouncy but not as discomforting as 1 and 2. I weigh around 70 kgs and along with the weight of my bike (wet weight i.e. bike weight + fuel), it is good if you are only using the bike for city commute especially for the road conditions in metro cities like Bengaluru, Pune, etc. When speed is less than 80 kmph, the bike will float around giving you very less jerks on potholes and speed breakers. Obviously, don’t fly your bike at 80 kmph on speed breakers, always slow down before the breakers and potholes. I feel this is the best setting if you live on the outskirts or have a lot of B roads on a daily basis or you live in the countryside where you want just chug along from one place to another without needing to open the throttle more than half.

3rd Setting on shocks:


Above 80 kmph on tarmac highway or concrete highway, is when you will see the downside of this setting, the rebound is too fast for these shocks in this bike. The shocks will work so fast, that you will get a sense that bike is moving on small humps or rumbles and trying to cope up all the time. In order words, it will not settle at higher speeds, making you tired and resulting into more stops for breaks. If you like to take corners at high speeds, then I wouldn’t recommend this setting.

4th Setting (Last setting) – This turned out to be the best-case scenario for me with these shocks. In city it is adequately comfortable taking on bumps and potholes, but it doesn’t bounce around as much. It also results into a more spirited riding with more comfort than the stock Gabriel suspension. On highways, concrete or tarmac, the bike is more settled. Cornering also seems better in this setting compared to all other settings.

4th or Last Setting:



Ground Clearance – In the past many have reached out with the age-old question, “Does this increase the Ground clearance?”. Straight answer – No. The bike is NOT made for having tall ground clearance. Whatever ground clearance it has is adequate enough only if you know how to ride a low ground clearance motorcycles. Not saying the manufacturer has done a well-engineered job (new Jawa 350 has revised chassis design to give a little more ground clearance plus the new suspension tuning), but classic bikes are not ADVs and vice-versa. You will need to slow down on potholes and speed breakers to let the suspension accommodate the terrain. Same also applies for rough patches or light off roading.

Thank you for reading if you're still here.

Ride Safe, Ride Far, Ride Long!

Avik Pandit

[GTO]

Thread moved to the Motorcycle section, thanks for sharing! Will go to our homepage tomorrow

[sagarpadaki]

Not related to Jawa. In my opinion, Gabriel shock absorbers in 2 wheelers is poor quality. They do not have quality control and consistency in product spec. I purchased a replacement shock for my Pulsar 180 UG3 from Gabriel, while the original from Endurance were still working fine with no leakage. I thought the bike is more than 10 years old so let me change. Big mistake! The ride went for a toss. I did some trouble shooting. Removed both the shocks from the bike. One of the shocks is very hard and the other is not so hard. One of them can be compressed by applying pressure on the shock with my weight on it but the other one would not compress even an mm.