Essentially this should be in the "What bike" section as its not a general discussion. Its just an enquiry into a particular set of bikes. Anyways, Topic Approved.

Guys riding RE, kindly help him out.

Re: Starting on with Royal Enfield

Hi gprad i think riding a bullet is an eternal experience you can't define it.

But for you...

You can generally ride any bullet at lower speed even in taller gear. But not as old CI engine bullet.

Gear shifting is a style which you can follow as per your comfort.

You have to choose a neutral riding position. Nor leaning or laid back too much.

Dont rev your RE machine like a street bike. It delivers all the power you need at less than 3000 rpm. So cruise happily.

Braking should be conservative. Comparing new bikes from yamaha, honda and suzuki this RE bikes are not for sudden braking. It is to just stop your bike

Happy thumping

Re: Starting on with Royal Enfield

Bhai [MENTION=55025]gprad[/MENTION] .. you are putting too much thought into it. If you can ride a bicycle, then theoretically you can ride a Bull.. well it helps if you have a good lower back strength to pick her up once you drop her.. but otherwise, once you start riding everything else will fail into place. I had only one motorcycle ride (which did not end well) of approx 10km experience before I bought my classic 500. Now during 2 years and 20000kms of riding, I have dropped her more than 10-15 times. Most of the time it was my mistakes, but I have always come back with minor scratches and more wisdom because I always wear my riding gear. So wear proper gear always and just ride.
Now specific to your queries;
Gear shift pattern is same 1 down 4 up.
I did not understand about your toe under clutch part, but I don't use the heel shifter and prefer to use my toe only for up shift.
Initially your Enfield will be set by show room guys for low idling, so probably on a new bike, you will get to move by only slipping the clutch without throttle. They will reset the idle at 1st service. Any way it is better that you take on an empty road at night and learn about slipping clutch at a little throttle and get a feel before going in traffic.
Read about riding from Keith Code. As he said, a motorcycle is an inherently stable machine, because of gyroscopic effect. It is the monkey on top of it that unsettles the motorcycle. Sit in such a way that no weight is on handle bar. Support your weight on your back only. Grip with your thighs on the tank. And learn about counter steering, survival reactions, etc. Trust me , after every fall, when I look back, I realize that I fell because I did not follow one or the other of these basic principles.
It is better to use front and back equally, because most Enfield have near equal weight distribution front and back. Your stopping power is at the front only, however, better to shed some speed applying rear brake also first. In rain and slush, better give more duty to rear brake, because mrfs tend to skid more in slush and wet.
About the rpm range, during running in it is better to keep the rpms low and shift early to keep varying engine rpm. But never lug your engine.
For me, I use my bum tacho and shift when it goes numb.
PS: just now realised I replied to a query from 2012!!! Sigh.. better late than never...