congrats for the solid looking and beautiful bike i have read that a lot of minor improvements have been made in the bike overall.How is the handling of the bike while braking?and is there any engine oil leakage u noticed so far?

Hi fellow riders,
Its been 15 days since I got my Desert Storm delivered and just had its first free servicing done yesterday. I had to wait for 2 and a half months for it. Have finished 570 kms on the odo so far.
Here's my review of the Classic 500 DS:
The good:
The first time I drove this beast of a machine I knew it was gonna rule every other bike on the road. Its got tremendous power. The torque is just ginormous.
You will probably need the first gear, only, whenever you are at a complete stop. The second gear takes it all. Slow downs, slopes, speed breakers etc are an ease on second and sometimes on the 3rd gear too. Overtaking in the 4th gear is possible thanks to the 41Nm torque.
Its got great balance even though being on the heavier side. The heavy weight acts as a plus point in case you run into a little sand or rubble on the road. The bike crushes it all and zooms through it.
The gear changing is as usual typical bullet style with occasional half step gear change happening. I compared the gear changing to that of an Electra TS and the classics a lot smoother. I could even change the gears with my toe. Yes its possible.
The fifth gear is dedicated to cruising at speeds above 80. It just smooths out as you go above 80. The thump gets clearer and you don't even feel the speed at which you are going. Its a joy of a ride. As you accelerate people may have to cover their ears due to the thump it creates. The seating position is straight and is very comfy. The handle bar is suited for both city rides and highway cruising.
Even at 60 its heaven.
A good change in this Classic is the side stand. They have reduced the inclination of the bike when it rests on the side stand. That's a great thing. The other bullets have a side stand which makes the bullet almost sleep side ways making it difficult to park.
And more ease is the center stand. Its a piece of a cake. They have made it so easy to rest the bike on the center stand that even a 16 year old could do it.
The head lights are 65W/55W compared to the 35W on other bullets. Its sufficient light for any kind of darkness. The tyres are good enough and offer great grip.
The electric start is just awesome! No matter how cold it is, it never failed to start on the first go. In fact I had a hard time kick starting the bike in cold.
The looks: Be prepared to get compliments from totally unknown people; stopping by just to compliment you on the colour of your bullet. People will respect you wherever you go. They will stop/slow down for you to cross the roads or overtake them.
The default exhaust is good to. I don't feel the need to change it for at least
10000 kms.May be after that.
And YES! The Mileage! Kitna deti hai?? I got a 29kmpl mileage before the 1st servicing with all city driving.

The bad:
There's nothing really bad about this bike. Just minor glitches here and there that are an inherent feature of any bullet. I faced a really hard time Kick starting the bullet in the mornings. I had to ES it first and then it would kick start. Strange I know!
A little bit of rust here and there but nothing serious.
I had a problem of rust on the chain. Shouldn't happen for a new bike. But I guess it was the mistake of the dealer; and he didn't take due care of it before it was delivered to me. But still it doesn't make any noise so its all good.
I find the petrol indicator a little bit confusing. I take it a point to always keep the level above reserve. I don't know why RE doesn't install the usual pointer type fuel indicator on all its bikes. The bike has no ON/RES knob. And 0.75 litres of fuel in tank is unusable. has a 2.5 lit reserve.

After the 1st servicing the bikes become more smooth. The clutch and accelerator have eased out a bit. The throttle response has improved and now I can speed it up to 80 kmph whenever I get a chance.

So this was my review of the Classic 500 DS. I have only one thing to say to all soon to be owners of the Desert Storm - The wait is worth it!

Congrats arun bharadwaj for owning that beauty.
Do keep us posted on your experiences with the bike...
Are you using some kind of sprays to stop the rusting?
Also, do upload some pics of your ride

Recently changing gears have become a nightmare. In 2nd to 5th when i depress the gear it only goes down half so with my heel i have give it a hard press. Also this does not seem to happen consistently so went to A.S.S yesterday and told them all three issues mentioned my earlier post.

After just depressing the clutch lever couple of times the mechanic said that the clutch cable is gone and he will replace it under warranty (Comments in the job card was that the clutch is HARD). He said this will resolve all my issues.

I just came back from the A.S.S and now the gears seems to be working properly. Regarding other issues I will have to drive a bit more before commenting.

Also changed the handlebar to electra handlebar and its just awesome. Now I do not feel difficult driving in traffic and also feels very snuggly. It costed 316 Rs and 100Rs labor for fitting it.

Very good review Viper1089. You have covered almost all points that a prospective owner may want to know. Regarding rust, I am very concerned given the humidity rich climate of Mumbai. Is there any precaution we could take to avoid rust before it starts creeping in ? Is there any specific anti-rust spray or solution available in market or recommended by the dealer/company ?

I have booked my RE DS a month ago and have to wait for more 4 to 5 months. Meanwhile the KTM Duke 200 is launching in January and I am now in pickle as to which bike I should go for. I know that both bikes belong to different league and cannot be compared in principle. I wish I had both of them but then I need at least one for now and I want to know which one should I bet on.

Comparison of ------------------ RE DS -------------------------------------------- KTM200 ----------
On-Road Price ------------------- 1.56 ------------------------------------------- 1.4 (speculated)
Engine ------------------------------- 500 cc --------------------------------------------- 200 cc
Power ------------------------ 27.2 bhp @ 5250 rpm --------------------- 24.658 bhp @ 10000rpm
Torque ---------------------- 41.3 Nm @ 4000 rpm --------------------------19 Nm @ 8000 rpm
Weight ------------------------------ 187 Kg --------------------------------------------- 136 Kg
FE ------------------------------------- 30 kmpl ------------------------------------ 30 kmpl(speculated)

These are main parameters affecting my choice. The weight, technology and reliability go in favour of duke but the sheer power and torque charge the bull forward in this comparison. The only issue of concern for me is the all pervasive rusting of bull. Has any one found a effective solution to it ?

Yes viper's review was just perfect. Regarding rusting, at the service center, they were applying something from a can called "RUSLICK or RUSTICK". During my first service they applied the same in many places like the ignition key hole, sidelock keyhole, all the side cover whichever has a lock and key and also on the center stand where rust started forming. Nowadays I dont see rust forming anywhere. I got a small can of similar solution and apply it in the above places once a week.

First I started doing this when one day I was not able to put the key inside. WTF ). After 10 mins i was able to put it in and start the bike...On my way to work I asked for wd40 at a h/w store and he gave me something similar which when applied in the keyhole, everything starting working smoothly from then on. I believe the previous day the bike was standing in rain all day at work.

Hi, First of all congrats on booking a DS. Well my advice would be that don't worry too much about the rusting. There is rusting all right on bullets but I have never seen it enough to cause a degrading in riding capability of the bike. It mostly affects the looks. All important things on the bullet are safe and work very well. Know that the bullet is a very sturdy bike.
Also as you said KTM 200 and DS are 2 very different bikes. You would want to think of the future. For example KTM is far less comfortable for the pillion rider than the DS. Also women will be more comfortable sitting on a DS than a KTM. If you are intending on riding alone then KTM will do.
Also for touring and long drives DS would be the winner any given day.
KTM would offer a high top speed than DS as is evident. But is that really an advantage unless you are thinking about racing? You get more than sufficient thrust and pick up on DS to prove your dominance on the roads.
The KTM is much lighter than DS which is a plus point.
KTM has great looks agreed. You wont get that on a bullet. But neither will you get a DS colour bike in KTM 200.
You might think I am more inclined to the DS but thats the facts that I have considered. I also pondered over DS or the CBR 250 when I was making my decision. All the above things I mentioned made me choose the DS over CBR 250.
After all the choice is yours. I was never a bullet type of a rider but since the DS I am more than happy that I bought it!

hey congos rony,just came to know you had booked the DS.The colour looks awesome.

Hi all,
Its been 18 days since I got my C500 DS delivered. I have done the first free servicing and have run 990 kms so far. Yesterday I took it for a long ride out of the city for the first time. It was a pleasure ride. I cruised at 80-85 speeds continuously for more than 50 kms. Even overtook cars and jeeps. It was a ride of total 250 kms from Pune to Mahabaleshwar and back with a pillion rider. The Cl500 has a great benefit over the 350cc bullets. In the 5th gear the torque is so good that even at 85kmph speed you can zoom to 90 and overtake trucks etc on the highway. The 5th gear is meant for cruising! The bike did vibrate a lot at 95+ speeds. I could feel the vibrations from the engine up to my hands. I didn't strain it much over 90's since its relatively new. It took potholes on the highway easily. Didn't even feel the little ones or patches gone bad etc. No engine trouble after returning home.
The seat was just fine for the first 120 kms. After that my behind just started to hurt. I mean really hurt and pain. I reached a point where I couldn't sit anymore on the bike so I halted and got down. So I would probably change the seat if I plan to go on any longer rides henceforth. Or I would put on some more cushion on the seat.
The stock silencer is great at lower speeds but once you reach 80 and start cruising the sound of the engine takes over the sound from the exhaust.
I know I said I wouldn't change the stock silencer but I think I would go for the up-swept one eventually.
I am still facing issues while kick starting. Sometimes it starts and sometimes the kick start just won't work no matter how warmed up the engine is. The self start has never failed me till now even in cold conditions. At first push of the button the engine starts.
So this was my experience till now of the RE Cl500 DS.
Its an amazing bike whatsoever and I love it!

Exhaust gasket gone kaput

There were huge popping sounds from the exhaust while decelarating so checked with A.S.C and they changed the gasket by removing the bendpipe. Now the popping sounds are gone.

Its not covered in waranty so they charged me 36 Rs for the gasket.

I met an RE service center guy i Pune at Sinhagad road. He gave me a great trick to resolve a problem related to gear shifting in a C500. He told me to do this every day in the morning before riding out. I did it and it works really well!
Start the bike > Pull the choke lever to the max > Depress the clutch > put the bike on side stand or incline the bike to the left side and leave it at that for a minute.
This ensures enough lubrication of the clutch plates and ensures smooth gear shifting whole day long. This trick really works and I think other C500 Ds owners should try it too.

Just read through your posting

if you are in Chennai / Velachery....am sure you would have heared about Seshan, he is a RE mechanic, he would give best of the service, probably he would talk too much...just appreciate him and keep his morale up, he will provide you best of the services...

Desert Storm 500 Review



I got my bike on10th of August 2017. And within 1.5 months its 2 services have been done( done 3000 kms already)

Here's my observation about the performance(both on city & highway)

City riding:-
1. Hardly i could do 60 kmph in city( due to traffic) but at low speed/rpm engine does knock amd vibrate.
2. However, if gear shifting is accurate as per rpm then both vibes and knocking does not appear but, pick up suffers.
3. You dont get heavy thump from it.
4. Pick up of bike is very good, but on revving, engine grunts & knocks.
5. Ideal speed with rpm is 40-45 kmph at 3rd gear in city traffic( post 2000 kms)
6. Getting mileage of 35+ in city.
7. Braking is good, but don't use front in panic situation.

Highways:-
1. Ideal speed is 70-85 kmph at 5 th gear
2. No vibration are there at above speed.
3. Braking at above speed is also good.
4. Mileage is same 35+
5.

My conclusion-:
In my opinion, its more of a highway cruiser than a city bike for commute.