Re: Royal Enfield Thunderbird 500

Hi friends..

Posting here on behalf of my friend who owns RE Thunderbird 500 purchased in 2015. His bike has covered 8500+ kms till now and engine oil was recently changed to Motul 5100 from previous Liquid Gun engine oil. His bike has some weird problem like even if the clutch lever is pulled in completely, but the clutch remains little bit engaged and if we change gear then the bike starts moving very slowly while we hold the clutch lever. Sometimes it is just like engine is pushing the bike. We asked SVC guys to solve this and they tightened the clutch cable and gave us back. But still same problem persists.

Recently another problem started with this, as the bike is standstill and engine is off then we can't change gears from 1st to Neutral or 2nd etc. Even the engine is running and if we slot the 1st gear from neutral then it will get into 1st but after that no neutral or even 2nd gear until we ride the bike like 10-15 meters. Even we move the bike forth and back while changing gears but still no change. This is annoying in city traffic situation. We asked one of the mechanic of SVC and he said that the clutch bearing needs to be changed. So I am posting here to get some solution and info from Thunderbird owners.

Thank you

Re: Royal Enfield Thunderbird 500

@Ravi: So I did this within the first 1 week of getting my bike 2 years back, no complaints since then as its sturdier but one draw back is the view isnt as good as the OE ones, can manage easily just wont let you get a good view of extreme sides.

Also thought i'd let you know that finally will be making to Leh this year, starting out in 7 days from now

Re: Royal Enfield Thunderbird 500

Based on my usage from the past 3 days on Chennai roads, I am satisfied with the new mirrors. No vibration, more coverage, more stylish, better quality & sturdier.

Oh, nice. Bon voyage. After the ride, please share how your bird behaved at Ladakh. My bird's turn will come in September.

Re: Royal Enfield Thunderbird 500

Yesterday, I experimented with video-recording while riding on Blue Bird. But, the main problem was finding the right mount and placing it at the right place. The existing navigator holder on the LHS of the handlebar could not be used for mounting the camcorder as it has restricted space for rotation and the obstructing cables. So, I joined the base of one more surplus handlebar holder with the top claw of another and fixed it on the RHS stem of the indicator. Then, I used my Lenovo K3 Note phone camera for video-recording, while riding, but it turned out to an utter flop as the mount could not balance the phone due to its weight and a lot of vibrations crept into the video, resulting in me discarding the maiden video attempt. Then, I tried with my XUV 500's cheap Chinese camcorder, which brought out reasonably good result. Until better alternative arrangement is made in future, this present set-up will continue on B Bird as I don't want any helmet-mounted camcorder jutting out of my head, while riding!







After the video-recording of more than 16 minutes, I uploaded it to YouTube, edited it and made a short film of 2 minutes.

Re: Royal Enfield Thunderbird 500

You can try on sjcam it's cheap and quality is good.

Re: Royal Enfield Thunderbird 500

Hi brothers,

I own tbts 500.
I recently saw psd in ceat showroom .price was good and was giving unconditional warranty for 3 years .but the only problem is they are tubeless . Will I be able to use on them on my spokes rim of tbts 500 .

Can anyone throw light on this.

Re: Royal Enfield Thunderbird 500

Ravi Sir, I have also followed you and replaced mirror by Avenger's one in my TB500.However it went terribly wrong as now it is showing diagonal view like left mirror is showing objects from right hand side that too very corner one and vice versa for right one.Please advice some tip on this to install it correctly.

Re: Royal Enfield Thunderbird 500

I loosened the bolts, rotated the RHS [throttle] and LHS [clutch] levers slightly downwards and adjusted the mirror stems so that the mirrors reflect the traffic behind me. Now, the positions of both the mirrors and levers are perfect. Same thing we did in case of my son's Classic 500 too.

Re: Royal Enfield Thunderbird 500

Thank You Sir for kind reply.I tried myself at home on Sunday and now it is working like charm.Now mirrors are perfect and giving winder view.I noticed on road many RE owner opted for it.

Re: Royal Enfield Thunderbird 500

Guys, one of my friends has booked a Thunderbird 500.

He would be taking delivery this week. He is looking at changing the stock wheels (spokes + tube type tyres) to alloy wheels + tubeless tyres.

Is there a possibility by which the stock wheels can be exchanged with the alloy + tubeless tyres?

We are from Chennai. Any inputs on shops / outlets that I can approach for the same ?

Thanks in advance !!

Royal Enfield Thunderbird 500 Stone Black 2015 - Requiem for a Dream

This is my first review on this site (or any) and please feel free to tell me something that I could have done better

Tech Specs, Ride reviews, Top speeds, Mileage.. such terms are synonymous with bike reviews, but I intend to make this review of my Ownership of the Royal Enfield Thunderbird 500 (Stone Black - 2015) as 'human' as I can. Why? Because not everyone buys a machine just to compare with others or by choosing the best in the category. They choose to, because they have the liberty of choice and the right of opinion. We aren't bound to buy what others like just to be socially accepted. We buy a machine because we choose it.
Having said that though, this review will serve to be a requiem for my dream of owning the RE Thunderbird, because I will sell it in the next couple of days..

The bike is exactly one year old now and my review can be a mix of unbiased opinion and love blindness.. One aspect to keep in mind is that I stand 6'4" tall and weight a little over 100, so though I don't look fat, I am heavy.

The word Thunderbird means the Native American God of the Rains. This couldn't be any more apt than the day I took delivery of my beast. It was pouring torrential rain, but I had to brave the elements because it was close to 6 PM and the showroom was closing. So I rode like the God of rain in those water laden roads while many a biker sought refuge under any bit of shelter they could find. I probably had glaces and stares as they saw me ride my new pride. My chest was swollen with happiness and clothes soaked with rain water.

Fast forward to today and we will wind up with why I want to sell this love of mine.

We will talk about each component with a humane touch for you to understand my reasoning..

Headlights & Tail lights: Gorgeous, functional and unique. I could not find any shortcomings in the functionality, but aesthetically I would have preferred the 'Halo' effect of the parking light LED to blend more with the other two lamps. The white makes the other two look damp when looked at from the front. The tail LEDs are adequate and add to the appeal of the bike.

Tyres: Huge Let-down. These are certainly not the kind of tyres you expect on a Tourer / Cruiser. They had to be much wider and radial at the rear and of a higher quality. Worst of all is that even at the high price of the big, they aren't tubeless. The dealers told me that spoked rims don't support tubeless tyres, but I really think this was a lazy approach. Alloys would have made the bike much more beautiful and tubeless tyres would be a mandatory addition.

Console / displays: While I love the twin metallic design and the blue backlight, I faced 2 annoying issues: The clock would slow down to almost 15-20 mins and the Fuel gauge has a mind of its own, never showing me the right reading even after getting it fixed twice. Why make a digital display for the fuel when it is so damn inaccurate?

Brakes: The front and rear discs do a pretty good job at stopping when needed and are overall good.

Seat: Comfortable and spacious for the rider, adequate for the pillion. On hot days, the seat can seem a little extra hot, but overall manageable.

Switches and handlebar: The switches aren't anything above average, but get the job done. There is a highbeam (Passing) switch, but is positioned poorly. You might find it hard to push.

Handlebar, Foot pegs and riding position: At first, I loved the kingly stance the handlebar and foot pegs goaded you into. It made me feel like the vehicle was complimenting my size. However, my opinion of it changed fairly quickly. The sitting position is very comfortable and feels good while touring, but is a nightmare in stop-go traffic. In both cases though, the handlebar is the undoing of this bike. Your wrist is placed in an unnatural position and the extremely high accelerator play (thanks to RE's age old technology) can make your wrist sore and your shoulder numb. My advice is to change this to a relaxed, lower handlebar as soon as you prefer.

Tank: Water, Water everywhere but not a drop to drink? Precisely. RE gives you a huge, pretty tear drop shaped 20L monstrosity of a fuel tank, but the awe fades as soon as you realize why. The bike struggles to hit a mileage above 30 and that too is on highway. I can barely touch 26 in good city riding conditions. But wait, there's more! The mechanic at RE told me never to fill more than 15L since this causes the bike to get unbalanced and also might leak when parked on the side stand. *Slow claps* Do the math and you know that at best you can go 450 kms before fueling up again. AT BEST. With 30 kmpl mileage.

Handling: One of the Biggest Plus points in this machine. Handles like a dream and feels at home on curves or straight roads. Though it makes you wonder how a 'Cruiser' has such good handling.

Engine: Let me give a long hum followed by a huge sigh and then a little whistle. This is a 500 CC 27 BHP Engine, but sports old technology from the RE stables coupled with a slightly modern twin spark ignition. It can be described correctly only with the moniker earned by RE bikes: The bull. Lazy but powerful. An unstoppable form when charged up and truly a sight to behold for onlookers. It starts off so quietly that you might wonder if you own an RE Bull. But then, ride it and watch the sound and power transform into a raging bull past the 20 kms it needs to heat up. The bassy thump and the torque of this bull will bring a big smile to your face. This is where RE is respected and loved. This isn't a 2 stroke noise rocket or a first off the traffic signal speed racer. This is a pacing, ground pawing and fire breathing bull. Prepare for the attention you get when you ride her in any crowd. Prepare to feel like a very tough guy with a calm attitude.

Ride Quality: Fill a plastic cup with water and balance it on the RE logo of your handle bar. Start the bike and without moving, watch the cup. Your body is made of 71% water. But yet if you want to ignore these vibrations, you either love RE too much or you want ye old rattle-me-bones ride. To say that the vibrations will last several minutes after you have locked your steed is stating the obvious. You just have to get used to them to start liking this bike. It will feel smoothest at 80 kmph in the 5th gear, which is how the company intended you to cruise, but reach 90+ and you will be welcomed back to ground zero. It can reach 120 despite these vibrations but is a very harakiri position even to get there. That being said, a long ride wherein you spend most time on the 5th gear is something you will absolutely love this bike for: It drops the thunder and becomes a bird - it flies free and light.

Coming back to why I'm selling this: It's simple. Though this is an absolute beast of a bike, I need a much more humble steed. My daily commute is very hectic and involves over 2 hours of stop-go traffic. Couple that with big distances and horrible backwater roads and you would realize that I would rather give away this baby bull-bird to an RE lover than let it rot without use..

Re: Royal Enfield Thunderbird 500

I've done around little over 8k km and the chain gets loose every 100 or so kms...the tighten IMG nut has almost reached the end of the swingarm..I don't think the live of a chain should be this short...any suggestions???

Re: Royal Enfield Thunderbird 500

Mine was replaced at 8K kms due to bend. They said due to the bend slack wont go.

Check it. If it's tight at some places and loose at some then probably it's bent.

Re: Royal Enfield Thunderbird 500

I have exactly the same problem with tight at some places and loose at some places..

Did you change only the chain or the whole set with sprocket?
My Mechanic was telling me to go for non o ring chains but I'm not quite sure about that.

Re: Royal Enfield Thunderbird 500

Only the chain was replaced. This was actually done during the 4th free service at the authorized service station