Well, I also came from the same school of thoughts with the bull, but when I read thought the CL500 review on team-bhp, it is specifically mentioned to follow a sort of ritual every morning to start the UCE bull whether its 500 or 350 and guys there have sprag clutch for over 12k kms hence wanted to confirm from TBTS owners.
Here is the link that I am referring to. This for TBTS. Hope this discussion is beneficial to all TBTS/UCE 350 (any model) owners to keep their beast healthy.

Thanks. Why is there an image that the UCE is not as reliable as the ZMA engine?

Ground Clearance issue

Hi,
As a years long Bullet aficionado, I am currently working to make my dream of becoming a Bullet'er reality. Though growing up with the dream of owning only the Standard 350, the Old Trusty, of late after getting experienced in long distance touring I am tending towards the Thunderbird.

Looks wise I still love the Standard 350 more, but as a serious tourer i want the extra dials and upright posture of the Thunderbird.

I have rode only Standard 350 (old cast Iron model) and Electra ( Twinspark). I hope to do an Experimental Ride of a Thunderbird before I place the order but feel the need to get some doubts sorted out.

Going through specifications on the RE website and several opinions from other biking aficionados in and outside xBHP, I am made aware of a slight problem with Thunderbird's ground clearance. While other bullets have ground clearance of 140mm, Thunderbird has a ground clearance of 135mm. This added with the larger size and weight of the bike makes me wonder about the dangers of the bike's chassis or worse its exhaust pipes hitting the tarmac during cornering or while riding through extremely rough terrains.

Is there any credence in these worries? Has anybody felt a ground clearance issue?

Also let me add that I am a 6'2" 115 kg guy, so the total weight with just me and bike itself would be 300 kgs, :P Hence the worries about Ground clearance.

Guys finally booked a TBTS at Jayanagar Royal Enfield Brand Store. Waiting period is 5 months as said by the showroom guys.

Thank you

Thank you, i dont use electric start at all, i love the kicks. But i plan to go on long trips which i cannot unless i know my bike completely, so i wanted some manuals or someone to help me.

Thank you

Thanks a lot, now my odometer crossed 850, i went for service center when it just clocked 500km but he said i need an appointment , my bad i dint know , so i asked for one he gave me a date (1st oct) which is after 2 weeks. I couldn do anything more than riding my bike carefully till 1st oct.

Anyway i bought a winshield and planning to get the spikes of the tyre changed.
BTW do they do crome coating at the service center?

Hi from where you procured the windshield, is it made for TBTS, can you post some pics and provide cost please? I would also like to put one.
I also want to have a headlight cap on TBTS (like the classic) not sure how to put one.

Which service center did you go to ? the erragadda service center guys told me to come down any day, first hour in morning. And what do you mean by the tyre spikes ?

Boss, in my opinion, don't go for the headlight cap. The cap has a retro feel and although it looks great on classic outlook bikes like the bullet standard and the classic 350 and 500, our birds have a different pseudo cruiser+tourer feel. The cap will seem complete out of place.

Hello RE Owners,

I am planning to buy a RE. Recently Tested a TBTS and it feels great. After going through dozens of post in this thread and before make the booking, I just want to ask whether TBTS is the correct choice or should go for other variance of RE like Electra. I will be using this biking for commuting in bangalore as well as for touring. I choose TBTS for its better mileage among other RE variance, as the new UCE engine has almost the same specification.

Please suggest me to choose the right beast for me.

I did go to erragadda service center, those guys told me that info,probably its a season now. by tyre spikes i mean the tyre RIM.

I bought it in Hyderabad, madhapur. I still dint fix it but the guy who sold it has the same one fixed and it looks awesome, anyway opinions defer and i wouldn go for headlight cap

I should have asked this earlier, but now am really concerned. My month old bird has a particular "phenomena". After a fairly long ride when I stop the engine there is a faint metal clicking sound like "tung-tung-tung-tung" coming from the exhaust pipe. I can't locate if it is the bend pipe or the silencer. Just when I stop the engine the sound tempo is the highest, then gradually the tempo decreases and after about 10 mins, the sound vanishes. In between if I hit the bend pipe with something, the sound stops for a second and continues afterwards. Now common sense says that it is the sound of the bend pipe or silencer metal contraction after stopping the engine drops the temperature, but I want a word from you guys just to be completely sure that my bird is not suffering due to my ignorance. Do you guys have the same problem ?? And is this a common thing which is not worth bothering or something sinister ??

I think its common and as you rightly pointed - "metal contraction". It happens on my TBTS as well, but I have not checked with hitting the bend pipe though.
If I am in doubt on any of the noise comming from my TB, I head to my mechanic who has been very helpful till date. But no issues have been found on the bike so far and I am munching more miles happily.

Hi, the choice is personal and depends on one's need. I would suggest you test ride every bike and decide which you will enjoy more. Having same engines, the RE stable gives more or less same mileage.
I chose, TBTS as I wanted an upright posture for my daily highway commute and no back pain. I am not saying the others will give backache but it entirely depends on one's choice.
I feel no issues driving the TBTS in traffic as well as pointed by people somewhere.