Topic Approved.

guys just read the topic 'death of cast iron engine'. After reading most of the replies.. it has only added to the confusion..
but i ll always rank riding comfort and reliability before the thumps and the macho feel of the bullet..

got from




and a lot of more such threads and posts are there on the net on xbhp and all over the place.

the only thing that i would like to say is that instead trying to under stand the carachter of the bullet try to under stand your character. bullets are not easy to live with bikes. they are not hard to live with bikes either.

let me show you some emails

I wrote
The reply
see the bold part does that make any sense ?
ok lets read on
My reply
his reply
now let me ask does that make any sense?

oh yes to me it does. it brings on one word. INVOLVEMENT.

bullet is no fill it shut it forget it bike. it needs input. i would say most unreliable bike in India. i have two bullets that i ride regularly. a Electra and a Standard. both ridden in same style and every things same appart from the fact one is STD and other ELECTRA.

But the standard game more problems all the time. Though it has been working fine now. See if you want to do a trip of india but don’t want to get the hands diry then the bullet is surely not for you. If you don’t have enough gray matter to check simple things and some times major ones,when you are in a place where you find no one then this is not for you.
Just try to understand your own self if you are going to be able to handle the problem that bullet may give you I am sure then you deserve to Swing your leg across and dream to do India trip on this old bad boy. If you do not have the patience then you would be better off with KARIZMA or a PULSAR. No offence to these bike I am a fan of one of these.

I am sure that this post would answer all the questions that you had. And regarding the one question that you ask in all of the threads that you post. What to buy. Just buy any bullet they all have same problems be it new old or what ever. Bullet work on the word “MAY” they may work fine for all the life. They may need setting every day. I am sure that you would need to understand the meaning of this MAY and then go for your pick.

Take care
Desi D

Oh another thing that i would like to add... MACHO what do you mean by that. People look Macho enough when they ride HERO PUCH, SHAKTI, TVS 50 or what ever. some of them they would not look macho on the BADEST (beleive me there is such a word) 100+ Cubic inch V twin Chopper.

Macho is about the attitude not the Bullet dude.

take care any ways

"Keep Thumping" thats all the bullet is all about

Desi D

^ right said desideep. its INVOLVEMENT. for any other bike, you can start-go-stop. you dont need to know much of the mechanics. but you need to know many things while living with the bull.
by what you wrote, i guess you are in need of a semi chopper indian bike with many cosmetic changes and a relaxed easygoing ride. so do a good enough of research before buying one.
cheers...

thx desideep and shadez..
things much more clear in my mind..
i dont have any problems making my hands dirty with my bike..
i dont mind calling a bullet mechaninc and asking him to teach me how to do the servicing of bike myself..
one of my freind used to do servicng of his electra at his home...

there is something in the bullet which is making me go for it..
even after desideep said... its the most unreliable bike in India..

i just hope it doesnt turn out to be a bad decision..
thx guys for the views..
i will most probably go for the bullet within next 2-3 months..
ur advise and suggestions will always be appreciated..

wat do u guys think of the modifications that i planned for bullet std. 350.?

^ for seats, you can get a good pair of spring ones for 4k packed from Delhi. taillamps come for bout 500rs and for headlamps suggest reading 'let there be light' thread.

I had posted a similar query in the month of march... the point was I was looking for a similar bike... just that I intend to do my trip - when I get the time and I learn about the bike...

I went in for a new STD 350 - I simply fell in love with it. I wanted to buy a bullet, went to the showroom and sat on every model available, took everything for a test ride... I somehow felt the STD said - I am for you. At the cost of sounding melodramatic, I seriously mean it. I picked it up.

Since then, I have just done one long trip - it was a 600Km one way trip from Ahmedabad toward porbandar and back to Rajkot... After some 500kms, it broke down.. dunno what was the problem... got stuck in the middle of the road, no where to go... I didnot curse it.. I knew this could happen - it just happened with me... Stopped a threewheel loading vehicle, loaded the bullet and reached Rajkot... found out that the gasket had failed... got it rectified from a mechanic and picked up my wife and we returned back to ahmedabad....

I am not saying this to scare you, am saying this because I do own a Pulsar 150 and CBZ Xtreme,.. have clocked more than 22000kms in the pulsar and 5000 in the cbz.... just that I love the comfort and the feeling in the bullet.... It might give a starting problem (I gotta reach office before 7 in the morning - so in winters there might be problem). I just get up a little early to ensure I reach the office in my bullet... It is just a question of feeling and learning...

Its 9 months now, and now I can say that I am getting to know my bull... There is still a lot to go as I do not know the intricacies yet, am just getting to know the bull from the outside... the service and the technical details still remain... but am happy... I know for sure that I am ready to go anywhere in my bull... At max, I might have to get it up back in a truck... am ready for it...

Having a bull is an experience, a feeling that is too difficult to explain... And Desideep said in the beginning to me - IT TEACHES YOU PATIENCE... and guru - I vouch for it!!! Thanks for saying that to me in the beginning!!!

Cheers Mate! Hope this has helped!!!

Want to understand a bullet?
Well which means, u'll have to spend almost more than your lifetime. Be sure before you do anything.

quoting a line outta The_goats reply

'I wanted to buy a bullet, went to the showroom and sat on every model available, took everything for a test ride... I somehow felt the STD said - I am for you. At the cost of sounding melodramatic, I seriously mean it. I picked it up'.

that is exactly how u buy a Bull u go sit on one and if its special u will tingle all over.

As for the touring bit i have done long rides on my Mach[AVL] ranging from 200-500 km trips and all i had were minor issues, so if u ready for a bike that U and i mean U have to take care of every step of the way, then the joys u will get outta it will be awesome.

Joel, I loved ur quote...

well Royal Enfield is still trying to understand the bullet, so us mere mortals can only dream...

Anyways to come to the point, like few of my fellow bikers mentioned - why and how you own a bullet is something which you cannot mention, but has to be experienced to understand. By this what i mean is (let me try to explain with a story) - i own a pulsar 180 Dtsi V1 and when i was in Chennai for sometime i got to take care of my uncles old Bullet std (1984 model) for sometime. Well i took quite a while getting it done up as it wasnt used for a long time. Also i rode it for short distances getting used to it. One day, i shined it for 3 hours and then took it for a ride on the ECR road to see a movie. So long so good, macho feeling and all there. After the movie i came out, it was raining, i tried starting the bike, didnt start. Checked everything, tried again, still no luck. kept trying for almost 30 mins (almost everyone had gone by then). Finally for no apparent reason it finally started. My friends had already left, i was frustrated, wet and totally tired but started riding home slowly in the rain. You wont believe it, but after the whole thing, by the time i reached home i was smiling again. Also it helps that COPS dont stop you on the bullet in the night

i am sure i confused you further, but you need to be one with the bike to understand it

do let me know which bike you pick up.

Trust me man, you can wait till your hair turns grey. But u still wont get there.
But in half the time, u can become a great tuner if you sat with other sensible engines. Like they say, its built like a gun. Literally!

I have seen the bullet's cylinder head and looked at the potential, well its really not worth the efforts.
The new UCE is also a disappointment. They could have done so much more and better.

Hey bud!

I would just say that owning a Bullet doesn't just include the pleasures of riding it but also learning a little bit, & as someone rightly said, it's a long process but be rest assured not life long. But then unless you are afraid of learning just a little bit extra, of doing things yourself, you shouldn't really have any apprehensions. And trust me when I say that if not the simplest, it is easily one of the simplest engines of all times, you really don't have to be a genius or somebody like Fritz Egli to take care of one.

Take care.

Happy thumping,
Prakhar