Re: Royal Enfield Thunderbird or Harely Iron

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Re: Royal Enfield Thunderbird or Harely Iron

Hello Kaushik! RE TB500 is an extremely comfortable and good bike for touring. I have ridden my cousin's TBTS (the previous one) quite a lot and I have found it much better than any other bike till date for touring and on taking a test ride of the new one, that one is equally good, if not better. But the bike is pretty heavy but you get used to it in a while and it is not bad for general city riding as well. But just one thing, your height plays a big role in case of TB500. So take a proper test ride.

I have got no idea about how a Harley rides, but since you say you aren't really brand conscious, TB500 would make more sense in terms of practicality because usually any roadside mechanic will have some idea about an RE but not about a Harley and with fuel prices going northward on such a regular basis, that makes a difference too. And looking at its shape, I doubt Iron 883 will be as comfortable as TB500 for touring.

Apart from the above bikes, considering your budget isn't too restricted, you could even think of Ninja 650 as an option. I dont think there is a better bike than Ninja for a combination of comfortable touring and excellent performance today in India.

Hope I helped you a bit in making your choice.

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Re: Royal Enfield Thunderbird or Harely Iron

with such a budget range the n650 is your best bet.Harleys have very low ground clearance and bullets are not bullet proof in quality.try the newer model year n650.

Re: Royal Enfield Thunderbird or Harely Iron

Go for N650 of you love speed and handling. Else HD Iron

Re: Royal Enfield Thunderbird or Harely Iron

Mate- There is a problem with Harley's after sales service in few states. There is an ongoing protest in Kerela. Checkout google please.

I spoke with my friend who owns a Super-bike garage in Bangalore, and usually his skilled men travels with Harley owners on weekend rides as it's very difficult to get Harley repaired when broken en tour.

After sales service for Harley are ruining the brand in India. And I have been extra cautious on finalising a Harley for me. I would assume things will get better in coming 2-3 years and being in city like Bangalore, I will not finalise on Harley, until i get an assurance on the brand. (you don't pay 8-10 lakhs to struggle)

I am currently owing tbts 500 new one, i will not say bike is perfect, but now I have a good mechanic who gives me very frank advice, takes care of any problems in the bike, as he runs an ASC for RE in Bangalore. I also took bike for 500km day ride and performance was top notch.

I am not getting into cost comparison because I know that's not the decisive point for you. But Harley right now is like what Chevrolet was in India in 2003. Low service network, long lag when bike is given for servicing, any unusual problem in bike and you have to wait for months to get the part imported and getting bike fixed.

I would prefer piece of mind over any thing else.

I am loving new RE, and it came across as pleasant surprise to me, with kind of feedback, I heard or read on various forums. Good ride quality, comfortable sitting, and easy access to mechanics any where in India is positives. I am 6'4 tall sikh and RE sitting is comfortable for me.

I am hardcore Harley fan, and I will buy one, but once things are smooth with them.

Meanwhile, if not RE, you can checkout other bikes, but after sales service should be top priority for me.


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Re: Royal Enfield Thunderbird or Harely Iron

Sorry. Some technical problem.

Re: Royal Enfield Thunderbird or Harely Iron

Wow. I have more choices which I din't even think about.
[MENTION=26290]Karthik Mathur (Orange)[/MENTION] thank you for the elaborative view. I have used TB350 old one of my friend and liked it but found some flaws with the breaking. The new one looks nice in my opinion, but will go through more information and test rides.
[MENTION=60795]Vinit Monga[/MENTION] Thanks for reminding me. Yes, service happens to one of my top priority. I will consider looking at options for HD. Now I can clearly see why few my friends went for RE. And thus, there seems unnecessary rise in Maintainance cost.
[MENTION=23944]somen1984[/MENTION], [MENTION=23253]senotrius[/MENTION] how is the service assured by Kawasaki? I am little cynical because Bajaj is handling this affair.

I will get a ride on Kawasaki now. Cannot wait for a better ride. :P

Thank you for the suggestion mates. If there are much better in the league I hope you could help me out.

Thanks.

Re: Royal Enfield Thunderbird or Harely Iron

You're welcome The braking on TB500 has improved now, it has a rear disk as well. The bike is even better than before for serious touring because of projector headlamps and the huge 20 litre tank.

BTW u tagged some namesake of mine in your post.

Re: Royal Enfield Thunderbird or Harely Iron

Sorry, I think there was a little problem writing your name. Just realised how this tagging works.

I am going to a RE Mechanic in city. Will get his opinion and lets look ahead. Thanks.

Re: Royal Enfield Thunderbird or Harely Iron

@Vinit Monga I was trying to do something and tagged you by mistake in the thread. Btw, this is off topic, there is always a protest in Kerala :P

Re: Royal Enfield Thunderbird or Harely Iron

Iron 883 has low ground clearance which, i don't think is suited for the Indian roads.
& regarding the TB500 : well, its a Enfield which means it would carry the good old vibrations. (obviously, its a single cylinder)
Well, if you can invest in a Harley, why not try the Triumph Bonneville. / Bonneville T100, which comes along with 2 years mileage warranty. (Why buy a single cylinder bike when you can afford better)
Also you can give a try to Hyosung GV 650 Aquilla pro.
Personally, i would any day go with the Bonneville.

Re: Royal Enfield Thunderbird or Harely Iron

rightly said brother!there are as much protests as there are number of holidays here. but finally this was a protest for the right reasons.by the fed up owners.I opened a thread here on xbhp itself regarding the Harley service issue.

[MENTION=66967]kadate[/MENTION],since you are in pune I think there are more than one service center for the ninja.check the ownership threads here and on tbhp.the KTM/bajaj service guys here in my place are ****.screwed up my new 390's engine.luckily Kawasaki as such is a good product and imported too.hence so much less chance of problems.I had looked at the tbts 500 but too long a waiting period and reliability factor put me off.

oh I'm not recommeding the 390 since u prefer maybe a more relaxed ride? test drive it just for fun.same showroom as the 650.

Re: Royal Enfield Thunderbird or Harely Iron

I personally feel to spend money where I don't need to wait for any Spare parts and SVC is reachable.

In case of Kawasaki, it has more SVC compare to HD. Going for HD is real pain actually. It is very limited SVC all over.

Kawasaki SVC is good but the waiting period for parts is what makes me off whether it's HD or Kawasaki.
When I asked the kawasaki SVC why parts are not readily available, then he said "there are very few bikes in India, as well as parts are expensive so we don't keep is as stock, ,If needed we take advance 50% and order it, once received then inform the customer" "this process takes 10-15 days".

Actually it's never a 10-14 days but a good month wait.

So I am better off with honda CBR or Duke 390 where we can get spare parts easily rather than long waits.

But if you ask me about the SVC then I would say which ever is closer to you get that one.