Re: Need the experts help in deciding my first ROYAL ENFIELD...!!

For Electra, the tyres are really very thin.. It does not look nice to me at all. And for ZMR the same applies.. Rear tyre is very thin like a 100cc bike..

And you answered only about the seating comfort for ROYAL ENFIELD.. I have mentioned few more queries. And for me, before going to book the bike.
It is very important to clear all my doubts and queries..

Re: Need the experts help in deciding my first ROYAL ENFIELD...!!

I own RE classic 350 and have completed 8.5K till date

I need comfortable seating position for both rider and pillon seat --
Can't comment enough on this as to be honest I have never felt till date it's seat to be uncomfortable. The maximum KMS in a day I have done on it is around 250 and I did not find it to be uncomfortable neither my wife complained about the pillion seat ever. Well my daily commute is mostly in traffic and out of 8.5K 70-75% is done in traffic and never felt it to be uncomfortable. Well since I have not done long trip like 500+ on it hence cannot comment enough as I said before

Weekly 5 days i have to travel in traffic, so is it good in traffic condition --
Absolutely very good in traffic. The weight is only felt when bike is stand still or when you are pulling/pushing it. Once on roll you would not feel the weight at all instead the bike feels to be so planted and grounded and easy to maneuver. The turning radius is quite less so can easily manage through zig-zag traffic. The bike always feels so much in control. I would give 9.5/10 at least in this case, at least for me.

Expected FE: 40+ --

Your expectation is quite low If properly driven, no rash driving, sudden acceleration and sudden braking then expect FE of 37-40 in city and 45-47 on highways. Nothing to worry here. Being a 350cc bike the mileage is really appreciable.

What about the maintenance cost of the bike..

And the most important things is that, i have heard from many people that down the line many problem arises in this bike. Is it true..?? --

I have completed 8.5K and the only issue (actually no issue as such) I faced is, at 6K the clutch cable broke, easily replaced, cost 100 rupees and rear brake shoe replaced at 7K which is quite normal for drum brakes (especially for this much heavy bike), cost 230 rupees . Apart from that just normal servicing and maintenance. The new Bullet engine is really problem free to great extent. My bike is going really great and I have not under gone any part replacement apart from the parts mentioned above. No problems till date

Bullets are really long lasting bikes that's why we see the 1960-1970s model still running on the roads though they must have had their share of maintenance (which is quite normal). Bullets are mile munchers but apart from all that I must tell you it is seriously addictive bike, the feel you get on Bullet is unmatched. PERIOD

If you have anymore queries/concerns/questions feel free to throw and would try to answer to the best of my knowledge and experience

Cheers

Re: Need the experts help in deciding my first ROYAL ENFIELD...!!

Answer to your queries was ZMR. With FI, once properly run-in, the bike will not return anything less than 45[you can go through the ownership thread]. Sofa-like seats, negligible maintenance[It is a Hero, remember? ], comfortable riding position that won't tire you a bit, factor which again boils down to your capacity. It is indeed a proved mile cruncher.

Coming to your query about tyres, the tyres company provide are all designed keeping in mind the bike and the requirements it is going to cater. It shouldn't really matter how your bike looks with those thin tyres and all. ZMR's tyres are satisfactory though. Since you are not a seasoned tourer, they should serve you well. Change to Sirac or PSD later if you wish.

Maintenance of RE, is always a hot topic. Yes, it is high. In terms of money[lesser life of various parts], as well as time[If you want a clean bike, get ready to spend atleast 2-3 hours everytime you get to wash it]. Believe me, you dont like dust settled on that huge engine and the area around, not a looker :| And if you've noticed there is a lot of plastic on newer REs. Deal breaker again. Down right ugly. Services are costly too.
When looking for my first bike, I was pretty impressed by my friend's TBTS. Immediately went and booked an Electra. But then, again I gave it a thought and cancelled it eventually. Picked an Xtreme[Dosen't fit your pillion comfort bill, stay away ] and happy riding it now. No hassles at all.
Again, it is not possible to remember everything at the time of typing a post. Like gyan said, keep throwing your queries, as and when they come up.

Re: My TB500's Tank's Inside Painted - Already Peeling Off

Seeing something and owning real time experience is two different things.

Owning a RE for 10yrs+ need a perfect understanding what RE is and how it reacts to your daily needs and torture.

As per your need of Touring+FE+Torque+10yrs CBR250 would be much better choice then RE today.

RE is no doubt improving gradually, but still there are some issues which you won't like a 1.5L+ bike to have.
Down the line 10 yrs fuel will be more expensive and CBR will keep upto performance as compare to RE. CBR is more stable then RE on high ends, handling is much better in CBR than RE etc..

CBR has LI-Eng/Dual Disc/FI/Better FE then RE/ and a good tourer as well.

If you are really keen on buying RE then only for it else you better opt for 250cc CBR.

Re: Need the experts help in deciding my first ROYAL ENFIELD...!!

You have a reply here.

[P.S. Why the same question in different threads? You may get a mixture of opinion and lead to confusion.]

Re: My TB500's Tank's Inside Painted - Already Peeling Off

Hi Somen,

Appreciate your feedback on CBR 250 R. Honestly, I like the bike too much because of exact same reasons. I do have my boundaries for budget and that made my decision to drop from 500cc to 350cc now. I don't see any other bike which is able cruiser to carry a pillion apart from Thunderbird. Of course, the cult feeling is still there . Also, the design of TBTS has stuck me badly to overlook CBR's beauty

TBTS 350 would still give me decent FE and I am confident it too can make to 10+ riding experience since my current Pulsar 150 is 6+ years old and still going great.

Re: My TB500's Tank's Inside Painted - Already Peeling Off

Hello guys.
I need help in choosing a royal enfield for farm use.
Yes farm use, so to contextualize it, I am residing in Guwahati and occasionally, I need to head off to the hider lands for checking out the farms etc.
So obviously keeping in mind the hilly terrain and the unpaved roads, the choice was for a twinspark 350.
However the problem is two fold
1) Parts are hard to get there, there is only one good royal enfield showroom in the city and parts are usually out of stock, so I will be depending on 2nd party parts[local]
2) How is the twinspark 350 in terms of rider maintainability? I mean how eay is it to just get down and repair breaks, tires the cables etc? cause up in the hills there are no mechanics.

Lastly how reliable are royal enfeilds? are they as bad as pulsars? in terms of beak down etc? The fasct that it would be a farm bike, of hauling stuff and used by many people must be taken into account.

Otherwise I may have to go for a pulsar.

Thanks
Manan.

Re: My TB500's Tank's Inside Painted - Already Peeling Off

Hey Manan,

Request you to do a spell check before posting.

I do now own any bullet and all my remarks are based on forum discussions only.

Your choice for Twinspark is good. It has decent torque which is much better then pulsars.
Regarding parts availability, I have read many people complaining about the same even in plains. So, be ready for that.
But repairing it at roadside wont be a problem since it is an old tech engine. RE's has emerged as a more reliable machines with time but then if you are expecting it to be trouble free like Honda, you 'may' be wrong as there are mixed reactions on the blogs regarding this. Breakdowns are rare now, so you can wait for parts and repair for sometime.

Re: My TB500's Tank's Inside Painted - Already Peeling Off

Alt, how about an Impulse. Hero's top notch quality and widespread network will only assure you a trouble-free ride. Check out those "Scouting Maharashtra" threads in tourer section to see an Impulse in action in the fields

Re: Choosing a Royal Enfield? Ask here...

Hi Friends,

RE bug has bitten me too just like any one else here My uncle own a 2 wheeler garage, which helped me since class 8 to drive almost all Indian bikes right from Lakshmi mopeds & so on. First of all I'm 5.5 tall & weighs about 65 with an average build physic. I had TVS Max 100r for more than 5 years, Fierro for an year, Splendor for close to 3 years, at last TVS RTR-FI for more than 4 years & sold it recently with an intention to upgrade a new bike without any preference in mind. Since then started to test ride all 150 & above cc bikes available. Yesterday, noticed this beast TBTS 350 & just fell in love with it, immediately took a test ride & Vowww!!! started to love it more & more; spent a sleepless night too .

Now my concerns are;
1. I'm very well able to handle the bike, thanks to RE. But worried about the suitability for my physic, i'm concerned that I should not look like an insect riding a bull, also the manureablity in bumper to bumper traffic in a city like bangalore
2. How about maintenance, I agree that i can't expect a fit & forget TBTS. I have a very good habit of maintaining my past bike well, would i face some heart burning quality issues? like oil leaking, chain problems, fork issues, swing arm, electrical & so on! If anything of those kind can be listed with some solutions, i can prepare myself to face them rather than dropping my purchase idea
3. I might go for very rare long drives to my hometown (600+kms). But, mainly would be inside city for office commuting for about 30 - 40 kms a day and i never race my bike, always wanted to enjoy the breeze at a decent speed max 80kmph
4. As i have changed 4 bikes in the past 10 years, i wanted to make an one shot investment in a good bike which i can hold as a dream bike for atleast 10+ years considering an average use of 10K - 15K kms a year, would TBTS suffice my demand?

Please suggest & thanks to all

Re: Choosing a Royal Enfield? Ask here...

Here are my 2 cents:

1. Absolutely do not worry about the physic thing at all. It's not bike it's the biker which controls the bike and as you said you very well were able to manage it then why worry. Go for it, you would definitely look good and regarding bumper to bumper traffic, nothing to worry here as well, few kms in the traffic and you would very well get adjusted to it and could dictate it on your will .Not only TBTS, initially all RE bikes feel to be heavy in traffic but that is matter of just few kms and then you could maneuver it like charm. Trust me for this.

2. Now this maintenance thing. To be honest I am really frustrated and irritated at this question from many (don't take me wrong) but the new Bullets hardly require any maintenance. Practically they are maintenance free bikes (off-course Jap bikes any day requires a little less maintenance ) and periodic servicing and a little care is all what they demand. Trust on this, I own Classic 350 and almost 10K completed and have not done anything special other than periodic servicing and a little care every say 15 days, like washing, cleaning, applying chain oil etc but doesn't we do those things with any-other bike also? And you also mentioned you take a good care of things you own. This maintenance thing is more hype and perception than ground reality.

4. Bulls are mile muncher and definitely you can take it for more than 10+ years

Cheers

Re: Choosing a Royal Enfield? Ask here...

Hey Gyan,

Thanks a ton, felt much relaxed...Going to book it soon ; was able to convince my dad too & he is much more excited than me

Re: Choosing a Royal Enfield? Ask here...

Gereattteee and congrats

Sent from my X10i using xBhp Connect mobile app

Re: Choosing a Royal Enfield? Ask here...

Which one is better RE standard 350 or Classic 350, Classic 350 is bit more appealing in looks in my opinion but I heard that the std 350 pulls better, basically they have the same engine right? Could someone please explain what the difference between these bikes are? Thanks in advance

Re: Choosing a Royal Enfield? Ask here...

See friend all 350cc bullets have got exactly the same engine and same engine characteristics ( torque, Bhp Vs RPM figures). Now regarding Standard pulling better let me try to clarify this air of doubt. I have heard from many that standard has a little (around 1 kg) heavier crank than other 350 cc bullets (but this is not confirmed, but heard from various resources) and that is why it's low torque characteristics might be different. Different in the sense, it might produce a little more lower end torque at the same RPM (assuming it does have heavier crank). Now I have classic 350 and have ridden my friends standard as well, even I felt it pulls little better at low end, (which by no means mean classic produces less torque than standard as their peak torque figures are exactly same 28NM@4000 RPM). Why I felt because I was able to ride it on 4th gear at the speed of 32-35 without lugging, but classic/Electra lugs at that speed on 4th gear. So you must have heard it pulls little better.

If you like Classic go for it, as they both have exactly the same engine, same figures and with classic you also get ES and front disc brake which you won't get with standard.