Re: Continental GT or Bullet 500?

take the RC without a thought. RE is not yet there...

Re: Continental GT or Bullet 500?

Hahaha ... I'm leaning towards the RC nowdays , I hope the test ride tomorrow will nudge me and my brother towards it .

Another thing would be the price as there might be a chance that I might get a good 20k off on the Cafe Racer ( a link of my bro ) ... same can happen in the KTM department ( brother's link again :-p )


Also , why would you say that the RE is not there yet ?

Re: Continental GT or Bullet 500?

test ride both bikes and see what is more comfortable. initially RC will be a PITA however body will adjust with time.
either ways take what suits your personality and style. i would still vouch for anything above RE and this is coming from a RE owner.

Continental GT or Bullet 500?

Definitely go with the RC. Test rides it yourself and let the bikes do the talking for you.

If possible can you please ask them to why some dealers are refusing for the test rides (in Punjab n Chandigarh)? That would be great!

Thanks!


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Re: Continental GT or Bullet 500?

If you're comments are based on owning an older version of Enfields Or regular Bullet or Classic models then I can understand. But unless you own the GT you've not yet seen or experienced an a completly different enfield...from ground up it's a total new machine and totally quality components and fitting. So my humble submission is pls don't judge a GT based on other enfields or the Company in general.

Re: Continental GT or Bullet 500?

I think it has to do with the recent ( or not so recent ) incidents involving people crashing the test ride bikes , some poor souls ( ignorant maybe ) lost as well . May they Rest In Peace or Ride In Peace . All these lead to the reputation on the brand being tarnished and RTO being up the butt of the company already

A friend of mine also tried to persuade and provoke me to not go for the KTM as he test rode a bike belonging to his friend . Got quite a scare due to the tall gearing , superior power and acceleration ( his own ride being an Avenger/Pulsar 200 ) . We even joked and gave KTM a nick name .... Killing Time Machine

Which for me is in a way good as the machine is going to possess you to spend and kill some time on it , shaping and forging a pretty good bond with the bike




I agree with you there mate .... Totally !

The Continental GT is a totally different game , a breed apart for the other Bullets . I test rode it once , dying to go again and again but feeling shy to do so as I'm not much of a biker since I have been driving cars only since the last 5 years or so.
Also a heavy bike like the RE will take some time to get used to ( skinny me ) and the showroom guy will sit pillion on the test ride






EDIT : Another thing I would like to bring to light is that I'm not very experienced in terms of riding a bike . I have done plenty of riding on scooters like the legendary Bajaj Super , Chetak and LMLs ( Loved those ) , the best I felt was the LML Legend ( it was something wasn't it ? ) . Also I'm pretty confident on the Honda Activa that we currently have .
Bikes are something that I need to get used to again . I used to ride a Splendor that my brother had , sold some years ago . Also spent some time on a Pulsar 150/180 , Hero Honda karizma and a TVS Victor :-p

So a bike that would be more user friendly , or should I say noob friendly will be the better bet .... I'm not a beginner though , but not an intermediate rider either . Power is something that can be controlled by a flick of the wrist , same cannot be done for the weight , hence the KTM has the upper hand , slighty I must add

Re: Continental GT or Bullet 500?

So did you had your test ride on the RC390? Details please?

I called up the dealer today and all I got is "sir, our bike has some engine problems and we will call you when its fixed" [emoji17]


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Re: Continental GT or Bullet 500?

Naah mate ... They had no test ride bike . They pointed out Moti Nagar showroom had a test bike , but it was gone for an event that day [emoji23] Not sure if it was a genuine statement or an industry standard excuse [emoji13]

I had some fun on a Duke 390 though , took a few rounds of CP ... Had to .

Dayum , they always got something going on .

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Re: Continental GT or Bullet 500?

Haha..Duke390 is a little monster..How would you describe your experience?

I now have to live off of speculations of others since test ride is not available here in Chandigarh/Ambala [emoji24][emoji24]

If I may ask.. Why are you NOT going for D390? Considering they have same specs except from the different ergos that the company claims to have..?

Have you zeroed in for your search? Or still contemplating?

Cheers!!


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Re: Continental GT or Bullet 500?


1. The Duke is such a fun bike to ride ! Even in the bad CP traffic I was able to have a decent idea of the sheer acceleration this machince had to offer . Didn't rode it higher than 5 or 6k rpm as I was a little nervous and it was my first time on any KTM bike . There were a moment or two when I might have taken it higher but I was too busy to notice and kept my eyes peeled on the road .

I did had some trouble getting it in the Neutral gear . It will either skip to the 2nd or come back down to 1st but will never get slotted in Neutral . Took me a minute or two to get it in Neutral ( frustrated and embarassed ) . Also a little weird , but my hip bone kinda cramped up ( hip bone/pelvic junction ) ... I believe the footpegs are positioned differently than other bikes ( or is it just me ? )

One big turn off was the horn . It sounds nothing like a horn deserving to be on a bike like the Duke or any KTM bike . The stock horn sounds like a tempo or moped horn and could surely do with some more volume or a loud exhaust :: if you know what I mean ::


2. Why not the Duke ?
Well firstly , the RC has a more linear power delivery and better mid range making it slighty better for city riding . Secondly , looks looks and looks ( RC is HOT ! ) . Third , the RC runs cooler or feels cooler on the legs compared to the duke . Lastly , I would prefer a full faired bike due to less wind blast . Also , my college is in Gr.Noida , so the RC will be more comfy on the expressway ... if I decide to take it to college on some rare occasion ( attendance doesnt matter in my college :-p )

3. Are they not even providing test rides on the Dukes ? or just the RCs ?

I guess I have pretty much locked on and zeroed in on the RC ... Gotta convince parents though . Being skinny will definately come handy as my mom would comment " tu chala lega bullet ? "

Regards and Ride Safe

Re: Continental GT or Bullet 500?

1. How tall are you? Did the bike felt puny when sitting on. I am 6"2'. So I get a lot comments like you are sitting on a Luna, etc etc.

I guess regarding neutral gear, I faced the same issues with my Karizma. [emoji4]. I guess due to hard seat you butt might felt numb.. But wait a min.. You were on the bike for how long? 20-30 tops right? It should not be that way. Yeah those Pee Pee can be replaced with after market Paw Paw [emoji16][emoji16]

2. Yeah agreed on the linear power delivery. But yeah if you are looking for a full faired bike.. No doubt RC is a nice bike but might I suggest Honda CBR250 and Ninja 300 as well

3. Good luck bro, I hope I get my test ride soon so that I can decide for my ride as well. [emoji111]️


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Re: Continental GT or Bullet 500?

1. Naah ... The bike didnt feel anywhere close to puny . I'm 5'9" and skinny/atheletic . Most usual comments I get are " bhai , kuch kha ppi liya kar " I guess I need to get a little more fit and flexible to ride a bike . I have been driving only cars since the last 5-6 years , so the leg muscles will need to adjust to the different regime .
2. The Ninja is a little expensive and parts are not readily available . The CBR is a bit outdated and they dont really feel much of a competition to the KTM.
3. Good luck to you too bro ... I wish that you get that long awaited test ride

Re: Continental GT or Bullet 500?

So obviously, this thread needs an update.. I was going through my post and it seemed weird wavering my mind from B500 to Continental GT to KTM Duke 390 and finally the machine I am pretty sure that I am gonna buy, I better hope so[emoji16][emoji16] KTM RC390

So, I never intended to buy a KTM, just because of their bad reputation regarding the plastic and other spares, I always thought to keep my distance since I had bad experiences with HH Karizma's part replacement problems, be it plastic or metal.

But one fateful day, I had the chance to ride my friends Duke390 and the very definition of speed was changed and that completely knocked my socks off.

So I decided to go ahead with the Duke 390 but deep inside my mind I eaten by this feeling and was sure that this is small bike is puny for me and I being young lad I don't want to be pushed/settle to bikes with more 'Relaxed' ergos. So being an Indian and sucker for the bikes with fairings (no offense to anyone) had to ride RC390 again. Though I had already test rode both the KTM 390's in GGN but this time I did in my hometown, KTM Chandigarh.

Though the observation I had before I did notice the same, but after putting in numerous hours I've put in the RC390 ownership thread I decided to give it a whirl. So, this time around, I kept my weight on back rather than arms and wrists holding the tank with thighs and putting on riding gloves does makes a difference, I don't know how effective it is going to be in the long run. Plus I think in addition of using above techniques, the long frame of mine does come in handy as you don't have to lean over that much as you can easily reach for the handle bars. One thing I did notice that it's ergos are quite similar Royal Enfield Continental GT but RC 390 being more track focused bike have more aggressive riding position.

Though I have concerns for the hard clutch so, wanted to know if Duke's slipper clutch assembly can be used in RC390? And how often does the fan kicks let's say when driving on highways at speed between 80-120ish averagely. I am going to use this bike as a weekend ride and won't be traveling in B2B traffic, I guess I should be fine then but not sure.

Now, waiting for Navratas/auspicious occasion to book RC390 (Can't skip this[emoji22]).

I guess living in the state that has been literally overrun by Enfields, KTM doesn't have that long waiting period and can be handed over to me in the matter of days. The downside to this is the bike that they have in their warehouse is May 2015 make model, don't want to go for that.

Lastly, but not the least. I want to thank all fellow xBhpians for listening to my noobish and annoying questions patiently and responding to them in time. Thank you guys!