Re: Bajaj Avenger 220 Cruise OR Royal Enfield Classic 350?

Query Approved

Re: Bajaj Avenger 220 Cruise OR Royal Enfield Classic 350?

From your point of view, the Avenger makes more sense. Get a RE only if you have the Bug.
The vast Bajaj service network will make sure that you get service anywhere, you have never face problems with spare parts few years down the line and it is a lot more reliable and pocket friendly than the RE.

Re: Bajaj Avenger 220 Cruise OR Royal Enfield Classic 350?

I am also planning to buying one of these two bikes. I feel avenger will be good but my few friends confusing me saying Bajaj bikes are not reliable and engines have problems within two years. But I also heard that RE have such reliability issues too. As I back pain problem, I need to consider good suspension too. Please guru's help me to decide in this.

Re: Bajaj Avenger 220 Cruise OR Royal Enfield Classic 350?

While I'm no guru, I would throw my cents hoping those will be of some use to you. There's a common fallacy that Bajaj engines don't last after a couple of years. While that might be the case with the earlier models, it's surely not with the newer gen ones. Many Pulsars/Avengers have crossed 1lakh K on the ODO and still running. So be assured that reliability will not be a problem with Avengers. If you've TDed the bike and did not find anything uncomfortable, you can safely go ahead.

If you get feedback about REs, I'm sure they'll be mixed. While one half tell there are no significant issues, the other half rant about many of them. So if you are ready to deal with such issues, you can go ahead with REs. They are supreme on comfort but come with a price. The price will be the issues and the inconsistent service.

Cheers!

Re: Bajaj Avenger 220 Cruise OR Royal Enfield Classic 350?

Hi Shravan,

One thing that struck out to me from your post (quite strongly) is that you definitely want a cruiser which is easy and inexpensive to maintain. In that regard the Avenger is totally appropriate for you. Although modern day REs are not as notorious as they were a decade ago, simply in terms of mileage, spare parts and maybe even service cost, the Avenger will be better. The Avenger is also fitted with the tried and tested Pulsar 220 engine which can stand a lot of abuse. Before I purchased a Bajaj 4 years ago I too heard similar stories from friends and that odd colleague you meet at the chai stall as to how Bajaj engines "lose power" after 2 years no matter how well you maintain them. I did my own research and bought the NS and in the 3.5 years I had it, I never had any engine issues or loss of power and the service cost from the showroom was just around a thousand bucks too.

In terms of mileage I got between 35 to 40 to a litre which was quite good for a 200 cc bike. I havent owned a modern day RE but as someone else pointed out there are mixed reviews on the quality of the bike still, though the Himalayan which is their most recent launch seems to be of an excellent calibre.

You would also be saving approx Rs 30K I believe which you can wisely spend on good quality riding gear if you buy the Avenger.

I would also like to throw a curve ball at you! Since you will be making a purchase after a few months there should be enough reviews on the Dominar (non ABS) as well and that currently costs in the same vicinity as the Classic 350. I know its not a cruiser as per the looks, but it has been touted as one and perhaps you can take a test ride and decide.

Just thought I would put this crazy idea out there. Tc

Re: Bajaj Avenger 220 Cruise OR Royal Enfield Classic 350?

Thank you Vikramditya for the feedback. I did not have Dominar in consideration just because i am not sure about its pillion seat comfort. I don't want my girlfriend to feel uncomfortable if she plans for a trip with me, which is why i choose avenger which would be the best in comfort. I like the Dominar specs and its features, for sure it is an absolute value for money deal. Do you have any idea about how its pillion comfort? I mean is it accessible from ground of is it too raised. And while considering the kmpl, how does it perform.?

Re: Bajaj Avenger 220 Cruise OR Royal Enfield Classic 350?

Hi Shravan,

One of the major reasons we got this bike was that my wife felt very comfortable as a pillion in the extended test ride we got. It was nearly a 5 kms test ride and she was happier with the seat than she was with the seat of my NS. That being said, its not too low so swinging a leg over it may be a tad difficult if your pillion is less than 5 ft 5 inches tall. I can say this since my mom and wife are both around this height and they just about manage to get on the seat. One negative aspect about the seat is that the pillion seat is too flat and hence even under normal acceleration the pillion rider has a tendency to slip backwards and has to hold on to the rider. I have myself experienced this when i rode pillion.

At the end of the day I would still give the Avenger more points for pillion comfort since the seat is lower and the back rest prevents sliding back. In terms of the material and foam of the seat though, I would give more points to the Dominar. I have ridden the Avenger extensively as well as in short bursts when I had visited Goa, a couple of years back and in both cases I got major saddle sores from the seat.

In terms of mileage im getting in the vicinity of 25 to 30 kmpl, in city traffic. I expect this to increase marginally only after the bike gets older.

Hope this helps.

Re: Bajaj Avenger 220 Cruise OR Royal Enfield Classic 350?

I've been riding both bikes for sometime and I found classic 350 more worthy. I have used Enfield for touring. That was also my first time riding an Enfield.
I was skeptical about its weight and performance. I was struggling in traffic. But when I got high on 350cc machine it was one unstoppable tank and weight became asset. It was so stable.
It's engine is not made for speeding but cruising. But it is so torquey, one twist on accelerater and it proved why it is referred by name 'bullet'. It literally gets going like a bullet released from a gun. Engine has vibrations at very high speed and 110 kmph is max speed. It managed 350 km return journey in 5 hours on classic 350. It is good motorcycle and in my opinion not too expensive to manage. If you can get the best why settle for less?

Avenger might be a good motorcycle but couldn't like it. It's front tyres tend to skid on hard braking as I have habit of using front brakes. It's gets Shaked up on breakers or little bad roads. One thing I hate about Bajaj's engineering is they don't really try to make different engine but really on one engine and shove it up in every Bajaj motorcycles. Avenger is too long for cutting traffic.

Still test rides are recommended. You should purchase you vehicle on your decision

Re: Bajaj Avenger 220 Cruise OR Royal Enfield Classic 350?

If you want a hassle free bike then Avenger hands down. RE bikes still have a luck factor to them. You may or may not end up with a good bike. RE is still in the process of tightening their quality control. Those measures are just trickling down the supply chain now. So it will be a year or more for improvements to be visible

Re: Bajaj Avenger 220 Cruise OR Royal Enfield Classic 350?

ind.sidharth -

Boss, I have never ridden an Enfield before, can you clarify some doubt for me please?

You have mentioned the Bullet 350 accelerated like a bullet released from a gun, but you didn't mention wich gun. Reason I ask is, rifle bullets have grooves, so when you fire them, they rotate for better effect. But all the Bullet bikes I've seen accelerate without rotating. Is there something wrong with those bikes I saw?

Re: Bajaj Avenger 220 Cruise OR Royal Enfield Classic 350?

Thats the funniest thing I've ever heard.
Even a guy on 150cc scooter will be able to smoke RE 350 easily.

Re: Bajaj Avenger 220 Cruise OR Royal Enfield Classic 350?

I think we are digressing from the topic. The Thread Starter has no qualms of having a bike which accelerates slow, he clearly wants a cruiser which is comfortable and easy to maintain.

Sure RE will always have more heritage in the cruiser category, but simple maintenance and service costs will perhaps be more than the Bajaj. Add to that if you get stuck with an RE lemon (as luck would have it) one will end up sinking a considerable amount of funds in it. This is not speculation, I have seen what being on the wrong side of a RE costs and any budget conscious rider, in my opinion should steer clear of an RE.

Re: Bajaj Avenger 220 Cruise OR Royal Enfield Classic 350?

Very true. Luck should not be a big factor when you are spending close to 1.5 lakhs on a bike.

Re: Bajaj Avenger 220 Cruise OR Royal Enfield Classic 350?

About
Bajaj shoving same engine in every , bike even enfield does right ? correct me if i am wrong , bullet std 350 , classic 350 and thunderbird 350 all have same engine with some tweak . i may be wrong .even hero motors does that.

To thread starter I am also from middle class family and was in same dilemma about royal enfield classic or avenger , i went for avenger because of low cost than classic about 25k to 30k (ya its high for me) , second cheap parts and maintainence cost low.previously owned honda and it costed bomb for me.Even asked a guy from building who owns thunderbird 350 he was fed up with maintance part and said aviod it you dont to spend much.
Avenger has less or no vibes than enfield at high speeds , another reason i bought avenger is easy for my mom and dad to sit upon it.went with dad for 80 kms ride to and fro and he felt the seat and back rest very comfortable
I bought cruise version as i am 6.1 and street gave me pain while test ride and found handle bar of cruise better suited to me.
Average is 33 to 36 in traffic city conditions.and 40 in highway.these are my personal opinions. better take test rides of both and even ask in both threads , go through both so you can get better idea.

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----

About
Bajaj shoving same engine in every , bike even enfield does right ? correct me if i am wrong , bullet std 350 , classic 350 and thunderbird 350 all have same engine with some tweak . i may be wrong .even hero motors does that.

To thread starter I am also from middle class family and was in same dilemma about royal enfield thunderbird or avenger , i went for avenger because of low cost than classic about 25k to 30k (ya its high for me) , second cheap parts and maintainence cost low.previously owned honda and it costed bomb for me.Even asked a guy from building who owns thunderbird 350 he was fed up with maintance part and said aviod it you dont to spend much.
Avenger has less or no vibes than enfield at high speeds , another reason i bought avenger is easy for my mom and dad to sit upon it.went with dad for 80 kms ride to and fro and he felt the seat and back rest very comfortable
I bought cruise version as i am 6.1 and street gave me pain while test ride and found handle bar of cruise better suited to me.
Average is 33 to 36 in traffic city conditions.and 40 in highway.these are my personal opinions. better take test rides of both and even ask in both threads , go through both so you can get better idea.