I was in Delhi for a few days sans any transport. I hate autowallahs. Their sole objective in life to rip off passengers shamelessly makes me vile with anger at the very sight of them. So I turned to my dependable Royal Enfield mentor Lalli Singh. Those of you, who know or have heard of Lalli Singh, need no introduction. And for those who have not, he is the owner of, what in my opinion, is the best Bullet workshop cum renting agency I have come across in my 12 years of owning and riding Royal Enfield motorcycles. He's been kind enough in the past by lending me a bike from his huge stable of 500cc Bullet motorcycles for a few days to tool around in Delhi!
So this time, I dropped into his workshop to borrow another one and lo and behold - I see a brand new Classic 500 EFI sitting pretty on his workshop floor. All attention immediately focused to that one motorcycle. The first thing you notice is that the wheels are smaller. The 500 comes with 18'' wheels as stock for the first time. Which I think is great, because it opens up many tyre options for the user, instead of sticking to age old tread patterns that one gets in the 19'' tyres available. Not to mention these are radials with 90mm front and 110mm rear and a rounded cross section which would give better cornering and braking. The tyres make the bike look smaller to some, but I think they pronounce the rest of the body of the bike in respect. The headlamp yoke, tank, engine, seat, mudguards etc all look a bit larger as a result of the smaller wheels. The tank is very well finished with thigh pads on the sides which are a significant improvement over what came with the machismo. The paint job fails to disappoint.
The old school decals lend to that classic feel. And the polished engine / gearbox casing goes well with the chromed bendpipe and head / rocker covers. It's a balanced mix.
The engine also looks pretty, for want of a better word… especially when compared to the AVL engine. The appalling oil flow channels that one could see all along the timing gear cover on the lean burn engines was the first eyesore that caught my eye. Thankfully, with the Classic's engine, there are no such scars. The lines flow well, and the design is authentic in that it has been taken from the Clipper model of yesteryear (I think :-p).
I only have two reservations on the looks aspect of the Classic. The first is that the chain / rear sprocket have been shifted to the right side where they give company to the silencer as well. This leaves the left side of the rear wheel sort of vacant - making the rear end look a bit right-heavy. But this is me getting anal about things now :-p
The second is the saree guard. I am aware of the senseless rule that makes it compulsory on all bikes sold here… but did they have to weld it on to the framework of the rear mudguard? Now we can't remove it even if we want to. I tried to visualise a RE Classic rider with a lady sitting side-straddle behind him. A good laugh. But to be honest, at first glance - the bike looks bloody good ?
Lalli immediately gave me a test ride on the bike, so I took her for a short spin in the crowded streets of Carol Bagh. When I started her up, the cool thing was that with the fuel injection, there is no need to fool around with a choke despite the engine being cold. It manages all that on it's own. The engine sound was not too impressive to begin with. I miss the good 'ol thump that many of us Bulletwallahs are used to and have grown to love. But this piece has the stock silencer which goes on for miles and mutes every particle of gas that ever tries to wake up the neighbours. We don't like that now ;-) The good thing is that Royal Enfield (from hereon, commonly referred to as RE) have an aftermarket pipe that is visually and audibly far more appealing than this one. The silencer bends upward a bit and gives it a bit of a sporty look. Unfortunately, none of the dealers have it with them at the moment - is the story I was given.
Once you throttle her up, I wouldn't exactly say she roars to life. The engine sounds very smooth and the muted exhaust note allows you to hear the silence of the engine, if you know what I mean. This is not me complaining. But you actually begin to appreciate this when you mount her and take her through the gears and some fast acceleration in traffic. The relative ease with which she goes is very pleasing. In first gear, when you release the clutch, she lunges forward with such motion and purpose it's not funny! I have been riding a standard engined 500 Citibike for 12 years now. I have also tooled around often on my dad's LB (Lean Burn) 500 Thunderbird Export Special and my sisters Thunderbird 350 AVL. So immediately, I begin to compare the engine / throttle / gearbox feedback with the bikes I am used to. I have to say, the Classic 500 EFI does the most justice to the expression goes like greased lightning!! It gives no friction feedback on the throttle, as compared to the other bikes from the RE stable. It's faster (no doubt with 27 break) and smoother than any of the above! The LB 500 is not a match when it comes to smoothness of engine and engine sound. The standard 500 (which I love more than my life) is a smooth bike, but then not as fast as this one. The thunderbird is also a reasonably smooth engine, but she's powerless where this one has ample pep for the daily needs of the adrenaline junkie!
The braking is the same as other RE's, but I am impressed with the grip on the tyres. These are definitely better than the regular 19 inchers! You can control the braking more easily somehow. Don't ask me how, it just is.
Lights are good enough too. And the new design of the rear view mirrors is acceptable. But the horn is measly. I had to strain to hear it myself. Would have liked a double horn hella / bosch setup! When you got a bike that shifts the way this one does, you aren't going to be cruising around at 40kmph all day, which will justify your need for a loud horn to alert all those unaware that you're approaching at high speeds astride a wolf in sheep's clothing!!!
Then to my delight, Lalli Singh offered that I take this very bike for the weekend! I almost fell off my chair in shock! God bless him! He made my day, no he made my weekend!!! :-D
The bike was only 45km old. So I was a bit weary of speeding her around, instead of running her in like I'd do with a brand new engine. So I decided to go the middle path. Not too slow, not too fast. Which is perfect in Delhi traffic anyway. Once I rode her around Delhi on a longer run, I familiarised myself with her much better. She has a very sweet gearbox. Better than the 5 speed that itself was a major improvement over the 4 speed right shift. The only thing is that it has the sissy two sided gear changer so you can use your heel to push down. I'd prefer it the old way. Toe up, toe down.
Come Saturday morning, I had planned to join Joshua and his gang of biker friends for the Breakfast Run - a short ride early morning on Saturdays where like minded bikers get together and ride to a dhaba on the highway, stuff themselves with paranthas, talk all things motorcycles and not, and then head back to the jungle that is Delhi. So I was looking forward to some highway riding without any stop-go traffic. Little did I know. The Delhi - Jaipur highway was chock-a-block full of trucks, cars, bullock carts, two-wheelers, cyclists, you name it. The entire spectrum of traffic had come out to showcase all its glory. And we were caught in the middle of it all. But even better to actually test the bike. Maneuvering through traffic was a breeze. The power on tap was god-sent for those moments when you're too lazy to downshift and just want to twist the grip and overtake slow pokes on the highway. The notable difference here was that I did not notice any pinking (commonly referred to as knocking by many riders and mechanics) on this bike. Dad's AVL 500 certainly does, and sometimes my standard 500 does too. Especially when you throttle them on a heavy gear without downshifting. So this was clearly an improvement in the Classic 500! Even with a pillion sitting behind me, there was no noticeable difference in the midrange. And on this 150km two and fro run, I began to appreciate the sprung seat which has impeccable build quality and comfort to match. I forgot to ask my pillion Karolina about the rear seat, but I presume it's also comfy, considering she didn't complain ?
Once I got back home, I noticed that there was not a drop of oil leakage from the engine casing after having run a total of ~200km. This, for a Royal Enfield, is unheard of where I come from.
Did the sun rise from the west today? If they've plugged the leaks, then I bow down!
Another good thing was there were 3 more RE Classic 500s on the ride! So I not only got to ride her, but also got to see how she looks on the road, being ridden by someone else. The wider rear tyre adds to the road presence when viewed from the rear 3 quarters, and the circular rear light is befitting on the number plate. From the front, it does look a lot like the Standard Bullet, but that's a good thing! Royal Enfield have not forgotten their roots, yet have come up with something that has enough tech and well tuned power in it to give the puny jap crotch rockets a worthy run for their money! Bobbee, an obsessive Bullet fanatic and my partner in our touring company, was debating that it does not have the old world charm and feel like the heavy crank 350s of old! I think this bike is a practical masterpiece! She sticks with the retro looks and appeal and has a completely new unit construction engine with fuel injection under the hood. If all goes as planned and there are no teething troubles like the AVL engines had when they were launched the first time round, then this bike should be more reliable (fewer moving parts in the engine), cheaper on fuel (fuel injection), cheaper on maintenance (service interval doubled to 6000km), faster (27bhp), and better looking in my opinion than the AVL 500 Machismo. I can safely say that they've struck the right note with the Classic.
As for costing, the Classic 500 EFI will create a rather severe deficit in your bank balance. Being the most expensive production bike in India, it comes in at 1.31 lakh in Delhi. Compare that to the Kawasaki Ninja 250R which will cost you 2.96 lakh - I know it's not a fair comparison, but if you think 1.3 lakhs is too much to shell out for a motorcycle, then this will help you realise that it's actually quite a good deal considering all that you get in the package. Nowhere else can you buy a 500cc single with fuel injection, disc brakes, impeccable build quality (I mean this one is close to the Japs for quality now) for this little money! For a true motorcycle aficionado, this is good value for money.
I like this bike so much, I've been trying to convince two of my best friends to buy it. One has already fallen for the bait ;-)
If I didn't have 3 RE's parked in my drive already, I'd have been devising a plan to obtain one somehow… either convince dad to buy one, or sack one of ours and upgrade! Actually, the ideal situation would be to keep our 3 and simply add a 4th :-D Let's see… maybe someday soon ;-)
But to end this, hats off to the boys at Royal Enfield for upping the ante and exceeding my expectations on all fronts. Long live the Bullet!
Vaibhav Nijhowne
19th November 2009
04:33 hrs.
vnjunior@gmail.com
www.sadhoochakkar.com