[ninjatalli]

Q. What do a Pulsar 150, a Maruti 800, a Volkswagen Vento TDI and a Nissan Altima have in common?

Ans. They all served as my primary mode of vehicle over the last 15 years & 200,000+ kms while my heart was already tagged to a Royal Enfield (RE)!

I had never driven a RE for ages; but my mind was made on this brand of vehicle thanks to a bunch of ~50 year old Bullets that I used to ogle at my relative's place since childhood. I had zero knowledge about bikes; my only knowledge and exposure to two-wheelers were my dad's Chetak and the Luna (later a Kinetic Honda) that my mom had during my school days. However, when I used to visit my relatives in the south, I used to stare at these beasts in awe; especially when my uncles used to fire up the engine(s) and take it out. Unfortunately, I never got the guts to ask for a ride but the seed was planted.
(Current status: Only one remains in Trichy, the other one at Chennai was sold/given off)


Come 2004 once I started earning, my choices of vehicle always took a more practical turn. For e.g. the testosterone egging ad that Bajaj launched made the decision clear for my first bike

Definitely Male

Later the opportunity to pool in money with 3 other friends and buy a used Maruti 800 to woo chicks (we failed miserably), and so on. But always at the back of the mind, the 'keeda' was always there. I used to have enthusiastic discussions with Bullet owners on sourcing a second hand Enfield from mechanics and what not. But never got around to own one of my own.


2016-2017: The Himalayan gets launched around the same time I move back to India. Now, this was a bike that I loved (and still do) right from the word go. A bike that is a perfect mix of on-road and off-road vehicle - what could more a guy want. But then the initial batch landed up with so many issues, plus I got pushed on another overseas engagement, so the idea again took a back seat.


2018: The BS4 Himalayan gets launched, with ABS and hopefully most of the issues resolved. Egged by friends (who owned REs), who I had tortured earlier in multiple discussions, I head to the RE showroom in Saki Naka (Mumbai) for a test ride of the Himalayan. Ironically a bike that is considered perfect for offroading had to be tested in the traffic-heavy roads of Saki Naka for an extremely short distance.

And I was sold. The tall posture, the weird non-movable front head, the small niggles - all didn't matter. I inquired and was told the BS4 version can be delivered in less than a week!

And then my friend arrives who eggs me to test drive the Classic. I humor him and then find out the Classic is much more smoother to drive; the seating position and driveability. Boy was I confused or what. Plus my friend wasn't helping suggesting I wait for a few months for the 650s' launch

I made the booking of 5000 INR (this was back in Sept'18), informing the SA that I'll confirm the actual choice of bike later during the week. I never confirmed her the decision, and the poor lady stopped calling me after a few attempts (I still have to get the refund).


Dec 2018: Due to certain personal and professional constraints, I had to move to Chennai. Very soon I land up at the Adyar showroom to revisit my earlier quandary. I then decide to try all options and then take a call - I test drive the Classic, Thunderbird X, Himalayan and both the Twins. The Interceptor blows away the competition completely.

Honestly, my first thought was I do not need this much power. The Classic had sufficient juice for city and highway rides. My enthusiasm for reaching 150kmph on a bike was long buried; I'd happily do it (and still do ) on a car. The Classic 500 was perfect (with the Himalayan a second choice).

But then I had made a similar observation when I test drove the Vento 8 years ago and you know how that eventually turned out

So the booking was made. And the wait started.

[ninjatalli]

The waiting period told to me by RE was 3 months for the Interceptor - I was perfectly ok waiting along as in my mind the choice was still not clear between the three options (Interceptor, Classic, Himalayan) and a potential Jawa 42 (I had no plan on purchasing it, but just booked it just for the experience). This absolutely brilliant review of the Himalayan and my long conversations with Imran (@bblost) brought back the Himalayan into a formidable choice.

Himalayan Review

The reasons for this confusion was aplenty; leaving aside the pricing conundrum:
Classic: Absolute perfect looks, most comfortable seating setup among the three; tried and tested product offering; beautiful (matte finish) colors
Himalayan: Rocker of a bike; an all-terrain bike that suited me the most (in principle); elevated seating position suited my 5'10 height
Interceptor: Sheer power, the platform of the future and an excellent product that took care of most historical RE issues

Thankfully Imran had a more steady supply of common sense that I had, and he made some clear points with regards to his ownership experience of his Himalayan bike to which I did not have a proper answer. With regards to the INT 650, I threw the question I had in my mind to which he made a very simple point "YOLO" (you only live once)

And with that, the decision was made

[ninjatalli]

Back in Nov' 2018, Jawa Motorcycles came out launching the Jawa and Jawa 42 with huge fanfare. The price point made it quite interesting so I went ahead and booked the 42 two days after the launch. Test drives were not an option - the few dealerships that opened up were hounded by people, and those who got test drives had literally a few minutes to try the bike.

Jawa Ad

This was never a formidable choice for me; over the last 6 months, the overall management by the firm has been pathetic. The first set of reviews that were done by auto publications and reviewers were done on stationary bikes either at showrooms or at scenic spots. A few months later, all these publications were able to provide detailed reviews on pre-production bikes; however, all the agencies were focused on giving disclaimers and a very safe-zone kind of reviews that really did not give confidence in the bike's capabilities. When I reached out to some of the reviewers on social media asking questions, I got no proper response.

And to add to this, the delayed delivery schedule with absolutely no means of information to customers made the decision very clear to avoid this brand as much as possible. In-between, Jawa announced they were offering (the much safer) dual-ABS options on the bikes but with much longer waiting periods. The monthly bike delivery numbers as highlighted here did not paint a good picture at all!

My decision did not change, thankfully. And I stuck with Royal Enfield bikes!

[ninjatalli]

The months passed by soon while I went backpacking across South East Asia. Apparently in mid-April (or so I was told later) Royal Enfield Adyar tried to reach me to inform my bike was ready for delivery. However as I was unreachable, my booking was bypassed. I landed up at the showroom once I came back and was informed that I will be allocated to the next lot immediately; a batch of 4 Orange Crush bikes was expected over the weekend.

As informed, the bikes did turn up and I made the full payment with the condition that I'd do a PDI of the bike before it goes for registration. A little surprised at my ask, but they agreed and I went ahead with the payment. The good part was they also offered me the choice to get insurance on my own if I wanted to and the choice of a special number registration was available at an additional cost of ~2700 INR. I refused both options (PolicyBazaar was offering only one zero-dep option that came almost at the same price) and the overall break-up was as below:

Ex-showroom Price: 250,610
RTO Charges: 20,699
Insurance with zero dep: 19,866 (actual policy I get is for 18,537, refund in progress)
Smart card fee: 200
Total: 291,375 INR


On a warm and humid Monday, the call arrived asking me to pick up the bike after 4 in the evening. Landed at the showroom the process was smoothly done with a meek question to me on any accessories that I might be interested (I refused for now). While they explain the servicing schedules and other aspects, they do make an interesting point - the 3 year warranty gets void if the bike is transferred within the first two years! (Any views on this?)

Finally I drive out the bike with a free helmet and 3 liters of petrol; surprisingly the fuel gauge hardly moved beyond one block. Filled up the tank at a pump I frequent and was back home after a short run around.



The family was not aware of the delivery; although they knew I was in the hunt for the bike. My mom remarks to me on how I had been ogling at her cousin's Bullet all those years and wonders aloud on why would anyone spend 1L INR on a bike when there are cheaper and good alternatives! I don't answer, letting them make their own judgments till the day they realize the truth

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's been over 48 hours with the odometer at ~50 kms, all of it inside Chennai - I am yet to take it out on a long drive outside the city. Most of the riding is I have done is to get used to the bike; the weight of the bike, the sheer power available and the comfort that I can park the bike anywhere without worrying about vandalism or theft.

A few observations that seem to be ever-changing as time progresses

• I'm still not able to find neutral on the first attempt. On average, it takes me ~3 tries to find neutral. Hopefully, this will improve as time progresses
• I tend to upshift very quickly; and I just realized today that I have been driving around the city in 5th & 6th gears at speeds between 40 - 60; the bike does NOT stall at all. Thanks to an argument between @navin_v8 & @Red Liner, I'm aware this bike allows one to go on low speeds without lugging the engine or riding the clutch (FTC). I am loving this capability
• The headlight-always-on is going to get on my nerves; I hate wasting any energy that I can prevent; however small it is. Will have to figure out an option to this
• Contrary to @bblost's fair advice to me, this bike can be driven with slippers and shorts Maybe not feasible on long drives, but I have done that a few times for short trips without any issues (hey, after all it's the IDIOT's guide)!
• I'm getting used to the heat being dissipated. Although very different from the other bikes I have driven, it's not that big a problem and you get used to it after a while
• The footrests are a problem when you are "walking" the bike. But I doubt there's any way around it. I'm going to rue the day I get a puncture and no puncture shop around! (touchwood)
• I love tinkering the nuts with a spanner; the rear view mirrors came at a weird angle; a spanner and a few minutes got it aligned in the right direction. I wonder if there are any DIY classes for minor tinkering and maintenance. I'd pay for that (also in 'liquid currency' if that works for you lol)
• I find it extremely amusing on why would anyone worry if these Twins retain the sound of the Bullets; the bike is much much more than that. Thankfully, that's never going to be one of my concerns ever!
• I don't find the seat an issue for now. But maybe in the future, I'd probably evaluate options to get the Classic 500 type of seats on this bike. Or something similar like that if I can source a good after-market option. But that's for later, for now the stock seat is going to do

So here goes - a life back on two wheels after nearly a decade & 150,000+ kms on 4 wheels. It's going to get interesting for sure!

[ninjatalli]

It's been almost a week. The bike yearned for a decent ride. Plus you could only putter around within the city for so much. I had better idea of how the test drive vehicle @REAdyar functioned than my own bike.

So I evaluated the options. I had a limit of ~400 kms (for the first servicing). So the round trip had to be well under that. Thankfully (in this case) options are limited in that range from Chennai in this hot summer period, so the list was as such

1. Pulicat Lake (~150 kms return)
2. Pondicherry (~290 kms return)
3. Tirupati (~340 kms return)

The heart wanted to do the Tirupati/Tirumala trip; just for the hilly range at the end. But sense prevailed and I opted to do the Pondicherry trip on an early Saturday morning. Set up an alarm for 4, but woke up much before that and after the morning ablutions, I was finally out - the sun was yet to come up and the city was just waking up as I joined the ECR.

Now the instructions for the run-in are very clear; maintain a max speed of 15 kmph for every gear; which would allow me 75 kmph on the 6th gear. Now consider a semi-dark, practically empty ECR and 650 cc at your service, it was a tough deal to stick to those terms! But I kinda did for the next ~140 kms, maintaining a maximum RPM of 3000 (~ 75-80 kmph).


A few kms before Mahabalipuram

Headed out to the India Coffee House, had a few rounds and decided to drive back before the weekenders start clogging the ECR on trips to Mahabalipuram and Pondicherry.



Felt the bike was in a much better rhythm and allowed myself to go till 4000 rpm on the return trip. A few photography halts at different points allowed me and the bike short breaks.


Just outside the Pondicherry city; the reddish soil doth justice to the Orange Crush




On the dry bed of the Odiyur lake

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bike Feedback - Focusing on the Pain Points
So the first ~100 kms feedback was as below; time to revisit the pain points of this bike after the 300 km ride

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

A few observations that seem to be ever-changing as time progresses

• I'm still not able to find neutral on the first attempt
• I tend to upshift very quickly
• The headlight-always-on is going to get on my nerves
• this bike can be driven with slippers and shorts
• I'm getting used to the heat being dissipated
• The footrests are a problem when you are "walking" the bike
• I love tinkering the nuts with a spanner
• Why would anyone worry if these Twins retain the sound of the Bullets
• I don't find the seat an issue for now

1) Thou shall not sit pretty
The stock seat sucks. While it works out fine for short rides within the city, here, within the first 50 kms, I was squirming left and right, and the fun of the ride was quickly fading away. I had to take makeshift halts just to humor my rear ends. Already looking for options to redo the seat, this place comes highly recommended. Planning to hit this later in May with a fellow Bullet owner when I will be heading to Bangalore

2) Thou shall not switch off thy divine light
Although the stock headlights remind me of my dad's Chetak (in terms of luminance and appearance), they function pretty decently at night; both the low and high beams. Upgrading them, just for highway rides would be overkill if you ask me. But the fact that RE saved a few bucks by not offering a kill switch is beyond me. It pains to see the lights-always-on throughout the day, especially on such long rides.

3) Thou shall soon be dealt with the pain of loose wires
RE has done a fantastic job when it comes to the finish of the bike. But look under and you see loose ends here and there, especially in the wiring department. I just hope none of these cause a breakdown during long rides, especially if one tries to go on rural roads


Loose wires


Loose wires again


The rubber screws are prone to getting lost; as seen in the first hole


The gaps really screw up an otherwise perfect front view

4) Thou shall love thy tools
Indeed, a spanner is a key tool to carry on the road for sure. The mirrors do not retain the position one has set, and allow a minor movement at the top. I wish I had a more permanent solution; tightening the mirror bolts feels a little risky as the nut threads start coming out (already!). I forsee wear and tear with these for sure in the near future.

5) Thou shall bear the wrath of my anger
The heat dissipated by the engine is easily manageable; even on long rides. As mentioned earlier, I have been riding on shorts almost on a daily basis, and as long as you are able to maintain a good distance from the silencers while mounting/unmounting the bike, you should be good to go. But I really wonder how the bike will manage this heat dissipation during the rains.

6) Thou shall tremble at my power
Bike reviews will claim that the well-known RE vibrations are a thing of the past and this bike doesn't have them. Well, it does. Not as much as your Bullet or Classic, but minor vibrations. Try keeping you mobile on a running bike, and it will slowly move and fall down. Not really an issue, but the minute vibrations does have a say on your (more frequent) loo breaks

7) Thou shall have an unquenchable thirst
The 13.7 liter fuel tank makes its presence known pretty fast. After driving cars that allow 600 - 900 km range on one full tank, it's a different matter to hit the petrol pump every 200 - 230 kms. And the fuel gauge doesn't really help you with the gauge playing around with the # of bars at all times. Filled up the tank when I crossed 200 kms of riding pro-actively, and this 'problem' was handled even before it became an issue.

On a different note, the bikes come with the additional buffer as default from the factory. Good of RE to rectify such customer feedback changes immediately!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Extra Gear
A key highlight of this bike has to be the handy 6th gear, which is the perfect gear for touring on highways; allowing one to move from 50 kmph to upwards of 3 digit figures (I only went till 100 kmph) on this gear without any issues. The engine feedback is clean, the speed increase is very much linear post-2500 RPM; already I'm able to figure out the speeds by just looking at the RPM

- 2000 RPM : 50 kmph
- 2500 RPM : 65 kmph
- 3000 RPM : 80 kmph
- 4000 RPM : 100 kmph
- 5000 RPM : 120 kmph (expected; to be validated later)

[ninjatalli]

Accessories Purchased:

Image source


Actual setup

The mobile is a curse and a boon for the touring biker. And a good mobile holder is the key. The Chevik mobile holder (available on Amazon) is a VFM option that fixes on all bikes and also comes with a small battery bank (which I discarded). Attached to the rearview mirror screw, the holder remains firm and tested on a 300 km ride successfully. Cost: 1K INR


Image source
Thanks to @swiftnfurious's reviews, I headed out to Spartan ProGear to check out their Axxis and MT helmets. Good choice of spread and helpful attendants that don't push you towards any specific product. Prices are slightly on the higher side, compared to the traditional Vegas and Studds. Procured this one at a discounted price (they are getting rid of previous stock); the fitment is perfect and the color combination helps too! Cost: 3.2K INR


Image source
A basic set of gloves with fiber inserts; ideal for medium/long rides. Although the vibrations are much lesser on the Twins, the hands do feel a bit numbed out after a while; so the gloves definitely help, aside from the safety aspect. However, these are not suited for the rain so will have to procure alternatives in the coming rainy season. Cost: 1.3k INR

Accessories Planned:

1. Leg Guard (/Engine Guard)
2. Sump Guard
3. Tank Bag (Magnetic)
4. Riding Jacket
5. Riding Pants

[ninjatalli]

1. The absurd Fuel Guage

The fuel gauge is very much unreliable, when you are starting the bike and especially when you are using up the last few liters. Over a continuous drive, as the consumption of fuel happens, the decreasing blocks in the gauge shown is quite accurate and can be depended on. But at any particular point, the amount of fuel left in the tank can not be realized by the gauge measurement; always take it with a pinch of salt.

The below image shows the state of the gauge taken at different instances during a morning ride to the beach.
- 5 blocks when I started the bike
- 2 blocks when I halted midway
- 5 blocks when I ended the ride at home (and restarted the bike)


Gauge movement over a span of <2 kms (click to enlarge)

Do note the actual amount of petrol left (as per my calculations) should be around ~5 liters; the tank was filled up completely at the 230 km mark; which means the actual (correct) marking should be ideally 3 blocks!

2. Squealing / Squeaking Brake

This probably could be a minor issue only with my bike, but the rear brake at time squeaks a bit. Need to get this sorted out at the first service

Update: As confirmed by the RE engineer (during the first service) , this is an expected/normal sound and is not a problem.

3. The Neutral Indicator

This indicator is hard to find for Royal Enfield newbies (like me); finding neutral while driving is going to take atleast 3-4 attempts while you get to the steady state later when it comes on just a flick of your toes/foot.

Also, if you are the kind of person who goes by the rule-book and uses the engine kill switch before stopping the bike, do note the 'N' indicator only comes on when the engine kill button is disabled.


Left:Kill switch enabled | Right:Kill switch disabled

4. Footrests

The front and rear footrests of this bike are certainly not winning the popularity contest. While the position of the front footrest is a problem when you are stationary or moving the bike manually, the rear footrest is hardly sufficient for the rear passenger to safeguard from the silencer(s).

But what's interesting is how both the footrests are setup differently; the front footrest can not be closed thanks to a spring that prevents it; and the rear footrest closes with a nice 'click' motion!

Front Footrest

Rear Footrest

[ninjatalli]

As the 500km mark approached, I schedule the first servicing with the company service center at OMR. This is a very well managed service center and seemingly the most preferred service station across the city. Everything is very professionally managed; the service advisor as well as the gate guard uses iPads; and the servicing software is a solution powered by MS Dynamics! You get sms notifications alerts at every stage; right from appointment booking to the final gate-release and survey feedbacks; something that even VW doesn't offer to me till date!


Gone are the days of using a service paper sheet to record the details

They do offer pick-up and drop services too, but I didn't opt for that. The service advisor explained the details of the servicing and the expected costs (I was told upfront about the gasket cost and total expected cost). Apart from the basic servicing, I told him about the screeching sounds from the rear brakes and the vibrations from the tank; which were acknowledged. No additional services (tank coating, etc) were pushed on me.


I finally found the seat I want for my bike; now to figure out how to get one


Wide range of RE bikes for servicing/repairs

The servicing took about 3.5 hours and I decided to catch up on the Chernobyl series while waiting in the customer lobby. At the end of it, total cost came to 3134 INR with the breakup as follows
1. Chain Lube & Cleaner Kit - 144 INR
2. Engine Oil (3L) - 2012 INR
3. Filter Comp Engine Oil (1L) - 450 INR
4. Cylinder Head Cover Gasket - 410 INR

Overall experience was very good - a RE engineer came out to explain that the occasional squeaks from the rear brake was expected and will occur from time to time; there was nothing to worry about. Also they had tightened the clutch which made it a bit harder, but they explained how to loosen it/tighten it if I require so.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now we come to the Royal Enfield Annual Awards for the "wackiest and phasionable" styling of your Royal Enfield motorbikes (I had time to kill at the service center, you see). We had several entries but the judge(s)' choice was clear!

Firstly there were a few honorable mentions...


The Leh trail - that was not just a simple sticker, mind you - it felt premium!



I was half-expecting a blue shirt and blue shoes...


And the Second Runner-up is...


"Wander often wonder always" - whattay punchline, wah wah


The First Runner-up is...


Whattay color for the disc brake, I say. Ekdum Jhakaaas!!!


And the Winner is...


Eveready should catch hold of him for their #GiveMeRed punchline! He could take a cue from the previous guy for a red disc brake pad


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And with the servicing done, next item on the list - a road trip to Bengaluruuuu and Coorg!

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Motorcycle Section. Thanks for sharing!

[sukiwa]

Wow, that was quick, both for first service & review. Congrats once again, wish you were in mumbai/pune for a weekend ride together.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by sukiwa

Wow, that was quick, both for first service & review. Congrats once again, wish you were in mumbai/pune for a weekend ride together.

Thank you!

Well, a trip to Bangalore is on the cards shortly. Maybe if my work scenario doesn't work out as planned, I might have to bring the bike to Mumbai by next month! Either way, I'd love to get the bike onto the Western Ghats in the amazing monsoon season!

[Alka panwar]

Nice review. Looking forward to become a proud owner myself ,if only i get some respite from crash of stocks i invested in.
Isn't the always on headlight a new norm for two wheelers already?

[Torino]

Congrats Ninja! I didn't expect your review to come out so quickly and so does the first service, looks like you are enjoying your new ride.

Regarding finding the neutral, it will become easier once you get used to the gear shifts by the time you reach the 1000 kms mark. The screeching sound from the brakes must be due to accumulation of tiny stone particles between the disc and pads, it will go away as you use the brakes. The always ON headlight is the only real nonsense in the bike for me, I would have been happy at least if it went OFF with the engine kill switch. I got myself a BS3 RE Classic's switch gear and opened up the headlight and almost went ahead to rewire the light to the switch but stopped just for the sake of warranty.

[neil.jericho]

Congratulations on your new Interceptor 650. I enjoyed reading your thread and the origins of your Royal Enfield fascination.

I agree with bblost's advice, please try to avoid riding a two wheeler with shorts and slippers. If you have a small fall, it can be quite painful, as I learnt the hard way! Many many years ago, I had a fall when I was riding my motorcycle while wearing sandals and I ended up burning my right foot (below my ankle) since my leg fell on the piping hot silencer. I still have the scars on my foot.

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

[*]I love tinkering the nuts with a spanner; the rear view mirrors came at a weird angle; a spanner and a few minutes got it aligned in the right direction. I wonder if there are any DIY classes for minor tinkering and maintenance. I'd pay for that (also in 'liquid currency' if that works for you lol)

I know that the Royal Enfield dealership here in Cochin had a DIY session during an overnight state wide ride for 650 owners that they had conducted recently. It was apparently well appreciated by the 650 owners. Do check with your dealership if they are conducting similar sessions in your city.

In addition, they also have DIY sessions for all RE owners that are conducted in their SVC. I have made it a point to join the next one that they organize.

[MaheshY1]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

...
The 3 year warranty gets void if the bike is transferred within the first two years! (Any views on this?)
...

This is to prevent a resale, which has two benefits. One that works in favor of the customers is that it'll discourage prospective buyers from approaching existing owners to readily get an in-demand motorcycle. Prevents artificial inflation of prices in the used motorcycle market.

The second takes care of the manufacturer's interests. Seeing too many samples on OLX and Droom, etc. conveys to the layman that the buyers regret their purchase and therefore want to get rid of it. Ergo, the product is (probably) not as polished as it's made out to be.


Trivia Time: RE is known for generously showering gifts on journalists with every new product launch--especially if it's a totally new product. Do you think they can forget about the all-expense-paid trip to California when reviewing the motorcycle? So you have to take their opinion with a healthy dose of salt.
Besides, they are there to examine a product then and there. So, they rarely talk about the niggles and long-term reliability of a product they do not intend to buy. That's why I trust ownership reviews more than anything else.

Legally, they can't set this as a condition. RE has all the right to void the warranty if you tinker with the motorcycle. But the transfer of ownership should not increase the chances of failure. Unless they really do come with a soul, which hates switching owners.

I see no reason for the consumer forum to side with the manufacturer should the second owner choose to pursue the case. I doubt people who represent RE would be willing to formally confirm this.