[DharmeshGohil]

Yeah, for some reason, I did not do it right. I've shared the pictures with the support team and hopefully they should be able to add them soon. If not, I'll repost

[DharmeshGohil]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Thanks for sharing the feedback on the dealer and clarifying any misconceptions that I had The pictures that you uploaded didnt come through for some reason, can you try again?

Support team has now uploaded the pictures.

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by DharmeshGohil

Yeah, for some reason, I did not do it right. I've shared the pictures with the support team and hopefully they should be able to add them soon. If not, I'll repost

I am able to see the pictures now. I saw the price on the other thread, it certainly is a good and fair deal that you got yourself given the current situation. As a comparison, in Cochin, sellers are quoting Rs 5.5L for a Z650 and not budging in the hope and prayer that they will get a buyer, which they wont!

On the ergo fit, I will suggest that you just do some online digging on the topic. To my recollection, the whole point of the system was that you could pick and choose which items you wanted. I really must appreciate Kawasaki for coming up with such a simple and yet effective solution to resolving the one size fits all problem.

Maybe try dealing with a different dealer to see if one of them has the required inventory and is willing to give it to you for a lesser amount? Do keep us updated on the bike once you are able to get some good miles on it

[The Great]

Originally Posted by DharmeshGohil

So, my initial visit to Bulletraja was good. He does have a very good collection and more options to RE and KTM lovers.
Test ride depends. I did get one after I convinced him that I would buy the bike if I like it. And in fact, he took the pain of moving the bike out from his loft which took about half an hour. I can see why he doesn't give test rides, because moving them within his shop is a pain. He probably has around 100 bikes in his shop and they are parked so close that you can't even walk through them.
Basically, he would try to judge the customer before giving a test ride. If he feels, the buyer is genuine, I'm sure it won't be a problem.

Both the owner and his son work together.. and they took the pain of delivering the bike during the lock-down period. Of course they needed the final payment payment too.

I didn't get the typical delivery experience due to the situation, though. But they took a lot of efforts in making sure things were safe for all. I would recommend Bulletraja. I do have to visit them again, once the RTO offices resume operations. Need to get the bike transferred.

I have also had a great experience in the past from BulletRaja (Mr. Rajesh Gori) Mulund, and had bought my RE C5 from him. A very clear and straightforward guy.

Most of the bikes that he has, have very less mileage and are very fresh, like hardly used for 1 or 2 years. The choice of bikes is also huge.

I have known him now for almost 7 years, when he started from selling 2 / 3 bikes from a small garage sort of place to a huge showroom full of almost 30 bikes at one place now.

Congratulations for your bike sir. Superb choice.

[DharmeshGohil]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

On the ergo fit, I will suggest that you just do some online digging on the topic. To my recollection, the whole point of the system was that you could pick and choose which items you wanted. I really must appreciate Kawasaki for coming up with such a simple and yet effective solution to resolving the one size fits all problem.

Maybe try dealing with a different dealer to see if one of them has the required inventory and is willing to give it to you for a lesser amount? Do keep us updated on the bike once you are able to get some good miles on it

Thanks. Will definitely try another dealer once things get better in and around Mumbai.

You're right, the Ergo fit system was designed to cater to 3 types of riders - Short, Average and 6+ ft. Tall. I'm an average 5'8", but do enjoy the extended pedal reach. Have do to the same while driving a car - prefer keeping my legs straight.

While I can still adjust my pedal positions, it needs a different (longer) gear shifting rod, a flatter seat and perhaps they also have an option for a different handle bar or just risers.

The current riding position is good enough, but would only know better on a longer ride.

I'll keep everyone posted.

Originally Posted by The Great

I have also had a great experience in the past from BulletRaja (Mr. Rajesh Gori) Mulund, and had bought my RE C5 from him. A very clear and straightforward guy.

Most of the bikes that he has, have very less mileage and are very fresh, like hardly used for 1 or 2 years. The choice of bikes is also huge.

I have known him now for almost 7 years, when he started from selling 2 / 3 bikes from a small garage sort of place to a huge showroom full of almost 30 bikes at one place now.

Congratulations for your bike sir. Superb choice.

Thanks bro.

I agree. Both Rajesh Gori and his Son Meet Gori are very clear and to the point.
I can understand their situation - given that so many people come just to check out the bikes (as if its a museum) and providing the same level of attention to everyone is difficult.

Best is to call them before you plan to visit. They have profiles on Instagram and OLX. Most of their collection is available here.

If anyone needs their contact info, will be happy to share.

[evil_grin]

I test drove the Meteor a couple of months ago. The biggest improvements are that there are hardly any vibrations and the brakes actually do work. 🤭 I like how the Red fireball looks. Don't like the looks of the higher versions to be honest. The asymmetric dials looked odd in pics but good in real life.

The only drawback was the engine felt a tad rough. Not vibey, but rough. Perhaps it'll get smoother with age? Waiting a year for niggles to iron out. This is most likely going to be my next bike. Unless Bajaj-Triumph come up with a surprise gift.🎉

[evil_grin]

A couple of competitors have since launched but they don't feel as great as the Meteor.

I swapped my Octavia with a friend's CB350 for a few kms. It's a fine bike. But not to my taste. It had a smooth engine, good brakes and very easy to turn. But it felt more like a slightly larger commuter than a substantial bike.

The feel is very important to me. And I enjoyed the challenge of turning the Meteor. Perhaps similar to hard to turn HPS steering wheels of cars.

Right now, the Meteor is the top contender. But I'll still wait for the launch of the Super Meteor and the Bajaj-Triumph's love child.

The company lease on the Octavia would have ended but i extended it (a new lease on the residual value) for another year to save more tax. So I'll wait at least another year. Yes, I am good at procrastinating large depreciating purchases - especially ones that I don't need, but want.

[evil_grin]

Since the pandemic, our company gives us one Friday off each month as a wellness day. It's an awesome perk! So today I went out to test ride a few bikes. What better way to increase your wellness? I didn't stick to retros and cruisers since they're aren't that many, plus I shouldn't bias myself so early on in discovery.

Triumph. I had this halo image of them ever since I sat on their street twin in the mall 3 years ago. They have bikes of all kinds and really good ones too. I asked for a test ride of the street twin, but they didn't have one. They offered the speed twin. I said sure. They let you take the bikes solo which is great.

Speed Twin. It's actually a very good bike. Looks great, handles great and goes great. My wife kept fearing she'd fall off. So she refused to come along for the next few test rides. It also had a comfortable suspension. I didn't even have to twist the throttle. I'd just let the clutch go and it'd pull like a diesel car. Slight throttle, and it'd try to dart into the bike ahead.
It's a little small, though. My biggest peeve was it's price. At 6x the price of a Meteor, the only thing that was 6x was the acceleration, and maintenance costs. Everything else was 1.5x at best. Blame the import taxes. It also didn't feel special. It did, however, feel better than the rest of the bikes i rode today.

Tiger 660. Big Tigers are great on the highways. So small tigers should be great in the city, right? Wrong. The engine was buzzy. The suspension was hard. And there was no fun in riding it. I was so disappointed that I cut the ride short and skipped test riding the Trident that had the same engine.

Tiger 1200 At 6 feet tall, i couldn't touch both my feet down. It's hard to turn. And harder to turn on dirt inclines. But a great saddle and suspension for touring. Smooth engine but not much flair in the exhaust note.

Kawasaki Who doesn't love the green ninjas or adore the do-it-all versys? The Sales guy sits behind you on test ride though. They didn't have the Versys or Vulcan for test ride.

Ninja 650 I feel they've changed the shade of green from wow green to cheap fluorescent green. It didn't feel like a 650 to be honest. Very tame at low speeds. Had to wring it's neck to get any performance. And no sports note on a sports bike? Suspension was also tuned for track, not road.

Z900 This felt more premium. The seat kept sliding me forward, which I didn't like. Surprisingly, the inline 4 sounded like a harsh single. When I wrung the throttle, the bike picked up speed like nobody's business. I was surprised to easily reach 80 on 2nd gear! I can see why the young crowd would love this. Not for me, though. I realised I don't like these Japanese tameness in the low RPMs. I prefer the British high Torque at low RPMs.

A day we'll spent. I feel like I now don't need to try out KTM, Honda, Ducati or Benelli. They are not known for cruisers or retros. And I don't think I'll like any other style. And Harley is expensive as well as inferior to Triumph.
So now my shortlist is down to

1. Super Meteor
2. Meteor
3. Triumph-Bajaj's lovechild.

I'm excitedly waiting for Super meteor test rides to be available.

[evil_grin]

My test ride experience of the Super Meteor: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motor...ml#post5504631 (Royal Enfield Super Meteor 650cc, now unveiled)

Quoting below

Originally Posted by evil_grin

I took a test ride of the Super Meteor today. I've been waiting for this bike for two years.The thing is, the Meteor is already such an awesome bike that it's hard to better it.

The Super Meteor looks good. Has the expensive Harley vibes. Is made with good quality material. Even the paint, a sore point on older Royal Enfields, is as good as Europen car's. Personally, I don't like any of the colour schemes except single tone black.The rest are too tacky

It's a heavy bike. Something that it doesn't let you forget when you're trying to manually move it. But it doesn't remind you of it on the move. It's not that difficult to turn.

The tank doesn't slope upwards and and give you that big bike feeling when you're sitting on it like the Meteor does. But it is wide, which feels good. The handlebars are a little too high compared to the seat. So I had some aches in my shoulders after riding it for a while.

The engine is differently tuned than the Interceptor. It's lazy at the low end but powerful at the top end. The higher weight reduces some of the performance but not by enough to be concerning. The vibrations are low enough to be premium but not high enough to feel like a cruiser. It loves to cruise at 80-90 but has enough grunt to take it to 120 easily without vibrating. The Meteor runs out of steam at 100.

The exhaust sounds smooth. Like a speed twin. It's not a thumper. I'd rather have it sound like a cruiser. The note improves at higher speeds though. In this regard the Intercepter sounds more like it means business.

The ride quality is not as stiff as it's made out to be in reviews. It'll take small potholes easily. It's only on the really broken roads that you'll feel that you should have gotten an adv.

The seat is comfy. Slightly more than than the Meteor. The pillion seat is too small but aides in making the bike look better.

The ground clearance is barely acceptable for Indian roads. Only the obscene speed breakers will be needed to take carefully.

Compared to the Meteor, you'll have to compromise on suspension comfort, exhaust thump, ground clearance, tank range, relative ease of pushing around and the beautiful red and white and gray colours on the Meteor.

What you'll gain is exclusivity, proper cruiser looks, better quality, higher top speed, better acceleration, more comfy seats, and one cylinder.

It's hard to fathom that after paying almost twice the price of a Meteor, you still have to contend with substantial disadvantages.

Overall, it's a good bike. But it doesn't tug my heartstrings the way the Meteor does.

[evil_grin]

To ensure I was fully aware of alternatives (rationalisation) and because a friend recommended ADV bikes because they were more comfortable than the rear-hurting cruisers (real reason), I test rode the Himalayan and Scram 411:

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motor...ml#post5546080 (Royal Enfield Scram 411 Vs Himalayan)

Quoting here:

I took a back to back test ride of both the Himalayan and Scram a few days ago. Here are my findings:

1. Engine. Although they have the same engine, somehow, the Scram was way smoother and sounded better. Almost as if it was a different engine.

2. Looks. Subjective, but I found the Scram to be more stylish.

3. Suspension. Not a lot of difference .The Scram seemed to have less travel, but smoother damping.

4. Height. I'm a tall guy. I didn't find much of a difference. However, since the centre of gravity is higher in the Himalayan, it's harder to turn and pick up.

5. Stand up riding. The Himalayan has higher handlebars to it's much easier to stand up and ride for longer periods on it.

6. Gearbox. Both of them have an equally terrible gearbox. Very hard to shift. And no heel shifter! That's a deal breaker for me.

7. Compared to other RE bikes, these two are very easy to stall. The engine needs to be revved and felt like it has low torque at lower revs despite being a bigger engine than the J-series.

For most people who ride in the city and go on short highway rides, the Scram is the better bike. For those who do serious off-roading or regular long highway rides, the Himalayan makes more sense.

Given that Royal Enfield is making tremendous improvements in its bikes and the Himalayan was their first decent effort at a modern bike, I'd suggest waiting for the 450. I expect it to have a way better engine and gearbox.