[navin_v8]

Originally Posted by Piyadassi

Totally agree. The head ticks off Thunderbird but heart wants a Classic... perhaps a fascination for retro!

You can end this confusion by taking a back to back test ride of both the motorcycles and then decide. If you are going to take someone pillion then RE Electra (although 350cc) and Standard have the best seat of them all. Even the Thunderbird seat is very comfortable but not as comfortable as the former two when it comes to pillion comfort. You first need to define your purpose of buying a motorcycle, is it for touring or is it for city commuting or both? If it is for touring (in your case which I believe is since you are buying a 500cc) then nothing beats the Thunderbird 500 among the motorcycles you have shortlisted. I also think Thunderbird is equally at home while commuting in the city. It is a dual purpose motorcycle and does both the jobs fairly well.

My suggestion is to go with the heart and you will never regret. If its Desert Storm for you then so be it. I did when I had to buy a new motorcycle(read my ownership review on my 5th RE The Thunderbird 500) and am not regretting.

[himanshugoswami]

Originally Posted by Piyadassi

Could be. But what baffled me more that next to Thunderbird he was more keen on recommending Standard 500, emphasising upon seating/riding comfort. May be he thought that comfort would be priority for a 40+ plus gentleman who had walked in with his wife.



Totally agree. The head ticks off Thunderbird but heart wants a Classic... perhaps a fascination for retro! Yes, I do have time, TB has one month waiting compared to two for DS. Confused, yes I am. Still.

Buddy I was in the same boat as you a couple of months back and am in the same age bracked (40 plus!). I extensively test rode all the RE bikes at the RE brand store in saket, and one thing i noticed was that on the Classic and DS, i just couldnt feel "one" with the bike. Given its seating position and the fact that i am nearly 6 feet tall, i felt the CG to be high, which was not confidence inspiring. On the other hand, I felt right at home with the TB and promptly booked the TB 500. got mine in one week. Been riding it for 2 months since and absolutely love it.

Since you are in NCR i strongly recommend you stay away from any dealership and head straight to the RE brand store behind Select City Walk in Saket. Talk to Kamal Pandey, who is the store manager, and give him my reference. You wont get better sales service than what he gave me. i was super impressed, and he ensures that he stays connected even post purchase.

[Siddy]

Guys,

I've a 2015 Bullet 500, the bike has run almost 1200 kilometers and is running absolutely fine.

I hear this faint knock which disappears when the bike picks up speed. The knock is typically heard when I accelerate and more prominent with a pillion and under load. Its pretty rhythmic. Not sure if its the valve train making this noise. The intensity of the sound is decreasing as I ride more. The sound is pretty low and not bothersome. Experts, any idea what this could be? or is my guess right?

[rakesh_r]

Well, i was on the same boat. I visited the RE store multiple times till the sales guy said "Ab le lijiye sir". About the rider and bike connection it all depends on every individual, in my case i td'd every single bike barring the CGT and classic is what suited my requirement . I easily felt home on the classic . My preference was touring and office commute and for the former,frankly speaking the classic is a disaster in terms of seating comfort. Change the seats and voila you have a bike for touring.
And the hike in the excise duty was one of the factors i had to let go of the t bird as it was simply out of my budget. Somehow for some reason I simply love the ol British design ,retro by looks and mechanically modern and this is where the classic wins hands down.
Go with what appeals to you the most,I am sure whatever bike you buy from RE you won't regret.
All the best.
PS- I have done 600km on the ode,first service done. Changed the silencer to RRP free flow though strictly adhering to the run in period.

[Driving_Nomad]

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

frankly speaking the classic is a disaster in terms of seating comfort. Change the seats and voila you have a bike for touring.

I agree. However I haven't seen (or rather ridden) any examples of classics with changed seats. Would that be an easy thing to get done? I mean without making structural changes (seat mount points) or welding clamps on to the chassis?

BTW: Dropped my bike for a service at Tekniks iblur today. Have asked the following things to be done:
1. Engine oil and oil filter change. I'd like to stay with liquid gun and change it every 3K rather than going the fully synthetic way. May be just me.
2. Mud guard tinkering and painting
3. Check and correct rim/fork/t-stem trueness
4. Replace handle bar. The classics now come with a different one than the one I had. It looked better and probably more comfortable (has a higher shoulder)

The bike will be delivered tomorrow and I ll let you guys know about how it's done. On a side note, the guy says he'd require another day if I wanted to get the side cases buffed! Has anyone got this done?

Thanks

[rakesh_r]

Originally Posted by Driving_Nomad

I agree. However I haven't seen (or rather ridden) any examples of classics with changed seats. Would that be an easy thing to get done? I mean without making structural changes (seat mount points) or welding clamps on to the chassis?

Its very simple as it doesn't involve any change in the seat frame. The hard foam is replaced with something more comfortable and wider. Some people remove the springs too. I am planning to get the seats modified for which I need to ride down to Mumbai.

[Piyadassi]

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

frankly speaking the classic is a disaster in terms of seating comfort.

But haven't classics toured miles and miles? A Team BHPian //M has ridden solo Pune to Rajasthan and with another biker Ranchi to Sikkim (if I recall correctly).

But I must also add, now that I have booked a DS, this is something that is nudging me. Plus do post a picture of the seat when you get it changed.

[Dodge_Viper]

Regarding the seats on Classic 350, yes they do tend to get uncomfortable on long rides. I went and checked for replacement at one famous seat guy in Mumbai. He showed the one which was the most preferred by Classic owners. That came without spring setup. He also mentioned that within RE circle spring based seat is usually thrown away and replaced with non-spring seats. Not sure of the stats, but this guy comes highly recommended within RE gangs.

[abhijeetK]

Hi all,
I own STD 350 UCE & have done 4500 Kms. Recently I am experiencing hitting (like metal clinging) noise when bike hits pothole. If anyone had same problem and rectified it, Please HELP!

[abhijeetK]

Hi all, I own a STD 350 UCE and have done 4500kms. Recently I'm experiencing hitting noise (like metals clinging) when bike hits the pothole. If anyone had similar problem and rectified it Please HELP!

[adrian]

Originally Posted by abhijeetK

Hi all, I own a STD 350 UCE and have done 4500kms. Recently I'm experiencing hitting noise (like metals clinging) when bike hits the pothole. If anyone had similar problem and rectified it Please HELP!

Hi abhijeetk
Did you check the drive chain tension ? It is possible for a loose drive chain to make clattering noises. Other things to look for would be to check the tightness of all fasteners and also check for a loose steering cone. For that you have to do the following
1. Keep the bullet in the center stand
2.Face the motorcycle and grab the fork legs
3. Lift the front tires off the ground and try to move the fork legs towards and away from you. If there is free play tighten.
regards adrian

[abhijeetK]

Originally Posted by adrian

Hi abhijeetk
Did you check the drive chain tension ? It is possible for a loose drive chain to make clattering noises. Other things to look for would be to check the tightness of all fasteners and also check for a loose steering cone. For that you have to do the following
1. Keep the bullet in the center stand
2.Face the motorcycle and grab the fork legs
3. Lift the front tires off the ground and try to move the fork legs towards and away from you. If there is free play tighten.
regards adrian

Sir, chain tension is fine and the bike recently got serviced. I brought into notice to the technician with the same. He assured me with tightening of all nuts and bolts and check for any suspension issue. For a week the noise was disappeared (Or I didn't notice) but now its annoying me again.
On royal enfield community I read that the problem is quite common, but nobody has a solution.
Will post if I could rectify it!

[adrian]

Originally Posted by abhijeetK

Sir, chain tension is fine and the bike recently got serviced. I brought into notice to the technician with the same. He assured me with tightening of all nuts and bolts and check for any suspension issue. For a week the noise was disappeared (Or I didn't notice) but now its annoying me again.
On royal enfield community I read that the problem is quite common, but nobody has a solution.
Will post if I could rectify it!

Buddy, please abstain from addressing anyone Sir. We are all friends and are here to help each other out.
As with your problem, if it is the RE ASS that has assured you that he has torqued all the nuts and bolts, I would comment that an elephant flew by me on the highway yesterday. Don't believe the mechanics. Get a decent toolkit and check the fasteners yourself. Ride safe.
regards adrian

[rakesh_r]

Originally Posted by Piyadassi

But haven't classics toured miles and miles? A Team BHPian //M has ridden solo Pune to Rajasthan and with another biker Ranchi to Sikkim (if I recall correctly).

But I must also add, now that I have booked a DS, this is something that is nudging me. Plus do post a picture of the seat when you get it changed.

I will post the pics once i am done with the mod. Though i will post some pics i got from BCM touring.Pics belong to the resp owners.

[gearbox]

I must say my Electra 350 has really comfortable seats, I was torn between the TB and Ele ctra when I was deciding back in June 2013. and I made the right choice, A good friend had booked a C350 and is now regretting doing so. He changed the handlebar on his C350, Got the decal removed from the fuel tank and had the Electra Type RE logo on the tank and so on. He thinks his C350 is fine, but he should have gone for the Electra.

Now coming back to a few upgrades I did to my Electra recently.

Rear Tyre Upgraded
Switched to Semi Synthetic Engine Oil
Exhaust Replaced with a Short Bottle Exhaust
Breather Pipe had conked off, so replaced that.
Restrainer and Engine Oil Drain Cap replaced (Service Center to be blamed here, will explain why)

I already was not happy with RE Service Centers, so I decided to do all the work myself on the bullet.

I replaced the old tyre with a MRF Heavy Duty 19/3.50 (which is probably the only one available)

New


Old



and then was time to clean the air filter, which this guy at a Shell Station helped me do it with air pressure, The area i live here in Bangalore is a mess with too much dust flying around. Cleaning the Air Filter helped the revs better and feels much smoother.

Now I had to find a good SS Oil, went around asking my friends and they suggested using Motul 5100 15W50 SS. I also went asking at Shell and they did not have 15W50 in SS form. But I was keen on using Shell, so I took 10W40 SS and replaced the oil. which is JASO MA 2.



Drained the oil from the engine (I suspect RE never replaced the oil or the filter) There was a sticker on the Oil Filter Cap, which came right off with a little bit of engine oil spilled on it. and I serviced my Electra 4 times at RE, and it never ever came off, nor did it ever get damp from oil.

It poured out like MUD from all the drain plugs...then with some more air pressure from oil filling hole, a lot more oil gushed out.



Now when I saw the drain plug near the Brake footrest, I found out they (RE SC) used some kind of goop to keep it from leaking, when I complained to them each time that oil was dripping.



Also the restrainer did not come out, and I did not know how to take it off too, so I left it there and had the cap on after the old oil had drained off.

Tried the bullet for a few days, gear shift was smoother with new engine oil, but then I called up Mr Nandan and he said "Please use the oil specified in the Manual" so had to run to JC Road to find the Motul 15W50 SS oil, and while I was at it, I thought of replacing the exhaust as well, along with the breather pipe that was damaged. also bought the restrainer.



Here's the new oil and the exhaust.





Now I drained the oil again, removed the restrainer from the engine, replaced the oil filter again, tried to get as much of the oil as possible from the drain plugs. put back everything together....

Here's how the drain plug looked like,



One of the left screwed up by RE, and the new one on the right.

Breather pipe Installed, Old Exhaust removed and new one installed.



After fitting


Overall, the bullet is now super smooth, love the way it behaves on road, in terms of road grip, smooth pickup and smoother shifts...

I now need to clean the drive chain and that should pretty much be good enough and probably can be called a service done

I can't find the video I did after all this was complete, will post it soon here.

Thank You
Arya