[xydon]

Originally Posted by ArizonaJim

For a 10 day vacation there should be nothing special for you to do.

Awesome!!!

Originally Posted by ArizonaJim

I might suggest that you store your new motorcycle in a safe place where it cannot be seen.

Sure. I already told my watchman not to sleep for the next 10 days lol.

Thanks so much Jim.

[Visaster]

Ok here I am still not sure of owning the 500. Booked more than a year back. Dealer is behind my back to take the delivery. I am still confused between the 350 and the 500 and the thunderbird.
Why do they give so many options and confuse us. If only I could own one of all these :-).
Just few questions to clear my doubts.
350/500 (I am for the 500)
Love the thunderbird seat and the height and the new LED lights.
Can i get them on my classic 500?

Please don't bash my idea. Its what I want on my bike.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by Visaster

Booked more than a year back. Dealer is behind my back to take the delivery.

He, he, you must be the first to be in this situation, usually it's the customers who are behind the RE dealers for delivery!

Originally Posted by Visaster

I am still confused between the 350 and the 500 and the thunderbird.

If you change your booking now, won't the waiting period start again? Do let us know what you decide on and how you arrived at that decision; I have a friend who's confused about the 350/500 as well.

Originally Posted by Visaster

Love the thunderbird seat and the height and the new LED lights. Can i get them on my classic 500?

Well, I recently enquired about changing the the seat on my 2007 Thunderbird to the new TB seat, or even the older TB Twinspark seat. But even the older Twinspark seat was not a direct fit on the 2007 TB, it would require a base plate change and some more fitting and cutting. So, I'm guessing that a TB seat on the new Classic would involve a considerable amount of changes, but I guess it can be done at one of the 'seat-repair' type shop/garages. Also, since the TB seats aid a more 'lean back' type of riding posture, you may need to change/adjust the Classic handlebar too to suit that posture. (Too much work, IMHO.)

[Visaster]

Well I had already changed from electra to the classic 350. Now from the 350 to the 500. The guy finally after more than a year said just name the bike and we will give it to you, but still I am not able to name it. I even bought the riding gears from him a year back. Time flies.
Anyways I inquired and they said it is just not possible to get the LED lights and stuff on to the classic model.
The backrest and LED on TB is so sweet
Only option is to make the seat in an outside shop and wait for a work around till spares are available to fix this and that here and there.

New question: Will a seat plate directly on the classic without the spring increase the strain on your back or improve the horse like ride quality present.

[Insearch]

Help!

I own a new Thunderbird 500 and had gone to the workshop for a minor speedo malfunction. Met an RE enthusiast who is also an RE employee. He sounded pretty passionate and had a beautiful bike to show for it. In fact he had the RE emblem tattoed on his body!
Well so much for the background, the thing is that he informed me that the new Thunderbird (especially) and Classic (to some extent) with Aluminium engines find it difficult to do the Manali Leh stretch while the old cast iron engines do it comfortably. He mentioned that the rear wheel of the Bird starts slipping/spinning and in general it lacks the torque to carry all that weight. It is more of a cruiser and less of a climber :(. Now I bought the bike mainly for a Ladakh ride and will seriously consider disposing off and getting an older model if this is verified to be true.
His advice was to go on the Machismo 500 or even a 350cc older version (cast iron)
Hence posting a couple of questions:
Any Classic owners here been to Ladakh? Please share your experience. Even better if you had some one on an older model along with you, and how did those perform?

Looking forward to answers from experienced riders.
Regards.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by Insearch

...he informed me that the new Thunderbird (especially) and Classic (to some extent) with Aluminium engines find it difficult to do the Manali Leh stretch while the old cast iron engines do it comfortably...

Before you get a deluge of answers from Classic owners who have done Ladakh on their bikes I remember hearing similar stories about the AVL engines (the engine type RE used after the Cast Iron and before the present UCE) bikes not being 'up to the mark' and 'inferior' to the CI engined bikes and similar tales of the 'new' bikes not being able to do this and that.

So, while I'm not a fan of RE in general, I'd still say these stories are a natural resistance to change more than anything else. (PS: I have an AVL engined Thunderbird and she did Ladakh just fine, as well as several other trips. My buddy owns a Classic 500 and we did some climbing roads in Arunachal last year, without any issues; though the climbs in Ladakh are admittedly more difficult.)

I'll leave the debate about which engine type is 'better' to those more qualified and so inclined, but several different bikes in several different combinations/configurations have done Ladakh and back, several of them being far less suited to that sort of ride than the Bullets.

So, I'd say don't worry about the bike making it (unless you got a lemon delivered to you, or unless you're pretty careless about maintaining your bike!), focus on planning the trip and doing some riding kilometers on the new bike. Issues with climbing (if there any at all!) will become apparent on those practice rides.

Have fun man, new bike, planning a Ladakh ride, it's the best time!

[JEHU]

After much wait for the ELECTRA 500, I got a mail from jrajkumar@royalenfield.com as this.


Dear XXXX,

We do not have any plans for launching the same in India. But there are chances that the Bullet 500 might be made available sometime during this year, it will be announced through the official medium which is our company website.

Regards,
Rajkumar

While it was the same official website that boldly announced the availability of BULLET 500 ELECTRA EFI and DELUXE that turned into a non-starter, RE wants people to wait again for some news about BULLET 500 to leak through this!

[amolpol]

Originally Posted by Insearch

Help!

Looking forward to answers from experienced riders.
Regards.

Don't worry about it! There is absolutely no issue in making a TB500 climb even the most treacherous slopes in Ladakh. The terrain is mostly conquered with your mind rather than the bike you ride, how on earth would people be making it to Leh on HH Splendors otherwise.

Having said that, always remember, the enfields are not the most powerful or the fastest bikes available on earth. There will be times where you'd be on full throttle in first gear and the bike will be just inching up the slope, take it easy and don't give up, you'll get there!

Enjoy the ride to the mountains and always gear up.

[hexanerax]

Originally Posted by Insearch

Help!

I own a new Thunderbird 500 and had gone to the workshop for a minor speedo malfunction. Met an RE enthusiast who is also an RE employee. He sounded pretty passionate and had a beautiful bike to show for it. In fact he had the RE emblem tattoed on his body!
Well so much for the background, the thing is that he informed me that the new Thunderbird (especially) and Classic (to some extent) with Aluminium engines find it difficult to do the Manali Leh stretch while the old cast iron engines do it comfortably. He mentioned that the rear wheel of the Bird starts slipping/spinning and in general it lacks the torque to carry all that weight. It is more of a cruiser and less of a climber :(. Now I bought the bike mainly for a Ladakh ride and will seriously consider disposing off and getting an older model if this is verified to be true.
His advice was to go on the Machismo 500 or even a 350cc older version (cast iron)
Hence posting a couple of questions:
Any Classic owners here been to Ladakh? Please share your experience. Even better if you had some one on an older model along with you, and how did those perform?

Looking forward to answers from experienced riders.
Regards.

A nice load of BS . Even going by the paper, the 500 CC EFI engines have more power and torque than the old CI engines. The GVW of the T-Bird 500 is nearly the same as the old CI models.
Having done 2 trips to LEH on my 2011 Classic 500, Doubles both times with a full luggage load and having spent half a day fixing a CI 350 with a leaking head gasket on trip 1 and having towed a CI 350 from Sundernagar to Mandi(uphill) using the same bike on Trip 2, i have no doubts as to which bike is more suited. We had to wade into slush to push 3 350 cc bikes out through Rohtang.
The old CI engines quote very optimistic power figures and in the thin air of Ladakh, their power is reduced to single digit values. The EFI 500s also will show reduced power but given that the ECU compensates for lower air pressure (that a Carb cannot do without rejetting) they tend to perform better.
MY C5 did Kardungla two up without needing to go to First gear except on the icy patches. It returned an overall fuel efficiency of 29 KM/L and had absolutely no problem even in the slushpits of the Rohtang Pass. My take on this-take your TB 500. The old CI engines cannot hold a candle to the new ones as far as power or torque are concerned.
The larger section rear tire and the Rear disk brake will go a long way in ensuring good traction and safe stopping. The beefed up swingarm and forks will give you better traction and less flex over the rough roads.
The Machismo 500 was a good bike but Trading your TB for one of those-Not recommended. Tire slippage is more an effect of how you modulate the clutch and throttle and any seasoned rider will tell you that A bike with more power / torque will need proper modulation. So if someone had a lot of wheelspin on the mud road , it speaks volumes about his riding skills.
PM me for more details.

Regards
Naren

PS : I have a C5, Machismo 350 A, CI 350, TB 350 , Electra 5S and have ridden my brothers L535( Now converted to a Track ready Fireball, Probably one of India's most powerful Bullets) all over India and would choose the L535, TB 350 and the C5 for any long distance trip over the CI engined bikes.

[Insearch]

Originally Posted by hexanerax

A nice load of BS . Even going by the paper, the 500 CC EFI engines have more power and torque than the old CI engines.

PM me for more details.

Regards
Naren

Lovely Comments! Music to my ears!

Thanks for the insight and wisdom. I will PM you for help with a route plan.
Regards.

[sivadeep]

hexanerax,
Wondering about the collection/line-up C5, Machismo 350 A, CI 350, TB 350 , Electra 5S etc., It's an Army, is there a place were we can find your travelogue?

Visaster, Go for TB500 as soon as possible !!! RE might launch Cafe Racer by then to add it to your confusion

[enfield_500]

Guys, how good are the 3M products? I was mostly curious about the 3M™ Petrol Tank Additive. How important is it to use such additives, and which brands do you guys recommend for the Classic 500?

[ArizonaJim]

Enfield 500:
I haven't used the 3M™ Petrol Tank Additive but I well say that 3M is a very large company noted for its above average products.

In looking at the advertizing descriptions of this product they make reference to cleaning valves and combustion chambers.
IMO, if the engine is a 4 cycle engine there is not much to be gained by cleaning the valves.
The ad's also say it cleans the combustion chamber and that could be a good thing if the 4 cycle engine has a poorly adjusted fuel/air mixture. With the fuel injected engines, unless the air filter is blocked this is highly unlikely.
Carbureted engines can have the incorrect jets installed so the likelihood of a carbon buildup is greater but IMO unless the engine is pinking (knocking) during acceleration this shouldn't be a major concern.

There is also mentions of cleaning gum and carbon deposits in fuel injectors.
IMO, because the fuel injector is thermally isolated from the heat of the engines cylinder head by the rubber inlet manifold, carbon buildup is seldom a problem.

High detergent additives that are made to be added to the fuel can be helpful and they do have their place in good engine maintenance but they are not needed all the time.

If someone is riding their motorcycle and they notice it is running erratically or stumbling during acceleration there can be a number of reasons.
Fouled or worn spark plugs and plugged air filters are probably the most common but a partially plugged fuel injector or jet in a carburetor can also produce these symptoms.

This plugging can be caused by using poor grades of petrol which can deposit gums in the small nozzles or jets and the detergent in the product can remove these and restore the normal power the engine was designed to produce.

At one time I owned a BMW K-75, one of the first production motorcycles that used computer controlled fuel injection.
It was very reliable until I decided to save a few cents per gallon of fuel by buying my fuel at low cost service stations.
After a year of using this cheap fuel the bike had problems starting and "dead" spots when the throttle was opened rapidly. (Normally, it's 75 horsepower would accelerate the bike very rapidly .)

I didn't use the 3M product but I did add some Chevron Techroline to the fuel and within 50 miles of riding the old power returned and it once again started easily.

I guess the reason I mention this is if your motorcycle is having problems then consider using a good brand name of fuel injection/carburetor cleaner.

Using a small quantity maybe every 4th tank of fuel might head off a problem too but don't use something like this in every tankfull of petrol.

[enfield_500]

Thanks, Jim! Your response makes it completely clear for me.

[Infiniti.Rahul]

Hi guys,

Writing in for some much needed help. I am 34, salaried guy, planning to get into the world of RE, doing leisure biking on the weekends. I have never rode a bullet before, The key decision criteria for me this time around are: Stylish looks of the bike and comfort.

I am thoroughly confused over Tbird 500 and Classic Desert Storm/ electric Blue. They are all 500 Cc but I am unable to decide on which one ' looks' more stylish, more attractive. I guess it has to be between these three bikes. Can someone guide me on how to go about deciding? What parameters?

Most thankful to all for their inputs.

Cheers

Rahul