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2021 Royal Enfield Classic 350 BS6: 2,000 km ownership review

10th November 2021, 16:30 by Rahul Nagaraj

I loaned a Honda Unicorn and quickly picked up the basic skills of riding a motorcycle before the arrival of my Classic 350.

BHPian ramakashyap1999 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

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I have been a pillion rider on a lot of bikes, from my first ever bike being the 2009 Bajaj Pulsar 200 to the 2010 Royal Enfield Classic 500 to the 2013 Harley Davidson Iron 883 and ending the forever pillion rider journey on the 2016 Hyosung Aquila 650; but this Enfield is the first bike I myself have ever owned, and rode extensively for now.
I am currently 22 years old and a student, and besides being an admirer of bikes and slightly familiar with technical terms; I am still not too well versed with technical terminologies/workarounds, so kindly forgive my ignorance in certain matters.

Personally, I had parted ways with my Dad in the Spring of 2015; and with him had left his Harley as well, my mother had gifted me a Vespa LX125 in yellow and he had ruined riding the Vespa to the extent of just selling it off. When the bike had parted I had promised to myself that I will gift myself a bike when I consider myself ready to face this world, and ever since my savings fund had opened up for the bike.

Fast forward to March of 2021:

In my third year of college, and my mother slowly seeing through the sunset of her life, she one day asked me what's the current market for 2 wheelers, and I was like the TVS Luna costs roughly 37-38,000 on road in Guwahati; and she was dumbfounded and observed a minute of silence.

Next question from her: You have ridden scooters, why do you want to not grow up? Why don't you consider a bike for yourself because I can't hobble around taking you to places, or making you rely on public transport because I know how tiring it is, and by selling paintings and photographs online (online = Reddit and discord) you have made around 2 lacs in savings?

My answer: Sure, let me look for how much hero glamour or the honda unicorn is.

Mom: slightly raising her voice to get my serious attention: How much do Enfields cost?

Me: I don't know, maybe around 1.5-1.7 lacs.

Mom: Alright cool, keep looking out for bikes in that price range; but son- no KTMs.

Meanwhile, one of my school friends owned a Jawa 42, and I had a lot of love for the Jawas, especially the looks, and his phone call convinced me enough to not pick up a Jawa. Then I looked for the Benelli Imperiale 400 and not seeing too many on the road along with somewhat questionable service costs, I decided to chuck that out as well. Pillion comfort mattered to me because my mother would definitely go out on rides with me so the Dominar 400 was ruled out as well. So, Enfield, it was.

The next day in the gym, I meet up with my friend who's another automotive junkie and his current fleet is a Kia Seltos GT and a Jeep Compass S after selling off his Audi A4, and I casually tell him that my mom wants to get me an Enfield, do you have any leads? He was like, he's got acquaintances in Chirag Enfield, and he immediately gives a call to the owner who apparently was his school or college mate, and so I have made it final that I will get an Enfield (look at me, I don't even know till then how to ride a motorbike).

After returning to the gym, on 10th March- both I and mom visit the Chirag Enfield dealership to check out the Bullet ES and were surprised to see the number of Classics and Himalayans, the sales executive was like "go for the classic than the bullet, because given your stature (context- I am 5'9, weighing close to 98 then), the bullet's rear tyre is somewhat thin and the braking is somewhat iffy (again, I am believing him cause I really have not ridden a bike), and my mom too really really liked how the classic looked. When he started showing the colour schemes and paused on the chestnut red- both me and mom stopped then and there, and immediately booked the Classic in Chestnut Red. Estimated delivery time, a month and given my mom being an astrologer; she chose April 16th as the date because it was the new year in the Assamese calendar; Bohag Bihu as we call it. Everything was settled and the price then came to a precise Rs 1,94,000/- including a small discount as well as the crash guard. Meanwhile, I would loan a Honda Unicorn from one of the residents of my apartment building and quickly picked up the basic skills of riding the motorbike. And slowly I was realising the sheer thrill, the unspoken bliss motorcyclists go through which made me crave and lust for the Classic even further. Plus, the ever-present emotional thump, the poster boy road-tripping image of the royal Enfield was printed in bold inside me.

Skipping a few niggles, occasional stalling and a price hike (mine was not affected though) later, finally, my bike was ready for delivery- the bike which was meant for me had some manufacturing niggles and they asked me to wait for another week. I had waited for a month and 16 days additionally and was quite emotional, and then called my friend from the gym. Magically a perfect Classic 350 in Chestnut Red was ready, and so my bike was delivered- had 23 km on the odometer, MRF Nylogrip tyres, but there was two minor niggles- the Enfield sticker on the right side of the tank was very minutely scratched and the check light unit (engine light, fuel and ABS check) was misaligned; but besides that everything was good. Paid off in cash, and my learner's licence on the way, I had tears in my eyes, when I rode back the Classic to home (not long, but roughly 200-300 metres from where my friend dropped me off) and had the puja done as well. Probably had one of my most peaceful nights, and the next day I and my mother went to the temple nearby, had another puja done and the bike was parked alongside my Mom's Micra (her first car) and what a beautiful picture it was- both of our lives' first vehicles.

My smile disappeared the next day when I crashed head on my Enfield against a Police Gypsy, which resulted in some MAJOR repair costs borne by me for the Gypsy- where my takeaway was, to use rear brake along with the front brake; and Enfields are actually built to last you a lifetime.

Chirag Enfield workshop did a slow yet fantastic job of repairing the bike which took time from the last week of April to the second week of June (because of a lockdown), and now my experience will resume from the day I got my bike from the workshop to the time I now write my post.

Heat Dissipation: I was stunned as to how good the heat dissipation was in the BS6 engine of the Classic- like, despite being air-cooled and notoriously RE (gotta admit RE is a very polarising brand in the country even now). I have ridden it wearing everything- from a very careless slipper-short combo for a quick Bazar errand, to a proper boot trouser layout for solo rides to and fro; despite Guwahati's infamous humid heat, the engine did keep its cool.
Rider comfort: This keeps short; in my humble observation- I don't regret buying the Classic for it's genuinely one of the most comfortable bikes I have sat on; front's got enough plushness for me to just you know, putter around and the pillion seat is enough to take care of my mom's hip comfort as well. The suspension does a good job of taking on what lies ahead, from small medium potholes to worn out yet high-speed breakers, to iffy roads- handles pretty good.
Mileage: The bike so far has gone through two servicings so far, and I am getting an average of 32.76 in city riding. I use an app called Fuelio to keep a track of fuel expenses and so far, the lowest it has dropped to is 29 points something while the former number is the highest it has returned.
Stability & Handling: The bike's heavy? yes. Is the bike nimble ? not in my opinion. Being near 200 kgs, been through a few twisties and some trivially sharp corners, the bike once again in my opinion holds its line well and doesn't let me know it's heavy, and the only time it does is if I am counting the sparrows at a traffic stop or if I am trying to turn around my bike through some tight parking spots.
Mechanics: Forgive my ignorance if I misinterpret something here, but to me the gearing is appropriate, and especially the low to mid-range is stupendous- I can easily move around the city sticking at 2nd to 3rd without too many shifts, and both the box and the clutch do not feel hard or laid back or like, something could have been fixed.

Now, the downsides:

The lack of a fuel gauge - RE should have definitely brought through the new instrument cluster that they currently have on the Classic reborn in the BS6 update, so that continuity could be felt. Or at least, give us the fuel gauge in that tiny round unit, while one could fit in the engine check light and the ABS check at either of the two empty boxes inside the previous odo and speedo only instrument cluster.
The vibrations - Usually, in my opinion, it's the vibrations that make me feel more connected to the machine, and make the experience even more livid; but it does become a bit damp when the vibes could be felt through the mirrors as well but yes, compared to the BS4 and BS3 Classics, it's significantly lesser- and I verified it from another school friend of mine, whose father has a BS3 classic and his face was gleaming when he rode mine.
The braking - nothing to write home about, but could have been a wee bit sharper.

In a nutshell, seeing the Honda H'ness 350 or the new Classic Reborn doing so good in the market, do I have buyer's remorse? Oh hell no. What I have in my garage, is a ride bought with my own blood and sweat, a ride that I bought by staying sober (it's been two years since I have stopped being an alcoholic along with other vices like smoking), it's a ride that truly and wholeheartedly makes me feel like a biker, gives me therapy and makes me smile every single time I kickstart it up. It's been a beautiful 2000 kilometres so far, and I wouldn't trade anything for it.

A very funny encounter - my mom and I were heading out somewhere, and she saw the Interceptor 650 in the orange and was like, "oh damn, what is this magnificent beauty", I replied, "maa, it's the Interceptor 650- it's got the zoomies, and it's one of my dream bikes."

"how much does it cost?"

"around Rs 3.15 lacs on road."

"I could have given you a lakh more to get yourself that?"

"YOU ARE TELLING ME THAT, NOW?!"

These things like my love for watches are like an addiction, once it bites you, it doesn't go off. Here's to me adding more alongside the Classic.

Also, have named the ride "Buell" (Red Dead Redemption 2 fans will definitely know).

Also a few pictures of Buell: