I am an often visitor for MouthShut, but this is my first review.
I bought Thunderbird on June 2004 for my birthday. I bought this bike with my one year savings(so my first bought own property:-).
I have ride this bike for more than 3 years so think this is the right time to give some review on it.
Let me start with the positive things(To be optimistic)
1.) **Driving comfort:** The riding position is great so gives a good comfort for long drivers(A good feature about cruisers)
2.) **Stability:** The stability or road grip is great. The normal driving speed is 90Kmph at 3500 rpm(I would state this as a comfort zone for TB. There is absolutely no jerks or wobbling at this speed as per my experience)
3.) **Looks and Style:** It is definitely a head turner. Good looks and styling
4.) **Sound:** Very mild sound. Most of the people living in colonies / Apartments don’t like noise makers. This bike has a very good exhaust and the sound is very smooth. Its sound doesn’t resembles the std Bullet but still I cant consider that as a drawback.
5.) **Pick-up:** Awesome! While standing in the signal, the 2 stroke guys take a look at the TB and think that as a lazy bull. But once the green signal is On, Voooom…. and gone the bird leaving the rabbits behind.
Now coming to negatives
1.) **Driving comfort:** Not good to handle is traffic. That too when the traffic moves at 10 Kmph, its really a pain in the leg and hip(of course neck J).
2.) **Stability:** Not very stable when the opposing wing is high. Because of the flat front head light, a small amount of riding skill is required to control this bird on high winds.
3.) **Looks and Style:** Poor Nickel coating and paint jobs. Sad to see some rust forming within 4 years(that too in a non coastal area.). The rear mud guard support frame(Don’t know the technical name) cracks due to design flaw.
4.) **Maintenance:** Not costly but requires constant maintenance. The oil seals are not good and constant wax coating is required the keep the paint and nickel coating is good condition.
**Over all comments**
**Each machine Is made for a specific mission.** TB does its job well for what it is done. Very good for long drivers(but never forget to take a pair of spare clutch wires). Adding a windshield or a front visor, the TB may be very stable at high winds too.(I have not tried it yet)