Finally I was able to drive ’’Thunderbird’’, the latest offering
from royal-enfield. Should you even think of buying this bike??
Well you must make a list of what you expect from it. Now dont
tell me that you expect this bike to have smoothness of a
Hero-Honda kind 4-stroker. If you dont mind slight vibrations
you are in the right place. 18bhp with a mileage of 40+ is
something intresting. Isn’t it?? Add to that a five-speed gearbox,
with a shifter on the left side, and brakes are on the right side.
But .... The brake linkages have been brought to the left,
and the brake drum is still on the left side. Here comes a lame
excuse from the dealer:: Enfield has done it so that same rear
wheel of Machismo can be used. And look at the rear brake- drum size...
thats a bit small for a bike this big.
Looks :: It gives a very good sitting posture for the rider.
But dont buy if you are short and ur girlfriend/wife is tall.
The seating arrangement will make her look veryyyyyyyy tall.
Looks macho but the engine looks a bit small for the bike of
this size..Finish is acceptable but cant match bajaj eliminator
or CBZ. Neutral and turn indicators are great looking ..Neatly
placed under a semi-transparent acrylic material.
The Drive :: Taking it off the stand is very easy, so is putting
it back. Start is effortless not requiring more than 2 kicks..
Thats great!!! Shift pattern is yamaha like 1 down 4 up!! so no
time has to spent in getting used to it. Put it in 1st and go!!!
wow!! good acceleration super torque.. and u are at 60 even before
u can think of putting in that 5th cog.... handling is good ..
braking is ok if u use both of them simultaneously. Sound is closer
to a A350 Machismo (uses the same engine I suppose!!) than the
traditional bullet. The actual fun is in driving it fast .. and u
dont need to honk.. ppl always make way for a BULLET!!!
Recommendation:: Buy it if u dont mind slightly raw and unrefined
bike. Brakes on the right side have made the traditional hassle
of adapting to a bullet vanish. Power and torque is great, coupled
with the mileage of 40 we got for a 120km drive. The price in bangalore
for a non-disc brake version is 73K on road. (Thats much cheaper than
eliminator!!). disc brake version is another 4-5K more expensive,
but is highly recommended if u dont mind spending a few more
thousands.