I purchased Royal enfield 350 cc classic in 2011 & sold out the fat lady just two days back on 23rd March 2016, after tolerating it for over 5 years. I don’t like to write much so here are some of my memorable experiences:
Bad Points first: -
Booked the Byke on June 2010 - Got it delivered on Jan 2011 . after 7 Months waiting!. 2 months more and a baby could have got delivered .lolz. Now day’s RE delivers your baby faster . within 2 - 3 months.
Byke delivered with a small dent on exhaust pipe and a cheap key ring as goodie. I accepted it.
Right from the 3rd month I felt the byke rear tyre wobbles, especially during turns at higher speed. Royal enfield’s Royal engineers never acknowledged it till my all free services expired.I kept on adjusting my driving with byke . which actually enhanced my driving skills. so almost after 2 years I got my byke’s wheel aligned by spending almost Rs 700. This continued at least once a year till I sold my byke.
4. Speedometer cable broke 17 times+ Speedometer only once
Byke engine head got detected with a hair line crack on inside & I had to replace it by Shredding Rs 12000 /- "Only".
Royal enfield provide poor quality of spare parts.
Beyond 80 KMPL the byke looses its cool & vibrates like hell. 70 - 80 KMPL is the sweet range.
You need to maintain the byke more than your wife . mark my words. The Body catches rust very easily, the electric cabling work is very very . very shoddy. RE uses duct tape in pales under headlight to bundle cable! .can you believe that?!
Gears are not at all smooth, and will get stuck frequently. The pickup is sluggish post 80KMPL . it’s tough.
Electric start will conq off with in an year of your purchase even for the 500cc ones. The problem is the electric startup kit quality that RE provides.
Its made unnecessarily heavy. although it didn’t mattered much for me. The rear view mirror vibrates along with front fork.
Good points:-
The Byke is an eye candy . usually you will notice onlookers on road. We Indian(including myself) feel proud about owning one. I don’t know WHY? . as I said eye Candy
If all parts of the byke works fine, the ride is Rock stable. but that doesn’t happen.
Every mechanic in the world can repair your byke. including yourself. No complex chip controlled stuff at least for Classic 350, Electra & TB.( For 500 cc ones Fuel injection is a challenge). It’s a very mechanical byke. all nuts and bolts.
Resale value is good. I sold it at Rs 70k after 5 yrs. You won’t get this kind of return on any other byke.
RE is surviving in India because of zero competition in this segment. just wait till some other company comes up to compete. People are ready to pay more. but still don’t get the quality . RE doesn’t care about its fan followers expectations.
Buy a bullet only if you are passionate about Cruising long traffic free distances . its NOT at all a City byke. its not a pick up byke.