I’m a regular reader of MS, this is my 2nd review on a bike, well known as ROYAL ENFIELD THUNDERBIRD TWINSPARK (some people don’t like to call it a bike, its a BULLET).....previously I owned a legendary Hero Honda karizma R. After using it 2 n half years with a great smile once I get chance to test drive my fnds Thunderbird AVL and at 1st sight I fell in love with this beast. I had soft corner for RE bikes, but due to my weight of 60 to 65 kg I never dare to think of buying RE bullets. But after using karizma for 2.1/2 yrs and also gained some weight, I want to change my taste,
despite of lots of option like ZMR (nothing special), R15 2.0 (far better than 1st version and best sports bike, many can afford), CBR 250r (really a awesome bike, sports tourer, value for money), I ignore all these bikes on the basic of the blind passion, love towards ROYAL ENFIELD and among the RE electra ts, classic 350, Thunderbird twinspark, I chose TBTS for its modern looks and road presence, when I started enquiry about TBTS, I came to know that Royal Enfield bikes needs delivery time of 3-4 months. I think its ok.
I dont need bike urgently....lets book it. So I called to Royal Motors, Bhubaneswar, Orissa. They said me that U have to book TBTS with deposit of 1000/- and bike will be delivered more or less within 2 months. Then I called to Sri Hanuman Motors, Cuttack and owner of Hanuman Motors Mr. Mishra (My personal feeling he is a nice person and a perfect man who understands the passion of RE fans, talks less and works lot) said me the same thing that u have to wait 2-3 month. I just casually forced to Mr. Mishra, could u give me the bike on the occasion of Dewali, on my birthday, ie within 15 days. He said ok I will try my best, I said ok I will book tomorrow, but he said no, u have to book today. That time I was not 100% sure for buying RE TBTS for various reasons. But I think booking amount is only 1k and waiting period almost 2-3 months, lets book 1st. On the same day I booked red colour tbts by depositing Rs. 1050/- on Hanuman Motors Ac. that was 11.10.2011 and my desired delivery date was 26.10.2011 (deewali ie my birth day), I was 99% sure I cannt get a RE within 15days. After 2-3 day I remind Mr. Mishra about my bike, he said I m trying, dont worry. Again on 21.10.2011 I formally called to Mr. Mishara and asked what happen, he said one silver color tbts is availble, the guy who booked it, not ready to pick it up, if u want red u have to wait 15-20 days.
Then I called my friends and show the silver colour on net. They said its better than red and also I had no other option and being a librian, I know silver colour suits me. So we 3-4 fnds started our journey to show room, time was 4 pm, and showroom is 100 kms away from my native place and also I dont know the exact address of show room, so finally with help of MAP MY INDIA NAVIGATION, we reached showroom at 7pm and after finishing all formalities get delivered at 9 p.m. When I 1st ride it, super refined engine of karizma to RE Thunderbird Engine, I feel I m riding a tractor. Then show room guy said me, its natural sound of RE bullets and U will get used to it and it will be smother day-by-day. Then me and one of friend started out journey with the new beast, all of a sudden rain came (my friend said its a auspious sign, I reply with maa behan gali, even I like to ride in rain but not in winter with rain), I feel welcome to royal enfield family, be a man and face all huddles as many as u can. Then after 10 km I fill up my tank and get a huge problem, I m unable to close tank cap, it is so hard, after 10 mins finally able to solve it.
Then Journey resume, all of a sudden I feel headlight is not aligned properly, the high beam is focusing on trees and low beam disturbing other vehicles, then on the way correct it manually by the help of tool kits, very easy, but opening the side panel and again close it, is a real pain for new user, because RE India is not up-to-date with their quality.
At last, with these little huddles we reach at 11 pm. Then I noticed petrol leaking from my oil knob. I had not noticed it due to rain. So on the next day I called to showroom, they said it will be fixed at the time of servicing, so I go to local mechanic and fixed it with mseal, thinking that ROYAL I’m a regular reader of ms, this is my 2nd review on a bike, well known as royal enfield thunderbird twinspark (some people don’t like to call it a bike, its a bullet).....previously i owned a legendary hero honda karizma r. After using it 2 n half years with a great smile once i get chance to test drive my fnds thunderbird avl and at 1st sight i fell in love with this beast. I had soft corner for re bikes, but due to my weight of 60 to 65 kg i never dare to think of buying re bullets. But after using karizma for 2.1/2 yrs and also gained some weight, i want to change my taste,
Despite of lots of option like zmr (nothing special), r15 2.0 (far better than 1st version and best sports bike, many can afford), cbr 250r (really a awesome bike, sports tourer, value for money), i ignore all these bikes on the basic of the blind passion, love towards royal enfield and among the re electra ts, classic 350, thunderbird twinspark, i chose tbts for its modern looks and road presence, when i started enquiry about tbts, i came to know that royal enfield bikes needs delivery time of 3-4 months. I think its ok.
I dont need bike urgently....lets book it. So i called to royal motors, bhubaneswar, orissa. They said me that u have to book tbts with deposit of 1000/- and bike will be delivered more or less within 2 months. Then i called to sri hanuman motors, cuttack and owner of hanuman motors mr. Mishra (my personal feeling he is a nice person and a perfect man who understands the passion of re fans, talks less and works lot) said me the same thing that u have to wait 2-3 month. I just casually forced to mr. Mishra, could u give me the bike on the occasion of dewali, on my birthday, ie within 15 days. He said ok i will try my best, i said ok i will book tomorrow, but he said no, u have to book today. That time i was not 100% sure for buying re tbts for various reasons. But i think booking amount is only 1k and waiting period almost 2-3 months, lets book 1st. On the same day i booked red colour tbts by depositing rs. 1050/- on hanuman motors ac. That was 11.10.2011 and my desired delivery date was 26.10.2011 (deewali ie my birth day), i was 99% sure i cannt get a re within 15days. After 2-3 day i remind mr. Mishra about my bike, he said i m trying, dont worry. Again on 21.10.2011 i formally called to mr. Mishara and asked what happen, he said one silver color tbts is availble, the guy who booked it, not ready to pick it up, if u want red u have to wait 15-20 days.
Then i called my friends and show the silver colour on net. They said its better than red and also i had no other option and being a librian, i know silver colour suits me. So we 3-4 fnds started our journey to show room, time was 4 pm, and showroom is 100 kms away from my native place and also i dont know the exact address of show room, so finally with help of map my india navigation, we reached showroom at 7pm and after finishing all formalities get delivered at 9 p.m. When i 1st ride it, super refined engine of karizma to re thunderbird engine, i feel i m riding a tractor. Then show room guy said me, its natural sound of re bullets and u will get used to it and it will be smother day-by-day. Then me and one of friend started out journey with the new beast, all of a sudden rain came (my friend said its a auspious sign, i reply with maa behan gali, even i like to ride in rain but not in winter with rain), i feel welcome to royal enfield family, be a man and face all huddles as many as u can. Then after 10 km i fill up my tank and get a huge problem, i m unable to close tank cap, it is so hard, after 10 mins finally able to solve it.
Then journey resume, all of a sudden i feel headlight is not aligned properly, the high beam is focusing on trees and low beam disturbing other vehicles, then on the way correct it manually by the help of tool kits, very easy, but opening the side panel and again close it, is a real pain for new user, because re india is not up-to-date with their quality.
At last, with these little huddles we reach at 11 pm. Then i noticed petrol leaking from my oil knob. I had not noticed it due to rain. So on the next day i called to showroom, they said it will be fixed at the time of servicing, so i go to local mechanic and fixed it with mseal, thinking that royal enfields loves to spend leisure hours with mechanics.
Then i carryon with my dream machine. My previous bike were starting from father’s lml vespa (class of its own), brother’s yamaha rx 135 (zigzag zoom), my crux-r (value of money), pulsar 150 classic (definitely male), karizma r (jet set go) and now re tbts (leave home), among all these bikes, the seating comfort and riding comfort is best on tbts and road presence is so far better than any other indian bikes. I had done 250+ kms within 1 day and 200+ kms journey 2-3 times, but no back pain, no riding tiredness etc. It is a 185 kg beast and holds the road and ignore all hurdles under the tyre. I had rode this with in 60-70 km speed as i m in painful running in period.
But if u r a commuter and wants to use this bike for daily city ride, its not a good option, this beast shows its stamina, power after 20-30 km, when engine heats up and when it is on the nh you will feel this machine wants to go on and on and hates break, that’s why this the best cruiser bike with 1.2 lakh on-road price. If you can afford then go for harley davidson cruiser bikes starting from 5.5 lakh. It is a bike mixed with cruiser and chopper and also mixed with old and new technology, same like any other bike it has left gear shift, right side break, self start, front disk break, self start etc and apart from that its re’s latest uce engine and requires less maintenance than cast iron old bullet engines and avl engines. Although there is no thump like cast iron engine (duk duk duk duk), re has reduced it for new emission norms euro 4. I had fitted a custom silence for little bit more sound and also want to change its handlebar with electra or rd (not sure). Old enfields can cruse with 20-30km speed with 4th gear, due to heavy crank and separated engine structure and also for caste iron engine. But tbts is a modern tech bike and not recommended with low speed in high gear.
I had already finished 1st service and day by day may love is increasing for this royal beast, i want to ride it without any destination and so far i had planned 2-3 long tours. Waiting for finshing of run in period which is 3k kms. Currently i m getting 40km/ltr mileage and happy that more fuel efficiency than my previous karizma.
This is not a technical review, its a story how i own tbts and my experience so far.
As u can find all specification about this bike on https://royalenfield.com
update on 10/01/12:- hi guys, thanks for valuable comments and advice, recently i finished 2nd free servicing and i am enjoying this royal bull more than before. One thing i come to know from various re users that, the engine will be smother day by day and after 10, 000 kms, it will be a charm machine. I am also hoping so and want to finish 10k kms as soon as possible, good news for all royal fans that at delhi expo. Royal enfield has revealed new thunderbird 500 cc. Mouth watering looks and specification and a perfect machine for long tour.
Continued............
ENFIELD LOVES to spend leisure hours with mechanics.
Then I carryon with my dream machine. My previous bike were starting from father’s LML Vespa (class of its own), brother’s yamaha rx 135 (zigzag zoom), my Crux-R (value of money), Pulsar 150 classic (definitely male), Karizma R (jet set go) and now RE TBTS (leave home), Among all these bikes, the seating comfort and riding comfort is best on TBTS and road presence is so far better than any other indian bikes. I had done 250+ kms within 1 day and 200+ kms journey 2-3 times, but no back pain, no riding tiredness etc. It is a 185 kg beast and holds the road and ignore all hurdles under the Tyre. I had rode this with in 60-70 km speed as I m in painful running in period.
But if u r a commuter and wants to use this bike for daily city ride, its not a good option, this beast shows its stamina, power after 20-30 km, when engine heats up and when it is on the NH You will feel this machine wants to go on and on and hates break, thats why this the best cruiser bike with 1.2 lakh onroad price. If u can afford then go for Harley Davidson crusier bikes starting from 5.5 lakh. It is a bike mixed with cruiser and chopper and also mixed with old and new technology, same like any other bike it has left gear shift, right side break, self start, front disk break, self start etc and apart from that its RE’s latest UCE engine and requires less maintenance than Cast Iron Old bullet engines and AVL engines. Altough there is no thump like Cast Iron engine (duk duk duk duk), RE has reduced it for new emission norms euro 4. I had fitted a custom silence for littlebit more sound and also want to change its handlebar with Electra or RD (not sure). Old Enfields can cruse with 20-30km speed with 4th gear, due to heavy crank and separated engine structure and also for caste iron engine. but TBTS is a modern tech bike and not recommended with low speed in high gear.
I had already finished 1st service and daybyday may love is increasing for this Royal Beast, I want to ride it without any destination and so far I had planned 2-3 long tours. waiting for finshing of run in period which is 3k kms. Currently I m getting 40km/ltr mileage and happy that more fuel efficiency than my previous karizma.
This is not a technical review, its a story how I own tbts and my experience so far.
As u can find all specification about this bike on https://royalenfield.com
Update on 10/01/12:- Hi guys, thanks for valuable comments and advice, recently I finished 2nd free servicing and I am enjoying this royal bull more than before. One thing I come to know from various RE users that, the engine will be smother day by day and after 10, 000 kms, it will be a charm machine. I am also hoping so and want to finish 10k kms as soon as possible, Good news for all royal fans that at delhi expo. royal enfield has revealed new THUNDERBIRD 500 cc. Mouth watering looks and specification and a perfect machine for long tour.
Continued............