What a Royal surprise!

I've been contemplating buying a bike off late.

A few days back I visited the Royal Enfield showroom at Ambawadi, Ahmedabad. Wasn't as interested in the test-ride as I was in knowing the price of Bullet Electra. So after a brief 5 minutes at the showroom, I was on my way.

Yesterday, in the afternoon, I got a call from Rakesh - I suppose he handles (or may be owns, I am not sure) that showroom. He asked me what I was thinking. Hearing my answer, he simply said, "I giving you a 500 for a day. Ride it for a day and then think. I am sending my guy with the bike at around 6."

And I had a Classic 500 for a day. I went for a ride to Gandhinagar in the evening. 55kms. Dad rode it too to the factory in the morning. 40kms. All combined we did a little more than 100kms before I returned the bike to the showroom.

I must say a lot has improved. Clutching. Gear-shifting. Starting, etc. And the one important (perhaps the most important thing) has stayed the same. The THUMP. And  the throbbing feeling you get riding a Bullet is just the same. I had a Machismo 350 (AVL engine) earlier and I sense 'this thump' is closer to the original than the one I remember of my Machismo.

As disappointed as I was with my experience at Royal Enfield showroom at Bandra Mumbai, this one thrilled me. And the gesture of offering me the bike for a day was oh so 'royal'. Policies are the same for every showroom; how the prospect feels depends on the man present at the moment of truth.

I might just buy a Classic 500 now!

Royal Enfield Hollowbird

Thunderbird is a Hollowbird!

Now, some might see me as being too harsh in my criticism. Some might say, it isn't warranted in the first place. That's okay.

Classic seems to be a consummate product. I ask myself why can't other models be as good? Characters could be different, but coming from the same stable the aesthetic-level of all bikes must be equal.

Yamaha for once is a good example. The fit and finish and aesthetic-level of all bikes seem to be the same, other factors not considered. FZ16, Fazer, R15, SZ/SZ-X, YBR all exude the same level of detailing and aesthetics. In fact, I can add even the earlier models like Gladiator and Libero (do you remember that still?) :).

Bullet Classic in Military Green

I am often so surprised by such instances. This one's available in the international market but not in India. Why? And btw, how much effort does it take to make the same available here?

Going by observations of the ways in which people modify their Bullets, military green is one of the most preferred colors. Wonder if the marketing guys at RE have their eyes open?

This one's ravishing. Supreme impact. Bring it on!

To Siddhartha From Siddharth

Dear Sir,

You are doing your best to thrill the patrons of your legendary motorcycles. Appreciate that. But you know what, your 'doing your best' is still traumatic for many of the fans. Are you even aware of that? Are you listening? We can only hope so.

You know how many (if not all) RE owners feel about RE motorcycles. They feel like a doting mother who knows very well that her child is an incorrigibly gone case but still loves him and feels hopelessly proud (even if there's no reason to) coz there's no other option.

Should you want to dig deeper and know a little more, urge to go to this link.

Not-so-royal experience @ Royal Enfield

Just came back from the Royal Enfield Bandra showroom. Went there to collect my refund cheque against cancellation of my booking made way back on 23rd Dec '09 for a Classic 350.

The showroom manager's smiling. His assistant's also smiling. Proudly (might say arrogantly too) announcing that the booking for 350 has been stalled for the moment and that the waiting period for a new booking is 8 months!!!

Downright pathetic. The guys have gone mad.

First, it's no happy moment that a customer is canceling his purchase no matter the high demand.

Second, it's no laughing matter that the waiting period is 8 months; it just tells us that you (the brand) don't care much about the customers.

Third, Classic 350 and the new engine converted quite a few non-Bulleteers into going for a Bullet. But that's just half the job done. If your service still sucks (like it did earlier), the same guys might turn their backs to you pretty soon.

Fourth, the company can't hold money like this and ask the person who made the booking to come and collect the money from the showroom. The least they could do is respect the customer, respect his time and the faith he put in you, apologize for inconvenience and try to make up in some form.

Sure there's only one Royal Enfield. And scarcity often leads to a favorable impression of the brand but guess they are stretching the loyalists much too far and far too often.

I can go on and on about my disappointment but the folks at Royal Enfield might not listen. Royal Arrogance or Royal Lapses sounds better.

New Royal Enfield Thunderbird Twinspark 350cc

That's the new Thunderbird Royal Enfield has launched. If you had noticed the earlier one, you would be able to spot the differences. The makers claim that the engine is 'revolutionary'. They call it Unit Construction Engine. The engine is gonna keep all the pleasure of the earlier Bullets intact and add a little more in terms of better fuel efficiency, better maintenance, better working clutch (and therefore, lesser visits to the mechanic. In fact, that's the reason I sold my Machismo 350 in Dec last year). It also seems that bike is more powerful than the earlier 350cc Bullets.

My personal take is 'got for it'. This seems to be best bike launched by Royal Enfield for decades. Why? Simply because the new engine design has resolved many hopeless complications of the earlier engines which marred the Bullet experience. Purists would frown as they've always done with the launch of every new Bullet. But my sense is that this bike might win them over after all. Yes, the ones who want the vintage/retro Bullet feel can continue to rue the evolution; I'm happy.

It's neater too; observe the change they've made in the back-rest fitting for the pillion rider. They've made the silencer also a little safe for the riders; won't burn you anymore.