Why I would never buy a Royal Enfield Bullet!
Few days ago I posted on Twitter and Facebook that I am now using Thunderbird and loving it, while I was talking about Mozilla Thunderbird; few people misunderstood and thought I had bought a Royal Enfield Thunderbird. Even those who knew me well and I think know that I would never actually buy one!
Also I quite often get suggestions from people (mostly those who own Bullets) to buy a Royal Enfield motorcycle for touring, while people pitch as hard as they can about benefits of owning a Bullet, I usually end up telling them that a Bullet isn’t the motorcycle for me and usually end up reiterating why I would never buy a Royal Enfield Bullet:
Royal Enfield Motorcycles aren’t reliable: Well let’s face it, while a few might love spending a day in the middle of Manali – Leh highway, fixing their motorcycles (I respect their idea), it is certainly not my cup of tea, and I would rather be riding and exploring the beautiful landscape around me than getting my hands dirty to get the bike running again. Heck even Royal Enfield knows this and despite it’s motorcycles being positioned toward motorcycle tourers, offers warranty for the least time (km wise).
Royal Enfields don’t have good range: One of the most important aspects of any touring motorcycle being used in remote areas is the range it can travel on a tankful, since petrol pumps are tough to find in remote areas. Royal Enfields have smaller petrol tanks (compared to Karizma, Pulsars, Unicorn etc.) and on top of it, they are thirstier (especially in hills). This means for a ride to Zanskar Valley or Leh – Tso Moriri – Sarchu – Tandi, a guy riding a Bullet would need to carry at least 7-8 liters of spare petrol, while on a pulsar I can do it without even hitting the reserve!
Royal Enfields are heavy: While the heavy weight and long wheelbase helps tremendously while riding in plains in strong crosswinds, it becomes a dead weight as soon as you get in to a sticky situation in hills. Now if all that weight was due to something quite important like a more powerful engine or fantastic suspension setup, I wouldn’t have minded, but the fact is, it is mostly useless as it is there more for the show and in attempt to retain the classic feel, than for any utility.
Egoistic Bullet riders: That’s right, even though I know of plenty of fantastic travelers who use bullets, most often than not, I run in to people who believe that the Royal Enfield is fantastic and an iconic bike, and rest of the motorcycles are crap (jap-crap to be precise). While it is great that Royal Enfield has such a cult like following, I am not too keen to be seen as part of the herd following a brand name blindly, and treating fellow bikers and travelers like crap!
As for majority of these nincompoops, well the only reason they buy these bikes is to try and get associated with some of the things that a few great travelers have accomplished and were incidentally using a Royal Enfield. To them, it is not the spirit and determination of the rider, which demands acolades, it is the thing they were sitting on top off!
Every time I come across such individuals, they reaffirm my faith about not owning a Royal Enfiled and make the determination even stonger!
Edit: Just wrote a blog post on the Kind of Royal Enfield Bullet I would like to buy, check it out as well and let me know what you think.
Some feelings I very well share. The weight has always been a pain to handle. And reliability is a real bother(I got into trouble once). Nor do I like the noise it makes. I would rather be on a modern, reliable and light weight machine. The one area where it scores well is – if there are two people and lot of luggage to lug, these bikes come handy.
Arun the AVL engine ones i.e. Thunderbird, Machismo and 500 don’t make that much sound, sadly most of their owners put different exhausts to increase the sound.
I agree about the part about load carrying capacity, but then again it is mainly the 500 which is real good at it.
Yogesh! You sound like your EGO, I respect your thoughts but at the same time i think you had a bad experiance “EGO” and that made you turn aganist Royal Enfield. I feel you have lot of love for it boy.. go for it!
I sometimes wonder about the following questions…
- Its been decades, only one model is still around.. with the same technology…?
- Why does it feel so good when you are on it?
- Why do i feel like i’m sitting on a Mule with other JAP-CRAP?
- Why do i learn to be patient with it?
- HOw it speaks to me?
- Its the only thing from the past that keeps, only Humans who belive in it ——MOVING.
- It’s power is RAW and not for ppl with small hearts…
If you think this is not your cup of tea, then just leave it alone or some Bulleteer someday may punch on your face and you may never taste it.
Jagan I was going to reply to your comment and then I read the last part:
“If you think this is not your cup of tea, then just leave it alone or some Bulleteer someday may punch on your face and you may never taste it.”
Well all I can say is, it is retards like you, who give Bulleteers a bad name!
If i were that Bulleteer then i better be a retard… now can you comment or do you have any?
Actually the person who tries to punch me, would there after be known as a physically disabled person.
The reason why I said what I said in my last post was due to the fact that it appear to me, that you seem to think that just because some one doesn’t agrees with thoughts of a small minority and shares his point of view freely, he would either be physically hurt or deserves to be physically hurt.
I share the same thoughts I have shared here with my friends who own bullets and they share their thoughts about my bike or other motorcycles in the market, it is always in good humor and done in a respectable manner. However a small minority feels that just because they bought some thing which can be bought by any Tom, Dick and Harry, he is in some way special?
With respect to only one model being around for decades, well there are plenty more like that, just look at the Hero Honda Splendor or Honda Cub. Also just because something has been around for decades, it doesn’t mean it is without flaws or is the best thing around. Also going by the way Royal Enfield is developing its product line, while the classic designs would remain, the original engine would likely be a thing of the past, in the years to come.
As for having the feeling that you have about your bullet, well good for you and it shows how much you love and care for your motorcycle.
Believe me; I share similar feelings about my Pulsar 180, who has been my constant companion for over 7 years. Even though I had thought about buying other motorcycles and done test rides of almost all the Indian motorcycles (including 350std, Electra, Thunderbird and AVL500), nothing has as of yet, made me feel like it can replace my sweetheart.
Of course there are plenty of niggles in her that at times piss me off and one of them is the quality and life of spare parts and after sales service, which is why I wouldn’t likely be buying another Bajaj Motorcycle any time soon, even though the current 180, 200 and 220 are perfect for my style of touring.
Hey! I can only be hurt physically! Try!
“Minority” nice word but i guess it doesn’t apply purely to us. “Majority”, boy!! this is the word for rest. Be free to express your thoughts …
Any TDH can buy it dude.. you are right! but it is pampered, maintained. PPl now only want to race aganist time, they want no problems, its only like running away from them. It has always been that way.
Royal Enfield sells Bulls built with problems i agree, its a package that comes to you, for the ride you get. As Dave says(http://www.chuckhawks.com/royal_enfield_letter1.htm)
“This is NOT a bike for a guy who goes to the dealer to change a lightbulb.” incase you feel like reading (Don’t become a fan). It was the same with the Horse’s in the old days. Nothing comes cheap.
You compared it with a Splendor, it gave me a tickel but i could only give a funny smile. Thanks for love’y touch.
Like I said in the blog post, while a few prefer to spend the day fixing the bike in the middle of nowhere, I like to spend the time exploring the beautiful places.
As far as Splendor is concerned, you can say all you want, but it still sells like hot cake under numerous different names and still carries the same “classic engine” and the same goes for the Honda Cub, which had completed 50 years last year and there are over 60million of these on road and as shown in the video, almost indestructible.
http://www.indiaon2wheels.com/honda-cub-50-years-and-60-million-sales-old/
You can express your views all you want Yogesh, there can be no comparison with a 350 or 500 with 100 or 150CC bikes. Hero Honda bikes still sell like hot cakes yes but for a reason. Our country has a sizable population of Middle class who cannot afford a bike like Enfield due to its cost (but still a good number of middle class guys are now buying it) & they always think in terms of Mileage.
Every bike has its own capacity, you can still see Enfield is the only long standing bike apart from Harley Davidson, which is still selling in India & abroad. As for you enjoying the places & the a guy who has a Bullet is repairing may well be frustrated however there is still a difference here, he is learning how to fix a thing with his own experience! coming to which would you do the same on the highway? We got Bullet enthusiasts all over the world & in India currently number of people riding Bullets is steadily increasing call it money power or something else!
Coming to the Leh & hilly region, weighty issues are there yes but still how many people would you expect to do a ride to Leh on other bikes every year or for that matter to a hilly region?
No offense on you but don’t degrade anything or see it as good for nothing. We derive pleasure in riding the Bullet, people do think its noisy & stuff like that, but still when the heads turn to see whats coming is what makes us stand apart from the other bikes. The stares we get when we stop at a signal is something we wont get that easily with other bikes!. There are people who ride bullets arrogantly however they may never form the part of Bullet community or rather put they are mere city dwellers!
Wonder if you have done riding on a Bullet for a long distance?? well I have heard people change their view about the bike after they have ridden it. We maybe going to the Mechanic every other day but we still have the pleasure of riding a machine with RAW power & who likes to get pampered all it wants! & we’d definitely would pamper it haha!!!
Before signing out I’d just want to say The bike is still “MADE LIKE A GUN GOES LIKE A BULLET”
About the stares forgot to say something, its not negative its the envy we see in them!
Nutter…. !!! Nice Name dude… ENVY he he he he……he
Yogesh! We are waiting.. do treat this in a Hurmorous way or a positive way…. “The CUB is for the Mass’s, i need not say wat a BULLET is for….”
Keep Riding you HONDA / PULSAR ….Watever.I do like them, but wat good are they when you grow old? or will pulsars be around. When we are old, we still can fix our BULLETS and will still Ride.
So… are you around or wat?
Nutter first of all, please read the post title again, it is “Why I would never buy a Royal Enfield Bullet!†No where am I saying that others shouldn’t buy it and neither am I saying that Royal Enfield motorcycles are useless! I am simply saying that at this moment, it isn’t the bike for me and have listed out the reasons I feel that way. If it suits your riding style, then by all means go for it, just don’t try to convince me to buy one, which quite a few people I know, try and do again and again!
Motorcycles are a very personal thing and different people have different preferences and there is no reason for attacking one another, just because of the brand motorcycle you are riding, does not suits the other person’s need (like Jagan did). After all when I don’t refer to Bullets as water pumps, why should I tolerate any one referring to my motorcycle as jap-crap or plastic toy? Especially when my bike has done what 99% Royal Enfield Bullet riders would only dream of doing!
I am sorry to say this, but problem with majority of the bulleteers (or at least those who claim to be one) is that they don’t respect people for who they are, instead they respect people for what “they ownâ€. While the 99.9% of the tourers I know, respect each other irrespective of the vehicle owned or club/brand allegiance.
As far as fixing your bike and learning something about it goes, I had done plenty of small modifications and apart from the usual before and after trip service she receives at my usual mechanic and oil changes (due to problem of disposing old oil), rest of the niggles are taken care of by me and I love working on my motorcycle. However when I am out touring, I want her to be my reliable companion and not break down in the middle of nowhere and I think every one deserves that, especially after spending so much time, money and effort on maintaining their motorcycles.
I have taken the old Thunderbird on the highway and I loved the acceleration, but frankly, the seating position left a lot to be desired and there was virtually no feedback from the front. I would also like to mention that the Electra I got for a test ride from a Royal Enfield dealership in Delhi, belonged to a customer and was there for its first service, I guess it shows the level of commitment they have for their customers. Though I do respect the management of Royal Enfield for the fact that they promote touring are decent enough to accept the fault where it is due, because they had refunded the cost of a 500AVL to a friend of mine, who had suffered multiple sprag clutch failures and company wasn’t able to resolve his issue.
Hi Yogesh ..
I agree with your points and very much admire your efforts to pin point the problems of Royal Enfield.
Infact I do love Royal Enfield but there are many disadvantages in it which makes the ride totally uncomfortable.
Thanks & Regards
Sherry John
Bhai-Keep writing pages and pages on this, we really don’t care.
RGDS,
Patel
Thanks Sherry
Well Patel, you cared enough to comment
If there is one thing I miss about my youth, it is this propensity to fly into rage for no reason in particular – here this discussion about Royal Enfields. It’s just a bike guys, so don’t kill yourselves over it. Punch your pillows instead.
That said, I’ve always enjoyed the verve and honesty that Yogesh Sarkar brings to his blog so, in spite of myself being an Enfield biker of long years (I’ve bought 3 of them – all new – all 350 std.) I do agree with many of his takes on this bike.
I’ll begin by saying that the guys who manufacture the Royal Enfield in Chennai could not be real bike lovers. The product is badly engineered with no quality control – at least for the models sold in India. Simple things like nuts and bolts and gaskets are a big pain. The engine is always leaking like a guy who’s had his prostrate removed (not me, yet!).
Just sprucing up the looks (minimally) is like putting make up on an ugly face. We all know how that comes across.
I agree with Yogesh when he says that riding the Enfield is an EGO trip. In spite of being an ugly old geyser, I feel like a KING when I’m in ride-mode. Gives me a kick to have young and old tell me ‘ Bike ho to Aisee’ (Many of these guys have never ridden anyhing except a Luna – the Kinetic moped which died a premature death).
I cannot agree with Yogesh on mileage. I filled up the tank in Tandi and carried an 6 litres of fuel but I did not need this extra fuel. The 375 kms. from Tandi to Leh were accomplished with some fuel left in the 14.25 litres tank.
I owned 2 Yezdis 250 cc. (1977-1985) and took many trips from Pune to Goa on these. With a lighter bike, I found the fatigue factor higher. The body vibrates more and tires the muscles – mine at least – even though at that time I was only a young 35 years. On the heavier Enfield, these vibrations are minimised and that’s a BIG thing for an older body (which tires earlier and takes longer to recharge – like an old battery).
Anyway…. all said and done, there is no ‘phayada’ in going for each others throats and threaten to handicap someone just because of this. Don’t trust these sudden emotions. Emotions are unreliable things. Bound to change in a jiffy. For all we know, Yogesh, you might fall in love with the Enfield – if they bring their export model into India. I saw some real good quality Enfields in London! And I’ve got 4 emails from guys who ride them in Spain, Finland, London, New Hampshire, US. They loved my book also because they love their Royal Enfields.
AMEN.
Sir first of all, thanks for commenting.
I agree with you that Royal Enfield should bring the same quality and models that it is exporting to other countries, to India as well. Its not like Royal Enfield are a cheap motorcycle to buy, slight price increase for better quality is something I am sure majority of the people would be ready to pay for.
Of course then there is the question of models being first released abroad and then coming to India, even though they are manufactured in India by an Indian company.
With respect to mileage, well I am not that big a mileage monger, but it would be nice if Royal Enfield can at least fit a bigger petrol tank, which quite a few owners do. However an aftermarket job is always a aftermarket job and can not be compared with something which is provided by the company.
Hey Ajit – You are right! It was my Emotions which were hurt and made me do this… i guess, what we love is wat we love.
@Yogesh – we are not so bad and neither are our bulls. I’ll take a turn here coz this might lead to a highway. I rather ride the road less travelled. There’s some good work you got there, much Appriciated.
Regards,
Jagan
Thanks Jagan, I guess as bikers we are a emotional lot and can often end up saying things we don’t so harshly mean. Well I just wrote another blog post about bullets, this time it is about the kind of bullet I would like to buy. Check it out and let me know what you think and whether or not you would like to buy a bullet like that
http://www.yogeshsarkar.com/blog/2009/06/18/kind-royal-enfield-bullet-would-like-buy/
well yogesh,
i read your post and i feel that you are completely mistaken, Enfields are not reliable? what world are u living in dude, am sure u have ridden to leh and nubra and changla etc etc, do u think a jap crap bike would carry that much of luggage and you? well the logik is, if you keep ur bike fit n fine, be it anywhere ur bullet will never dissapoint u.
no good range: i am 100% sure u have not ridden the newer avl or UCE royal enfields, so you dont know, and for god sake dont compare a bullet with the plastik bikes yaar!!
weight issue: i feel that the weight issue is genuine, but hey u know what, u cant expect a bull to be as light as a plastik bike, what will be the difference between them and us?? i feel that the weight tot he traction ratio of a royal enfield is just amazing.
egoistik riders:
now this is the topik i will write the most about, please dont feel offended too. we are bulleteers and we love to ride so we own bullets and its not that we blindly follow the brand name. infact we care a damn about the brand name, its the ride that matters. so i feel that your perception about the bullet is wrong and i feel there is a lot of room, for a change. anyways am not asking u to be a bullet fan or anything, but would suggest that if you are a rider, you would know what i mean. the feel of riding in real india can be felt only on a royal enfield, i guess i cant explain it to anyone, one has to feel it to understand it.
Shyamal
Hi Yogesh,
Nice writeup and i wont make it long. I know there are so many people out there who have so many reasons for not doing things in life. Likewise there are people (though few in numbers) who just need one reason to do something. I am one of them.
BTW: I also ride a bullet and I just ride cause I like it…..
Shyamal go through this travelogue of mine, Ladakh and Zanskar, return to your heaven. My jap crap took me and around 30-35kg of my luggage (was carrying a lot of useless stuff) around Ladakh for 18 days (on a solo ride) without any major fuss, even though the timing chain and piston kit were in a bad condition but it still went along just fine. Now if you want to carry your entire living room with you, obviously Pulsars, Karizmas etc. are not for you. In fact you really ought to think about buying a mobile home!
So far the major ride stats for my jap crap are three rides to Ladakh, one ride to Spiti and another to Sach Pass (not counting numerous smaller ones).
Now let me ask you, where have you been lately on your waterpump?
We can keep on throwing insults towards each others bike or we can discuss things like civilized, mature people, choice is yours.
As for the reliability issue, just go through the replies to this blog post and see what other Royal Enfield riders are saying about it. I know some of them are quite reliable as well, for instant Bhuwan’s Thunderbird (in our 2007 group ride) didn’t face any major issue, apart from the drum brakes smoking while descending from Chang La and started easily every day. But then again, majority of the feedback I see from the Royal Enfield community says that the bike isn’t as reliable as others and then people use excuses like it being a classic bike and being one for those who love to work on their motorcycles. If you feel the same, good for you, but it is not what I want.
You are talking about the 500AVL? How much does it give? 26-28kmpl coupled with the usual 14.5liter tank? One can get similar mileage from a BMW F650GS and that thing still has a larger usable petrol tank capacity. I am not even going to mention the 150+cc motorcycles in India which can easily cover twice to thrice the distance on a full tank, despite being “consumer and city orientedâ€. Of course if you ride in a city or go touring on the smooth National Highways and to known destinations, you won’t really notice.
With regards to weight, well I couldn’t care less about the “retro looks†and even lesser about why you feel more rust catching materiel is better than power to weight ratio!
If you didn’t cared a damn about Royal Enfield brand, you wouldn’t be here defending their entire line up and would instead have been focusing on the particular model you ride and love.
Vineet your reply brought a smile to my face, completely agree with what you have written.
ok!! agreed, am not here to argue or something, i agree that plastiks perform, but the real fun is to reach changla on an enfield. just imagine an ancient technology still existing?? how come? its cos the person taking care or loves his bike that much, why is it that bullet ha survived more than 50 years in india and no other bike has been able to do that? see!!?? so forget comparing the bikes and technology that these bikes use. what matters to me is the ride. the feel of riding a bull is something one would understand only after riding one.
reliability issue, i dont see any reliability issue in a newer enfield, yeh ofcourse if ur enfield is used and abused badly then a brand new enfield will also give up in no time. so the point is, how one rides his bike makes the difference and not the brand. mileage is never a concern to someone who rides a bullet, yeh infact the bullet is meant for national highways and open roads, i feel that its not meant for the city. i hate commuting on a bullet. its a pain to ride it in traffic. besides who likes to ride in traffic.
and dude you have no idea what fun it is to ride this rust catching material on the road, its a crazy feel, i cant explain it to u.
yes we thumpers care a damn about the brand, coz we are together not coz we own royal enfields, coz we all love to ride together. touring is not a passion for us, its a habit. so please dont misunderstand us, its just that we clubbies just take it a little personally when it comes to our machines.
I don’t mean to interrupt, but have to share a experience that i had in the initial days with the bullet.
I was travelling to chennai from bangalore- SOLO. There was another rider with a 80′s Bull. We both nodd our heads and ride together till the end and he is a friend of me to date.
Recently i saw a guy on a pulsar, when travelling to Tenali from HYD. The guy just zoomed into my way and left me far behind, for i could only smile, there was also this strange/envy/desire looks of him on my Red Bull as eeryone. After a while, there was another guy on a pulsar and they were racing like there is no tomorrow, when i saw them after a while. Both were tourers with l’il bags on the back. I wonder if they could lock their eyes and talk to eachother or travel together? EGO’s game?
I think BULL’s are made with character, just like humans. we have to interact, understand, listen, demand (both ways)/love/ live…. all the things with the BULL.
NOT TRYING TO ARGUE: The new bikes are just pickin up and have killed the desires of many bikers for centuries. All that a person does is grow up and buy a bike built for the Masses and marry. He’s settled. Bulleteers are no different with a X-ordinary taste and we build up with it. Chraracter Man… Its worth everything (if you know wat i mean).
Shymal could you care to explain why reaching Chang La is real fun on a bullet? For me although Chang La is a nice ride and at times beautiful due to snow, it is still not one of the passes that I remember when I remember Ladakh, Tanglang La and Pensi La are way better (you will know if you have been there).
Also which ancient technology are you talking about?
In your last post you were going gaga over the AVLs and UCE, which aren’t really ancient technology! The only bike which is like its predecessors is the 350std, even the Electra is not what real bullets used to be (TCI, 5 speed gear box on the wrong side), even though it still uses the cast iron engine.
Also if you feel that ancient technology is so superior, then why is Royal Enfield practically taking out all the cast iron models from the market and replacing them with AVLs? Which is what majority of the Royal Enfield riders are buying these days!
With respect to survival, well it was just that, survival. A company which has changed hands many times and has mainly survived due to Army orders and has thus not been able to invest much in R&D (barring the last decade or so).
While I respect what Royal Enfield is doing by bringing out new models, let us be clear that these are neither classics and nor British or Indian, these are designed by an Austrian firm and that too in the recent years!
Also, in case you ride a Thunderbird, Machismo or the new 500, just an FYI, it is not a Bullet, its a Royal Enfield Thunderbird/Machismo.
Also if touring is not a passion for you and is a habit, then you would be agreeing with almost all of what I have written as it is from the point of view of a tourer, not a brand bash. Unless of course you are mainly traveling to well known destinations with smooth national highways with petrol pumps at regular intervals, in which case most wouldn’t apply to you.
Jagan may be both of them were friends and were having fun and thus too preoccupied to notice you? After all the friend you met during your Chennai – Bangalore ride, was also traveling alone and thus not preoccupied with anything.
As for what you have said, well I would like to tell you that majority of my friends are people whom I have met online and who have similar passion (irrespective of mode or brand of travel).
My first ride to Ladakh was with Shamik, who I met at an online forum and it was our first ride together, ditto for my second trip to Rohtang, in which case Salil and I traveled together for the first time and he was by my side, when my bike was having some serious issues.
Also check out this recent photolog by Shamik, in which he traveled with another tourer from Kanpur, who he met along the way, http://www.bcmtouring.com/forum/travelogues-north-india-f61/against-wind-photoblog-t11993/
In 2007 Ladakh ride, there were 11 riders and 1 pillion, all from 5 states and with different bikes, many of whom had not met each other before the ride and we were behaving just like a bunch of long lost friends when we gathered together at Manali!
When I meet travelers on the road, I don’t wave/smile/talk to them based on what they own or which group etc. they belong to, I do it because they are travelers like me.
ps. character is not something that can be bought from a showroom, it is something which is developed over time.
Pps. Just because a person grows up, gets married, have kids and buys a motorcycle built for masses, it does not mean that he is no longer a biker/tourer, check out the following two travelogues by two riders, who fit your description and yet are in no way less than you and me.
http://www.bcmtouring.com/forum/travelogues-north-india-f61/once-lifetime-t11474/
http://www.bcmtouring.com/forum/travelogues-north-india-f61/10-days-10-passes-jammu-kashmir-earths-heaven-t11915/
forget it dude!! i guess you have had a bad day today, i dont wanna carry a conversation which has no end. am not here to say that enfield is better or any other bike. believe in what u want to. coz i feel that you are just few of the plastiker who likes to yap. i would rather believe in “letting my riding do the talking”. sorry pal i posted on your site. my mistake. you enjoy riding your plastik. have a good day, enjoy some gulps of beer on my behalf. and sorry if i offended you.
This is my last post.Cheers!!
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Fuck man, I read bad things about whatever I buy after I have bought the damn thing(s). Had this trouble with my guitars & amps. And now my std 350. Its not my fault that your blog showed up in google at the 11th page.lol. Anyway, I didn’t need a bike, just wanted the bullet for all the reasons which were in no way inspired by the engineering behind the machine. The sound, the feel, the look & the legacy is what got me. Oh and Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance did its bit too…being close to the motorcycle etc.
Nice blog.
Woah guys, what an epic! The number of comments out numbering the actual post! Well I love riding Bullets, but like Yogesh I would never buy one.
Well I do own one plastic bike- a Bajaj Pulsar with a meagre 150cc engine having clocked 1,51,000+ kms in 5 years with one block+piston change at 1,15,000 kms- that too my negligence coz the newly tried synthetic oil had vapourised. A SaddleSore success of running 1723 kms in 23 hours when the odometer was reading 1,38,000 kms, later to a ride covering 3200+ kms in 4 days. It ran like a war-horse and except for the piston cease as mentioned, its never broken down.
Love the feel of the Bullet, I havent ridden superbikes yet- but to confess, nothing comes close to the feel of riding a Bullet. I would have loved to buy one if it was as reliable as my trusty steed.
This is a never ending arguement… all i can say is .. To each his own…
Am part of a Bullet riding group based in Noida.. and we have covered quite a few places… and wherever we have gone we have seen people from all walks of life approach us to enquire abt our journey…
but i guess that is more to do with how u ride than what you ride…
Ride sensibly and the world is going to appreciate it…
be a bit rash and you’ll bring all other riders a bad name…
as for meeting a fellow bulleter on the road… well all i can say is I have never seen a pulsar rider stopping to help a stranded pulsar rider while it has not been the same for RE’s..
maybe it’s just a feeling of belonging to a community that brings us together…. that’s why bulleters have riden every year from all over the country to Rider Mania..
Ajit how many stranded Pulsars have you seen stranded in the first place and after seeing one, do you stop to help?
In case we come across one (http://flickr.com/photos/kartz/1431621639/) we surely stop, though that is not because the person is riding a pulsar or a brand specific bike, but because he is a fellow traveler in need of help. Heck on our 2007 ride, even though we were running late, we stopped to help a person in a car, who turned out to be a Raid De Himalaya contestant, out for recce.
Another of my friend who rides a CBZ, stopped to help a Israeli couple on a 350, which couldn’t even climb Chang La, while another lent fuel to a foreigner riding a bullet, who had run out of petrol in Nubra Valley.
I can go on and state numerous such examples, and one thing would be clear in all of them, we help out fellow travelers, irrespective of the brand or type vehicle they have.
Well I missed all the action LOL.. Its about love and relationship not about with whome you had it..
Rajnish
We can start again if you want
Hi yogesh,
well i was saying sumthing else and you have taken one point and stretched it..
I was talking about the feeling of belonging to a community that is seen more in bullet riders…
as for helping out fellow travelers.. that’s what every who’s riding out should be doing…
and that’s what i try to do.. even if i m riding in delhi or outside…
no point in having an argument on it… the road’s big enough to accommodate all of us… be it a bullet or pulsar…
Cheers!
ajit
Ajit commented on the part which I found inaccurate;
“as for meeting a fellow bulleter on the road… well all i can say is I have never seen a pulsar rider stopping to help a stranded pulsar rider while it has not been the same for RE’s..”
Rest of the part I agreed with and hence didn’t said anything against it.
For me it is more about lending a helping hand to fellow human beings, rather than choosing whom I am going to help, based on what they purchased from a showroom.
The Enfield Bullet – few love it, most hate it.
Choose your clan.
wtf….i own a 89 bull n a pulsar 220…….i luv the bullet….its more maintenance…..but the ride is more comfy n the sound is just amazin…..the bull n puls is almos the same weight bro!….but the bull is much steadier….i feel safer on my bull at high speeds…..my bull gives me 38 n the puls gives 45………ppl who ride the bull don giv a fk abt the mileage!…..we jus ride 2 feel the thump!…..i hear the new bulls give 42 anyways………n also less maintenance…..u cud proly buy the new one if u want 2….i’d suggest the old ones…….coz the new ones are more like the new byks like puls,zma’s n all……..its ur call man…….the reason y a man wont buy a bull……..is low income n less time……..
Nice one Yogesh, and many of the replies from some actually prove your last point about ego. I too love bullets but these are the major issues which are keeping me away from it(such bullet gangs/clans). I really hate it when someone with one particular brand of vehicle hates another fellow traveler just because he is riding a different brand. Come on, we are supposed to enjoy the drive, love the outdoors and never hate someone else for such a petty issue. If someone still hates/demean another tourer then that person is not a true traveller but just a another stupid tourist, no matter even if he is on a Big Bull or whatever.
Whatever!!! you need to understand this charachter “Royal Enfield” its not just a bike. You have given due respect to Royal Enfield by writtngs a blog on it (be it anti or pro) otherwise who would write about pulser? thats the difference. Me being a rider I can appreciate you as a rider, I can salute your spirit for riding but sorry dude i can not salute your pulser…no no dont take any offense, pulser is yet to proove that where as Royal Enfield has earned that respect over the period of 60 Years brother
Ride Safe!!!
- Throttleking
Hi Yogesh …
Have allways had u in high esteem … but … your blog has let me down bigtime
…
Live and let LIVE mate …
Sorry but you have lost a regular visitor …
This article of urs seems to be a desperate effort on your behalf to generate or increase ur adsence earnings …
Ciao and god bless u …
Annish first off, let me make one thing clear, I do not run my personal blog for money. I have a hell lot of websites, which earn me more than enough money. As for visitors and readers, well I run this blog for my own satisfaction, not to please others. If you don’t like what I write, then don’t read it. It is not like I am holding a gun on your head to read it!
As for the points I have made, go through the comments and you will see that each and every point is true and has been proven so by the Royal Enfield owners themselves, whether by behaving like the arrogant jerks I have written about or by being truthful and accepting the facts!
Throttleking quite a few of my blog posts are about my bike and Pulsars in general, a quick search on google will easily shatter that belief of yours!
Yogesh!
Who are you calling Jerks? US? Its your blog, but there is something you are talking about that belongs to us.
If Bulleting is a religion, we are as good as you are. We can write too.. but that would provoke more restless’ss in you. You write coz you wanted ppl to read and comment. And you offended, agree to that point.
Look around the page man… Its you who is arrogant, if at all you can see? You are loosing ppl who come with a certain trust(not money) and friendship.
We never gave up.. Can you give us Pulsars and ride a RE?
By the by,it was you who used the term JAP CRAP. I heard it for the first time. Nice name DOH.
I say, Ride and let RIDE man…
Jagan next time read my comment properly and then react:
“whether by behaving like the arrogant jerks I have written aboutâ€
There are comments above where I feel the commentator was being a arrogant jerk and that is what I have reiterated.
example:
“coz i feel that you are just few of the plastiker who likes to yap. i would rather believe in “letting my riding do the talkingâ€. sorry pal i posted on your site. my mistake. you enjoy riding your plastik.”
In any case, my request to every one would be to once again read the title of the post, nowhere am I stating that Royal Enfield motorcycles are crap or useless, all I am saying, they are not for me and I am stating those reasons, which if addressed by the company, might see me buying a Royal Enfield motorcycle.
Till that happens, I am going to laugh at every occasion some bulletier tells me to buy a bullet and probably point them towards this blogpost of mine, to save time on having to reiterate to them, why I wouldn’t!
Of course if you are too arrogant to understand that one size/bike doesn’t fits/suits everyone, then you will hear me using the above term again and again!
ps. pointing out a bike’s deficiency isn’t same as insulting them with little or no knowledge, which I see quite a few “arrogant bulletiers†do, who in majority of the cases are just city riders, who buy the bike for the supposed legacy, cause they themselves are incapable of creating their own!
Pps. That was the term I first heard from Karthik of Royal Beasts
Every biker is specific about the brand he rides and so am i, i love yamaha as much as i love a royal enfield….Not only bikers have ego, everyone does have ego, some have little others more……Let the biker choose his ride, i have seen many freaks on enfield’s act like they r flying an aeroplane over clear blue sky, atlest thats how they sound like, the point is anyone who rides a bike is a biker irrespective of how he looks or dresses or what he rides….I agree all your comments on this post….but i do not agree that bullet is not reliable, everything is reliable if u know how much to rely on it…..my bullet electra 4s is as reliable as my yamaha fz, i can say that because i maintain both very well, my yamaha starts with a push of a button while my royal enfield needs a single kick, now there is a major difference…..Technology!!!! It advances through time, there are some draw backs on bullet, why do u think there is?? because its old technology, Royal Enfield is a vintage bike for god sake, he is considered a fool who compares a modern motorcycle with an old……if u like vintage style and have money and time and patience to spend on it then u shud buy a royal enfield….. I have had various track sessions at sepang & brno circuit several times on yamaha, ktm and ducati it is quite thrilling actually but im still a vintage bike fan and love riding my bullet because its a bike which is exciting even at normal riding speed, and the bike can be modified like a chopper with ease….everyone has different reason why they want royal enfield, so do other bike owners…….its riding that matters not the bike……PEACE
Naveen I agree with most of your points, except one. Out of the six models being sold in India by Royal Enfield, only two have the ancient engines, the rest have newer engine than that of Karizma!
Even the ancient engine engines have been worked upon over the decades, so they aren’t as nearly as ancient as you think.
Hey Sarkar,
It seems like you have already come to some conclusion even without experiencing it.
Well,looks like nobody can think like you, Yogesh!
You can only agree on everything but one.
You can keep replying as long as you can type, coz i surely think there will be comments like this coming and no wonder you will be responding.
Please keep up the spirit, stand for wat you have said (Right or Worng). It would be your Legacy.
Keep fighting -^- Try Peace but don’t be Peaceful. Learnt from you.
Hi Yogesh,
I am Happy that you have an Opinion on Bullet Riders. Everything has Good and Bad aspects, all that matters is the Choice you make.
You feel happy not to ride a Bullet
n
Others feel happy to ride a Bullet
In the end all it matters is a Nice Long Ride.
TC
I said vintage not ancient…….
Dude u have mistaken, I don’t like AVL engines that Royal Enfield make, They suck even more than their service center mechanics, compared to those 150 cc bikes r better…..i ride a bike with has the same iron cast engine as bullet std 350 which is a 50 yr old technology in other words vintage…
dear yogesh, the pulsar and the karizma are the best bikes to ride on to the great mountains – ofcourse next only to the beemers and the ktms. no doubts at all but i wonder why so few of the riders do that? are they scared to go there due to lack of availability of spares?
hey yogesh bro…no offence but royal enfield believes that the day they see 4-5 bullets at a traffic light together they will prune down production, and how many non bullets do you see that are touring the length and breadth of the country.
i always feel that a guy who has to depend on a mech to get every single problem in his bike is not a true bike lover.
anyways its a free country to voive your opinions.
but my 2 paisa…as an ardent fan of Royal Enfield i would want every tom, DICK and harry to ride a bullet just to show off.
as we bulleteers always say “WE RIDE THEREFORE WE ARE”
Akki I have done test rides on Enfields, now if you are talking about buying one and then deciding, well if things worked like that, we all would end up owning dozens of motorcycles.
Karan exactly my thoughts.
Naveen I agree that it is ancient technology, but then again the longer you have something, the more time you have of removing the imperfections. After all it isn’t like cast iron engines haven’t been tweaked/updated.
Mamda just go to any biking forum or a touring forum like ours http://www.bcmtouring.com/forum/ and you will see thousands of people touring on those very motorcycles. In any case, just because others are buying something, does not mean I have to follow them blindly. I make my own decision and do not rely on what others are doing or what a company’s PR agency is saying, which I believe is the case with you, otherwise you would be riding a Hero Honda Splendor, cause lets face it, nothing sells more than that in India. In any case, if you are happy with your Enfield and so are others, then great, however it does not means my need and preference is same as yours and I should also buy the same motorcycle!
Sudhan no company in the world would start to prune production because their motorcycles are selling more every one is out there to make money, just that each one’s marketing strategy and target audience is different. No offence but I believe you are just being too naive and eating into their propaganda if you actually believe that! After all if this was the case, why would they launch AVL engines and shift the gearing pattern to other side and even think about launching lighter motorcycles (was in news couple of years back)?
Glad you have accepted you havent had experience with Royal Enfield. If you had Owned one OR even if you had driven a rented one for more than 500kms you would have mentioned a dozen of bikes is still not good enough for royal enfield.
Of course not, else the title of this post would have been “Why I would never again buy a Royal Enfield Bullet†or “Why I hate Royal Enfield Motorcyclesâ€!
Btw going with your logic, have you owned each and every other motorcycle? If not, then how do you know that Enfield is any better?
Ps. Do yourself and other Royal Enfield enthusiast a favor and don’t ever recommend anyone to make their opinion about it by renting an Enfield, because they are about the worst types of bikes one can ride!
Yogesh,
<>
You have the freedom to buy whatever you want, but your insistence on why not to buy a Bullet has offended all the bullet lovers.
After all, everyone agrees ateast on one point that riding is like a religion.
And, as we would all just follow a religion we want to, without pointing out flaws or issues in someone else’s religion.
Similarly, you should just stop writing negatively about bullets (that you do not want anyway) and rather focus your energy and blogspace on pointing out benefits of your choice of Pulsars/Splendors.
It seems to me that you tried to provoke others (maybe unintentionally) and then refused to take responsibility for your actions by hiding behind the “my personal comments” excuse.
“Let other men ride other ‘things’…the King of the bikes shall remain the bike of the Kings”
Its’ pointless to even compare different classes of bikes…pretty immature I say, like comparing your weenies in the locker room ;-P
Chill out guys, this discussion is pointless and endless. Even bike mags will compare bikes in a particular section/class/genre.
“but your insistence on why not to buy a Bullet has offended all the bullet lovers.”
All I can say is, lol!
Ps. it is not why not to buy a bullet, it is Why I would never buy a Bullet.
Apparently, you seemed to have stirred a hornet’s nest
Saw a long thread on your post in one of the forums I belong to.
As for me: I agree with almost all you’ve written but despite its shortcomings I still love the Bullet as much as I love my other bikes. I have ridden four different bikes in the Himalayas but the best ride was on a LB500 which I rode last year. I’m yet to try the Karizma. Sadly, my kind of bike isn’t available here and I don’t want to pay twice as much as it costs elsewhere!
Cheers!
lol, seems like I have a talent for pissing people off
. Btw how is your LB500 doing? Heard the sparg clutch issue has been sorted out now and Navnit isn’t facing any issue with his but I guess yours is from the problem lot?
ps. let me guess, wanderers?
Some talent yeah — you’re not alone
BTW, I don’t have a LB500. I rode a friend’s LB500 last year and fortunately no major issues. IMO, its the best “Bullet” so far although I know the purists won’t agree! Waiting for the Bullet Classic.
PS: I’d rather not disclose it
It would be fantastic for riding in high altitude, Fi really makes a difference at that altitude. Heck Eric’s 220Fi at a few points in Ladakh was going 30-40% faster than our bikes.
Hi Yogesh
I agree and disagree with your post, so here are my experiences and views.
I own two bikes – A Yamaha RX100 and a Bullet Machismo 350.
I have done my fair bit of travel in India and most of it on the RX100 but some on the bullet too. http://faakira.blogspot.com
Now this is how I choose which bike to take when traveling.
Traveling alone – The RX100 (no questions) – The RX100 gives me reliability, lightness (its a bike I can pick up if dropped on my own) and mileage.
Traveling in a group – The Bullet (or RX100 – depending which is serviced and ready) If you have people around to pick up the bike and fix it the bullet is great. It offers stability on any road and most importantly it has the highest capacity among bikes in India today. Of course like you said there are reliability issues and tank capacity issues. Both I believe can be fixed. Get a bigger tank and maintain the bike for least issues. Its what I do to have no breakdowns. As for mileage – That depends on how the bike is maintained and the setting. For eg – My bike gives between 35-40Km and thats pretty high.
My issues with the bullet are that RE has no competition in India hence they get away with palming off a 1955 model every time with just a different model and year detail. I agree with your other post on how a bullet should be except for stuff like a charger etc. Common this is bikes we are talking about not cars.
So bottom line to me a bike is a choice. If you know all the draw backs of the bullet and still enjoy riding it – I think its fine. Everyone to their own after all, naa?
Now my story of how I bought the bullet. I always said that the day I find something that the bullet can do that my RX can’t I would buy it. That question was answered by a friend who said ‘A bullet can breakdown, can your RX?’
Within a week I had bought my bike and I am happy with it, though sometimes you’ll catch me cursing under my breath in the middle of a road when she doesn’t start and am cursing the people around who have that look that says ‘This is why women shouldn’t ride bikes’ not my bike.
The bullet with all its issues gives me stability on road, very few men mess with me and I am vain – I love it when men look at you with that WOW look. Its one-up-man-ship but its fun
So thats my two cents or rather two million cents but yeah… I think its a good bike atleast until we have some other option.
Freya I am not going to argue with why you bought your bike or what not, cause I respect your choice and the fact that you are enjoying the ride, which is what matters at the end of the day.
As for charger, well I am a lazy fellow and those electric compressors take half the effort of fixing a flat tyre away, so can’t really do without them.
Ps. can’t help but chuckle at ‘A bullet can breakdown, can your RX?’
ok guys stop arguing, lets plan a trip altogether with your respective bikes, lets enjoy n we will discuss on this topic there only
Hey,
I completely agree with you and own a Pulsar 220 myself, which did a Delhi-Srinagar-Manali-Delhi Round Trip without so much as a puncture.
But even after all that you get on a good old 500 n let the clutch out n the feel of it is so goooooood!!! its nothing that u can get on a pulsar or any other Jap Crap…..
The feel of it so good that even after your hired bike makes u waste a few days getting it fixed every now n then u still want to buy it.
Its not something u can put down on paper its just so special
Hello Yogesh brother
I’m Arun from Kerala. I own a Royal Enfield Bullet (Electra 5s Model). This is the first motorcycle I’m buying. I have read all what you have written. I’m happy to know that you have different view about Bullet. I also liked the way you presented the matter. Your writeup had four sections
1.Royal Enfield Motorcycles aren’t reliable
2.Royal Enfields don’t have good range
3.Royal Enfields are heavy
4.Egoistic Bullet riders
I’m telling my views and experience on the four sections
1. Thinking about my Bullet; I didn’t find any problem till today. My Bullet has gone more than 5500 km and is perfect in all means. It’s always recommended by mechanics to service(oiling and tightening of parts) the Bullet before going for a long ride. That will solve many problems we may face on the way.
2. Bullet has small petrol tanks and have low mileage (some have less than 30km/ltr). This is true and will not help in remote areas. People can add bigger tanks if they go for long trip. But for a person like me the tank is more than enough.
3. Royal Enfield have heavy motorcycles. It’s stable and the weight gives better braking. Don’t say the weight is useless because if it is so the company will definitely go for less weight which will give more mileage. There will surely be some technicalities behind it and; “More for the show” – Have you seen what some guys do with RX-100 and pulsar?
4. There are some people who think that all other bikes are “jap crap”. Some even hate new models in Royal Enfield. I think you know; my bike; Bullet Electra 5s have right side 5 gear, self start and disk brake. I add below some comments from Bullet owners and some other people:-
*
Me: This Bullet has self start
Other person: The Old way is the best. Adjusting with the decompresser and kick stating the Bullet.
—–What if you have 15 vehicles behind you sounding horn?—–
*
OP: Is this a new model ?
Me: Yes; the gear is in the right side and this has self start and disk brake.
OP: I didn’t like it. It’s of no use. The Old model is the best
—–I felt like slapping the guy. He went on talking like as if he had payed for my Bullet. Actually he liked my Bullet. But he was not ready to admit it.—–
*
op to mechanic(My friend; Shekar): Old Bullet is the best. Isn’t it. I didn’t like the new one. The old one has good performance.
—–Shekar came near me and whispered. He doesn’t know anything about your Bullet. Your model has the least maintenance than any other model.—–
*
op: There is a bike called Karizma. What’s the use of such a bike. They don’t even have good mileage. It’s a bad bike
—–He never knew Karizma got “BBC Bike of the Year 2003″ award and also “the best two-wheeler in the category of over Rs 70,000″ award—–
But Yogesh, There are really some people without ego and they really understand and respect other peoples feelings. Don’t think all Bulleteers are Egoistic. And “ego” is humanly problem. A machine don’t have it.
I have a request to other Bulleteers. Yogesh is a normal person. He is like one of us. He has the right to express his ideas and thoughts. He wrote all this from his experience and views. I have another experience. I have started a blog to share it – http://royalrider.blogspot.com. Others will have a different experience. If so share it.
Final message to everyone including Yogesh. Choose your bike according to your needs and likes. Don’t force anyone to go for Bullet or any other bikes. Explain to them what you know about a bike. I was not forced by anyone and I don’t like to force anyone to buy a bike. In my family, no one likes Bullet except me and my father. So choosing your bike is all upto you. Bullet is not everything(There are more important things in life) and Bullet is not nothing(There is a lot to learn about Bullet. It has a big history). Every bike has goods and bad. Maintain your bike properly to get maximum life for the bike.
Thank you Yogesh
Thank you all
Thank you GOD
Keep riding
Arun if you are happy and satisfied, thats all that should matter to you. Don’t listen to what others have to say (usually negative stuff), just go out there and enjoy your bike.
Ps. One thing I would like to mention is, never buy a bike with the thinking that you would fit an aftermarket part to overcome a major shortcoming (low range) when there are other choices which fulfill it, in stock form.
No Yogesh, I didn’t add or don’t need to add any after market product. I have everything needed in my Bullet. I’m satisfied with what I have.
[...] if its so called fans take constructive criticism as an act of hatred (have seen it first hand here), then all I can say is, close your eyes and go back to your dream land. [...]
Hey yogesh.
I have to admit this is one of the best conversations i have come across. you have covered almost everything. I wouldn’t dare to try and talk you into buying a Bullet(ROYAL ENFIELD). everyone has their own needs and wants, And fulfilling that is the primary concern. you gave four reasons why the enfield doesn’t suit you and i really respect that. but the last part “Egoistic riders” is what caught my attention and made me laugh. u say
“most often than not, I run in to people who believe that the Royal Enfield is fantastic and an iconic bike, and rest of the motorcycles are crap (jap-crap to be precise). While it is great that Royal Enfield has such a cult like following, I am not too keen to be seen as part of the herd following a brand name blindly, and treating fellow bikers and travelers like crap!”
if you are from bangalore i can show you any number of people (which you mention) owning Pulsar’s or any other bike for that matter acting like F**king Lunatics and treating fellow bikers and travelers like crap. and interestingly the number exceeds that of bullet owners. so when you say that egoistic riders are one of main reason’s why you dont want to own a bullet i say it would be truly kiddish to think that way. hey man don’t forget that there is positive and negative in everything. to be very precise what im trying to say is judging a group of people just by looking at one or two of them is totally unacceptable. just answer me this man …. if i show you a couple of pulsar riders that i personally know who are total losers and morons and treat other people and commuters/travelers as though they and their lives and safety counts for nothing, will you give up riding your pulsar ??
all I’m saying is this, if you don’t like a bike for its technical shortcomings then don’t buy it … but for god’s sake don’t insult other bikers. and please don’t try to defend yourself saying that you didn’t insult people here, by saying that you don’t want to buy royal enfield because of egoistic bikers directly refers to all the bullet riders being egoistic.
personally i hate pulsars due to certain mishaps that have happened and certain bad experiences that i have faced so i dont even go near one as long as i can help it, that is my personal choice. the experiences i have had doesnt compel me to tell all the people i know that pulsar riders are morons just to let them know why i havent bought a pulsar.
dude let me tell you… i have 3 Bikes, I own not one but 2 what you refer as Jap-Craps and a royal enfield as well. my family has been bullet owners from the year “1964″, yeah you heard it rite … i have never seen my grand dad or my dad or myself acting egoistic that i own a 64 bullet … on contrary i have something that is totally opposite “Pride”
so please stop kidding yourself and to others that you dont want a bullet because we are “Brand lovers” or “Ego maniacs” or what not
Peace brother
Ajay Kamath
PS: I’m totally open to discussions, not arguments.
Kamath first off, let me just say that Egoistic Bullet riders are one of the reason, but not the primary reason why I wouldn’t buy a Royal Enfield motorcycle. I would be a fool to simply discount a motorcycle, solely because of some of its idiotic blind followers, which I quite often run into offline and online (a few in the above discussion as well).
Now I never said that all those who ride and love Royal Enfield motorcycles are idiot or egoistic, if that was the case, I wouldn’t have any friends who owned Enfields. Just that there are quite a few of them, and more often than not, these are just commuters who feel buying a Royal Enfield motorcycle boosts their ego and thus feel compelled to insult others, who don’t subscribe to their feelings.
As for few of those owning Pulsars etc. being idiots, yeah I agree that there are quite a few of them out there who ride rashly, get over indulgent in flame wars and mine is better than your debate, however I haven’t yet come across any who simply discounts another rider or calls them a non serious biker/kid because they ride a motorcycle of a different brand.
Maybe this post from a rider who owns a Royal Enfield would drive home the point I was trying to make and people I was pointing at, http://www.bcmtouring.com/forum/motorcycles-f13/best-indian-touring-bike-production-t24-18/#post117481
yogesh sir …
I’m not sure what point you are trying to make. i think you are just trying to collect all the bad experiences of all the riders who have ridden bullets and people who have been treated badly by bullet riders.(I’m talking only about the ego here not the technical shortcomings) i can give you more good experiences than you can the bad experiences.
i guess what I’m trying to point out here is that if you don’t want to buy something its fine but mentioning the minority of the people who own that thing and them having a bad attitude is not the right thing to mention. As i have mentioned in my earlier post if you don’t like the attitude of some people then just forget it …. its not right to mention that as one of the reasons.
as i mentioned earlier this is a feeling of mine just like this blog of yours.
if you feel what you did is right then that is all that matters man.
cheers
Ajay Kamath
and by the way sir…
i would like to congratulate you on the way you stand for your opinions and thoughts in face of diversity. I’m as you would call it, an ardent WATER PUMP rider and a JAP-CRAP biker but i would never dare to pick a fight over what a person rides coz riding is like the only thing which has not been divided yet like all the other things in the world… and i would hate to see it being divided or be the one to start the process ……….. riding is a activity that is pure and exciting. we don’t have to fight over who’s bike is good and who’s is not. “To Everyone His Own” is what we must live by. If we are true bikers we will find Unity in Diversity and ride on. There are enough roads that we can all ride on we don’t have to fight our way through it. And as for the PPL who you mentioned who buy bikes just because some legendary People owned those bikes all i have to say is this
“RIDE HARD OR STAY HOME ”
Ajay Kamath
Ajay what I have stated is my personal experience, which may or may not be true for others, but then again this blog post is on why I wouldn’t buy a Royal Enfield bike and this is what I feel, irrespective of what others might have to say.
What I do not understand is, why are you getting worked up about me pointing a finger at a few idiotic Royal Enfield owners. After all it is not like I am saying that each and every Royal Enfield owner is an idiot or pointing at riders like you, who not only respects what they ride, but also respect others’ decision.
As for me sticking by my word, if I had any doubts about what I writing, I wouldn’t have written it. And if I believe in it, then why would I back down?
sir who said i was getting worked up …. as i told u in the beggining im here for a healthy discussion not argument ……. i very rarely loose my cool …. and that wouldnt be over trivial matters like my bike is good and yours is not …. i truly respest your views and your choice. after all what sort of riders are we if we dont respect our fellow riders and their steeds
cheers
Ajay Kamath
Hi Yogesh
Nice to read your article. I own a CBZ Extreme and a Enfield Bullet electra. When I owned only the CBZ there were some questions in my mind which lead me to buy the engield.
I will share those.
How many bikes other than the enfild can has a life of 40 years? we can see many 60s enfield till date.
Jap bike has a life of 5 years after that they are sold out as crap to pple who have dream to own a vehicle but can not afford..
Why people dont prefer to tour long distances in jap bikes,if they would have preferred there should have been many riding communities like the enfield clubs.
If CBZ is good, reliable , milage better than Bullet no dought about those but is is the bike that I can ride for next 20 years, of course no.
When people become young they make girlfriends and love them no dought, Most of them are not mature enough to judge if they can spend the whole life with them. But the decision of marrying some one is a very mature decision.
So blindly speaking about your current girlfriend is not right.
we buletters keep our machines like a life time companion.We love them maintain them because we know that they have a life as much as the humans. It is not a bike for us it is something we dont get tired maintaining life long.
How long have you had that Royal Enfield Electra (it is not a bullet)?
It is bullet electra…and yes it is Bullet…and it is not a question of how long i have had this but how long it runs….
Let me guess, it has been less than six months since you bought the Electra?
Your bike’s honeymoon isn’t even over and you are talking about commitment and long term relationship and the bike lasting for 40 years and what not?
How many people do you know, who own a 40 year old Bullet?
I have had my Pulsar 180 for over 7 and a half years, a friend of mine has a similarly aged Pulsar 150 and a 6 year old Pulsar 180, which is currently doing a trip to Ladakh. Two more of my friends own 2000 model CBZ, and another couple of friends own 6 year old Karizmas. All these bikes are not only with their first owners, but running impeccably and doing touring duties.
I am not even going to mention guys like these, who I know who own couple of decade old RD350s (it is a jap bike after all) and are demolishing even the newest “power bikes†on the block!
Heck even the mopeds are capable enough of not only lasting decade’s of abuse, but also capable enough to conquer the so called “highest motorable road†despite begin decades old, which quite a few Enfield owners speak of as test of the man and the machine and whatnot!
As for people touring on other motorcycles go, I know a tourer who owns a Karizma, who recently traveled across India, Nepal and Bhutan. Another tourer who did Round the World trip on his Karizma and another guy with Pulsar 180, who did pan India trip. Heck I even know a person who has traveled acorss India on a scooter! Not the mention hundreds of bikers I know, who do travel regularly on their "jap bikes".
Now let me ask you, how much have you traveled on your new Electra?
Hey guys. Couldn’t help but write something into this thread from a british guys perspective. I’m 26 and have been riding bikes for 10 years. The reason I found this thread was because I’m off to Delhi in a weeks time and will probably be buying an Enfield.
I realise that there are draw backs to this bike and I did seriously consider getting a hero honda or bajaj. Problem for me is the engine size. Have ridden small bikes and big bikes alike.
Bottom line is small bikes are great around town, but become a chore on the highway. Its nice to have a bit of weight and torque to a bike. If hero or bajaj did a larger bike I would jump at it, but as it is I’ve decided to suffer with potentially poor reliability, but with a bit of character.
As I said before I’m British and old British bikes were never famed for their reliabiliy and as soon as the “jap crap” came over all our factories became obsolete. Though Triumph are back and making some amazing machines.
Outside of India you would be shocked at the bikes you can get and which are considered ‘normal’. This is understandable as your fuel is very expensive relative to peoples wealth. Has your government had a quiet word with hero and baja and told them not to make big bikes? Or is it lack of demand?
Truth is I’ve had as much fun on small bikes as big bikes. My favorite bike was probably an old Yamaha TZR125, but that was probably a combination of being 17 and having the keys to 100mph 2 stroke stealth bike. Last bikes I owned were Kawasaki ZX7R and a KLR650, both great fun but in truth I probably enjoyed riding the KLR650 more once I got onto the twisty mountain roads
If anyone knows of any good bikes for sale I’ll be in Delhi next week. Contact me at IanHutchings82@gmail.com
Happy riding all!!
(Oh yeah, Yogesh, RD350′s are rule!)
Hey Hutchings,
I like your comments dude and very happy, you liked our honda and bajaj
and if you want you can go to karol bagh in delhi, u will get all kind of bikes.
but just one thing, Bullet is ALSO a good bike.
have a happy stay in India.
Ian I think you have got the Indian biking scene a bit wrong. Majority of 150cc motorcycles are faster than 350cc Enfields, not to mention have better fuel economy and brakes. Even the 220-223cc motorcycles from Bajaj and Hero Honda and 150cc R15 from Yamaha, can beat the 500cc Enfield in top end, acceleration and of course braking and fuel economy. Karizma (223cc, 17ps) and Bajaj Pulsar (220cc, 21ps) aren’t light bikes by any means, as they too weigh around 150kg, which is around 20kg less than the Enfields.
As for big bikes, following big bikes are officially sold in India, Yamaha R1, VMax, MT01, Honda CBR1000RR, CB1000R, Suzuki Hayabusa, Intruder M1800R, Ducati 1098R and four more models from Ducati. Harley Davidson would be launching its motorcycles early next year in India and KTM, Kawasaki, Triumph and BMW are also expected be here soon
Is this still goin on man.. ?
Yogesh, ur enjoying it eh?
Enjoy..
This is like Duracell battery, it goes on and on and on and on…
woooooof, i had to do so much of reading
I feel touring spirit is what matters and not the bike u tour on.
By the way i own a pulsar and a bullet electra. I have done a few long rides on both. Both bikes are superb in their own ways. When i have money to shell out i take the bullet else its definitely the pulsar.Lets respect each rider (tourer) and his machine.
cheers
2 years back I bought a thunderbird and this was the biggest mistake of my life!
3 months and 2000Kms the carb starts leaking oil, another month later engine starts leaking oil!
Now is this how all RE are?
thankfully I sold this pile of junk in the 8th month and bought a pulsar 220FI.
I meant leaking petrol, carb leaking petrol
Few month ago i brought Machismo 350, i love my bike.
I think its not yet time to ride bull who has a complain on Machismo.
if there can be some problem in each human then why not in machine / bull man.
First think………………
First of all, i can not believe this thread has gone past the first post of Mr. Ajit Harisinghani. Anyway, Yogesh, it is unfortunate that you think bulleteers are egoists. I must say, you have come across those bulleteers who bought their bullets with the sole purpose of racing P-220s and karizmas on a flat highway and I bet their ego only inflated when realized at top gear and full throttle they are 1000 yards behind P-220s and karizmas. But please dont confuse them with a true bullet lover.
Bullets are leaky, heavy, demands regular maintenance and slower than the modern bikes. But I guess its these properties, which make the bullet owners closer to their bikes. While owning a bullet, each of its parts will eventually have to be replaced/repaired and everytime you do that, the bike becomes more complete to you. Much like a puzzle being solved. So, once you have done around 15k on this bike, you will start to feel this bike rather than ride it.
I have driven P-150,180, RTR-160, CBZ extreme, and consider them much smoother but none of them gives me the PLEASURE of the Lightning 535 that I own.
Sounak I never said all bulleteers are egoists, if I would have said that, then it would mean people like Ajit sir, Prem aka Predator, Gaurav Jani, Ashwani Khanna, Bhuwan Singh and many more motorcycle tourers who tour on Enfields and I know and deeply respect, are egoistic, which is something I can not even dream of doing.
On a lighter note:
I read it somewhere in the web,
How would you recognize a bullet lover? He must have another 100cc bike and a mechanic as his best friend!!!
Actually, its not about bullets and “jap-craps”.In my opinion, there are only two kind of bikers, one which loves cruisers and the other falls for the racers. Maybe thats the reason I dream of a Harley VROD, not a hayabusa….
boys ride toys, men ride bullets
just as a piece of message i like to say that royal enfield bullet engines are based on war vehicles for its tremendous power,and its a crap to say it wont climb a hill,secondly every bullet buyers know that its engine has some flaws,and it is hungry and they buy it by accepting it,only hand full of bikes can be modified,that too their engines,to my knowldge no splendor or a bajaj engine can be modified with a custom made spares,and an proud owning a ROYAL ENFIELD
writing doesnt help…
CAN SOMEONE PL GIVE A RIDE ON HIS BULL… THAT SHOULD DO THE TRICK…
its more then 100 years old framework……there are few draw back, and this happens not only for RE, it happens with all the bikes, dont compare a gold with cheap metal……… you have put stupid crab………. you should feel the charm of the ride…… then you would know…………..
Hi brothers
I’m Arun from Kerala. I’m a regular reader of this blog. I’ve read all the comments that’s been written on this page. Even I have written my experience here (see – Arun on August 23rd above).
I’m happy to announce that my Bullet Electra 5S have completed 10000 km and all free services are over. I’m also happy because I didn’t come over any problems or breakdowns other than changing the left hand side switch (due to tightness in switches) and common key set (wire shortage). That too was done from the service center and comes under warranty (They were done free of cost). The service of Royal Enfield was really fast. I got it changed within a week. The service engineers Biju and Sreeraj were really helpful in maintaining my Bullet in top condition. I feel really sorry for people who had bad experience with Royal Enfield. I think Bullet is for single use. If there is more riders for the same Bullet with different riding style; there is more chance for break downs. Do anyone has other opinions? I also think that no one should go behind second hand Bullet other than vintage lovers because I have seen many people coming twice or thrice in a month to the workshop with their Second hand Bullets. Even one of my classmate got an old Bullet-1979 model and spend around 15000 for repairs and one day he came to me and said that it’s foolishness to go behind second hand bullets and he is going to sell the Bullet and get a new Standard 350 from the showroom. What do you people have to say about this? Any comments Yogesh?
And yes one great news. We have made a hydrogen kit for Bullet. The kit produces HHO gas (combustible gas) from water. This gas is mixed with petrol in the carburetor. It’s really working and more testing and improvements in design are going on. At present we get around 8 km extra mileage (41 km normal and 49-51 after conversion). We are expecting more power and mileage. I’ll inform my brothers when the project becomes successful. You can see the updates here (http://royalrider.blogspot.com).
And advance MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY BROTHERS.
Respect your ride
Respect other riders
Obey traffic rules
AND ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET
KEEP RIDING……….
Arun it is always best to buy a first hand motorcycle, good to know your experience with you bike is going great. As for your friend, my sincere advice would be to get a bike with disc brake, irrespective of the model he decides to go for.
Isnt it obvious that this guy is going on and on just to increase his blog’s ratings…. all u true riders stop commenting on this and go enjoy riding on ur bikes… am off to do the same
Happy Riding…
Well “True Rider”, I thank you for your “in depth analysis” and comment.
well, yogesh i dont really know who u r.but want to tell u something that enfield bullet motorcycles are only classy bikes that u see on indian roads and one thing i say is that all the bullet enthusiasts have great respect towards the machine. which i see is lacking in other bike riders. the worst cult is the 150-180 cc craps. have u ecver noticed the bike accident rates? almost 80-85 percent bike accidents includes cheap pricks like pulsar and bla bla bla. but ull never see a bullet rider riding his machine violently or violating the rules cus its their love for the machine and their passion for riding. we dont need to do some flashy things to get a girl, man. if u have the bull…… the world will follow. and at the end of the day we dont give shit about an ignorant blog that explains why one wont buy a bullet. u r blog is funny.
by the way mine is a 71 made standard 350. still giving 30 on a highway. dont think wat ppl refer to as jap crap would last that long. regards and all the best mate. after all we love riding be it a bike or!!!!!!!
If only people would read properly before commenting, anyways. Well Soumik, if you think you need to buy something, in order for people to start following i.e. liking/admiring you, then all I can say is good luck with that!
As for people riding bullet not riding it in a “violent manner and violating rules”, well I don’t know which city you are from, but I come across as many rule breakers and idiotic riders on an Enfield, as I do on any other bike.
well yogesh im from kolkata. here very less number of people ride a bullet. and i can tell you they ride responsibly.
Come to Delhi or for that matter any city in North India, you will get the shock of your life
Meanwhile a small video for your indulgence, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBVMhFVdVEY
yogesh iv watched all these vids. but its about the riders. and i assure you if someday i move to delhi ill bring my bull along with me and decency ill show on the road. it seems u r an enthusiast and responsible rider too. so we r not fighting here over our preference of bike. rather we’ll keep on riding. and yeah went through your blog. really liked it.
except this one. lol
Soumik that is exactly the point I wanted to convey, it is the rider who matters, not the bike. You simply see more accidental Pulsars, because there are more of these on road and to a certain degree, because they are preferred by younger riders.
Btw earlier I was talking about this post, not the blog. I have simply said here that I wouldn’t buy an Enfield in its current avatar (Classic 500 is a step in the right direction) and most people take it as a abuse/insult to the bike, which it is not.
Any ways, keep riding and have fun
wat do you mean by younger riders?????? man im only 21, final years of my grad. do i sound like a grandpa????????
lol. by the way how do u use the smileys here?
By younger rider I meant teens and well, around your age as well
. I remember when I was 21 (27 now) I used to ride fast and somewhat rash, heck I was even organizing “stunt meets” in Delhi. Thankfully the touring bug was stronger than cheap thrills one and I learned my lesson the easy way.
As for simileys, simply key it in like this (without space and + sign of course)
: + ) =
: + D =
; + ) =
i also mistaken by ur posts. i thought u must be in ur 40s. http://www.yogeshsarkar.com/blog/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif
made a mess. i paste the link of the gif. anyway wont post in this thread again. its meaningless draging this crap issue i guess. n fact u should delete some of the comments.
So I do sound old
, I don’t have any issue with the comments above, as none of them are actually offensive. Yes some didn’t actually understood the point I was trying to convey, while other understood it well and dissected it neatly, but hey it is all in good time.
Plus being an Admin of a forum (where no one is spared) and being an active participant of quite a few forum, such discussions are something I see, deal and argue with on a daily basis, and boy do I love it
Ps. removed + sign from your above post, as you don’t need to add it in the smiley.
Bullet lovers are so heartly impacted just like yogest might have touched the bee hive. And one of the unwanted chap well above in the comments have written and named the other bikes as plastic bikes. buddy think about yourself as you are also not made up as ironman. And driving a steel or ironed bike does not only speaks stability or reliability. its the heart of the rider whos sole is just unbeatable, then what is leh? and one thing about yogesh, he does not write about the negativity of anything, but he only says what he feels which is apart not all can think. Who says bullet is finest or reliable bike. does it have not punctured yet…or have a nitrox gas button to take you in the sky?, if that doesnot matter, i would prefer my karizma which is suiting me from last four years which is confined as Best touring bike…it can carry loads as bullet can with another rider with a better mileage and picks….stability should not be questioned and this is what pulsar 180 can also do……
Common…be a human …not a ENVY.
okay now I will tell why I would select Royal Enfield bikes
1,It’s royal than any other bikes in India(leave the foreign ones)
2,Comfort level is fantastic(No other bike will get like this)
3,Royal enfield makes us more masculine and more male like(I don’t know how to explain this),just think if you are sitting in pulsar or any other bikes will you get the same style and proud?
4,It’s correct what they say…built like a gun goes like a bullet…when a bullet get heat up…just ride some 10 kms…no bike will be able to catch it(now don’t trust magazines,top spedd of Royal enfield bullet is 100km/h they say….its fake…it will reach 130+ easily)
5,cruising at low speed in a bullet is worth getting some girls as well as showing our inviduality
6,well I seen guys talking about brakes are poor here?why?OMG it will not slip like other bikes as it got more weight…you shoukd have a disk brake..and bullet’s disk brake is the biggest too
7,I love its sound,let the dudes notice us…who cares when starting a pulsar or karizma..(well I’m telling this coz I have experienced it,I own a pulsar 180)
8,Then its royal again….no other bikes will last like bullets…
I will also say what I dislike in this bike
1,I don’t like the gear ratios of this bike…if ratios are raised sure it will exceed 160km/h coz of this low end torque(guys notice that bullet have the highest torque)
2,Bullet seriosly need a oil cooled engine…it will become so warm in no time,over heat
Enfield company should make a sports model too
well Guys I think you got why to buy a bullet
okay then don’t misunderstand me that I’m an old guy….a bullet lover…yeah I’m but I’m new generation….just 18 years old
“Royal enfield makes us more masculine and more male like(I don’t know how to explain this),just think if you are sitting in pulsar or any other bikes will you get the same style and proud?”
Ever thought about buying another Enfield? That would make you even more masculine and male like!
another? it seems that he doesnt have first one
its evident which one he has from the post though 
Hi brothers..
I don’t have much to say other than
I LOVE MY BULLET (completing 12000 km).
….ANY BIKE IS JUST A MACHINE…..
WHEN YOU BUY IT, IT GETS LIFE.
WHEN YOU LOVE IT, IT GETS WINGS.
WHEN YOU RESPECT IT, IT GIVES BACK WHAT YOU DESERVE.
WHEN YOU NEGLECT IT, IT DIES AND LEAVES NO MEMORY.
Best of luck Yogesh
Keep riding
ALWAYS WEAR A HELMET
Hi Yogesh,
Its a never ending discussion…
I do agree with u in terms of reliablity, performance and pricing of the bike….however just wanted to share..
I have a Yamaha Rx100 93 make which is still going fantastic and has not troubled me even once in the last 10 years.I have a electra and have booked the classic 350 as well
Trust me, when we talk about bikes its not just a medium to commute.. we are talking about the experience of riding…… i just ride these two bikes only… its the fact that i don’t,rather wont own any other bike other than these two..its not about the looks, its solely coz of the performance…If u say that you love your Pulsar 180 Gr8… Dont mind u r a traveller not a biker… being a biker u r least bothered about the problems what u face.. u just concentrate and love the throttle and feel the bike not the road while driving….
Hey Bulletters Keep going.. let people say what they wanna say… we are not the travellers… we know the machine.. we love the thump… we feel the throttle…. Jai Hind
If being a biker means putting up with bike troubles and treating it as some kind of blessing, then I am so vary grateful for being a traveler.
@ navin
buddy with due respect i want to ask you something………… who gave you the right to say that bullet riders are not travellers?????????? enfield bullet is meant to be a travelling bike. first get your issues clear or dont talk words that bring shame on the community. and do you really think when i a biker travels its someone else who take care of the bike and he only enjoys the site seeing and take photographs????? get a life dude. and you own two grat bikes ever happened to india rx100 and bullet, so why dont be a traveler for a day? im sure u’ll get to know ur bullet dsnt belong your fancy city streets but that wilderness.
no hard feelings and nothing personal here.
Hey Soumik.. I believe that i was not able to put my words right…
However I still feel that there is a huge difference being a commuter and a biker…..If one needs a bike for their daily use.. then why people go for Harley or Bullets…u go for these bikes because you love to drive something to which u can relate….i never intended to say that bulleteers are not treavellers…just wanna ask u.. will u go 500kms on a platina or even pulsar… u dont just wanna see places or capture the beauty in ur lenses.. u also want to feel the ride….what say…probably the right word was commuter( traveller)… M sorry for that
lol, dude have you ever even done 500kms in a day? Btw the Pulsars you are talking about are not only capable of doing Srinagar – Delhi (936km) in a single day (http://www.yogeshsarkar.com/trips/ladakh05/day16-17.htm) but are also capable enough to do saddle sore, http://www.bcmtouring.com/forum/general-discussions-f21/finally-i-make-iba-list-t11808/ and http://www.bcmtouring.com/forum/travelogues-f9/1813-kms-23-hrs-33-min-log-t3012/, which hasn’t yet been done by any Bullet, not to mention numerous Raid De Himalayas and other Rally titles which majority of the Enfields can not even finish!
navin
dude i told you, first get your issues clear………… do you even know the difference between commuting amd traveling????? i guess no. its needless talking to you. and about yogesh’s blog, well i dont support the topic. but we made it clear earlier that its all about the spirit of discovering the road. u can chk earlier posts.
I am a bulleteer and I am fed up of my RE Machismo 350. I also own a 125cc bike that gives me 70kmpl. The Bullet’s mileage is deplorable. The gear shift is unreliable. Got no electric start. The maintenance is comparable to keeping an elephant. Still, when I ride the mean machine, the thump ringing in my ears, the breeze brushing my hair, I really feel Royal. Almost everyday I notice people looking lustily in the direction of the thump. Most people stop and let me go first when I make a turn. I hit my horns and the Splendor rider gives way
. Its just about getting your priorities right. The RE stands for “Royal” Enfield. Its meant for people who love to ride and not just commute. You choose how you want to ride…….Keep riding.
These are my take on the points put forward by Yogesh:
Royal Enfield Motorcycles aren’t reliable: My take is that Bullets are not unreliable; they are quirky. It needs a little understanding of the technology behind it to treat this quirkiness.
Royal Enfields don’t have good range: 400km on a full tank (14 litre * 30 kmpl) is a good enough distance between two petrol bunks. It is not that we fill it and forget about it. Fill it and have a small planning in the back of your mind.
Royal Enfields are heavy: This weight factor adds to the comfort of the ride. What I’m trying to do with my Bullet is ride and discover new places; not haul a lorry that was capsized on the roadside. So far I never got stuck up any where in any of my rides for want of torque so that my Bullet can climb up a gradient.
Egoistic Bullet riders: Well this is a A generalisation. And I like this comment on generalization – no pun intended here – “One who generalises is one who generaly lies”. Ego is human trait and not the character of a Bullet rider. It could be that a major chunk of egoistic men flock towards Bullet as its look, feel and thump pampers their ego.
I like to put forward that we Bulleteers are not driven by logic while purchasing a Bullet. Some factor of our growing up process made us inclined to like that kind of naked, old school style of design – only metal, see thru look, and no plastics put around it to give it a veneer. What it has, it needs. For now it is just a Bullet that fits our dream in India. I think all Bullet lovers would also love to lay their hands on any naked bike or choppers from Triumph or Victory or Harley.
Recently I came across the following lines in an article by one Mr Dilip Bam in indiabike.com. And I liked them. I’m just copying them below.
“Eliminator will get eliminated by a bigger, faster, Eliminator. A new terminator will overcome the pulse of the Pulsar. The Shogun will be overshadowed by the Ronin, the RX 135 by the ZXR, and so on. But the Bullet will remain Bullet. For it is not a reality. It is a dream. … A dream called BULLET.”
Sunil in the first three points you are just trying to justify the inefficiencies, which is all good if you are in love with a bullet, but not really for a traveler like me.
As for egoistic rider part, I haven’t said anywhere that all the people who own Bullets and RE motorcycles are egoists.
[...] it was the fact that the petrol tank capacity has been reduced by a liter (according to me even the initial capacity was low) and so has the ground [...]
Well Yogesh may be you are right in your cribbings about bullet. But, by the way most reilable two wheeler on earth is a bicycle and it fullfils all the points you mentioned. Its light, needs no petrol and you can carry all the things in it with rider power being the only limitation.
I view a two wheeler like bullet or bigger bikes or a sport bike is just like a toy. Just the way one does not try justfy the toys one should play or buy same is true for this.This bikes are for riding pleasure and NOT FOR JUST GOING TO A to B. That you can do in car or anything else. You do not have to bash bullet to say this. You can say you just need a powered two wheeler to carry to from point A to B. Except the commuter bikes all the other bikes have characters and either you like it or hate it. As far the reilability of bullets all the new ones has excellent reliablity. Finally try to maintain any of your favorite commuter after 10 years you will understand the meaning of relaiablity. And please keep in mind many bullets running on our roads are very old – ~ 20 years or more.
Guys, here’s my 2 cents to the discussion, and still Yogesh I do agree with the reliability or rather the lack of it with bullet’s. Atleast my bullet is not what I would call RELIABLE, but somehow when I am back in India I still ride it more than the other 2 bikes that I have ( 1 HH Passion ) and (Bajaj Pulsar).
You have a right to your opinion and me to mine, so I’ll leave this place with this article I read somewhere.
What can be bigger than a Bullet ????????
Why a Bullet
A great article for those interested in the Enfield Bullet ! Check out when time permits.
Might explain why guys like me still ride the Bullet Inspite of all the negatives that naysayers can shoot at it,,,….
What’s bigger than the Bullet? – Swami Ashwinananda Friday, November 07, 2003
Seemingly innocent question, teenaged boy on a bicycle, small dusty village on NH 45. And considering I was on an RE 500, I smiled confidently and replied ‘nothing else in the country’! Little did I know I was being set up to be knocked down. The young chap had been strolling around my bike as I enjoyed the customary ‘chai’ at a local tea shop, his casual air of disinterest thinly concealing the gleam of admiration in his eyes. My answer was met with a disdainful smirk. ‘I saw a foreigner on a Yamaha last week. That was much bigger. He told me they’re going to make it in India. 1200 cc, and it was sooo (he stretched his arms out as far as they would go) big. When I’m old enough, that’s what I’m going to ride’. He gave my bike one last look out of the corner of his eye, then pedaled away nonchalantly on his creaky bicycle. Many kilometers down the road, and alone with my thoughts on the highway, I pondered his question. It was the classic mental pivot. Both ridiculously simplistic and unbelievably deep at the same time.
‘What’s bigger than the Bullet?’
In the old days, people bought a Bullet not because of displacement, size or weight, but for very different reasons. It was the ‘Raja Gadi’. The choice of real men. At least that was the picture Bullet advertising painted then, and a vivid and colourful picture it was, best viewed with the ‘Bullet meri jaan’ jingle playing in your head.
Then about 15 years ago, the Jap Bike wars started. First there were the hundreds, then later the one-tens, the one-fifties, the one-seventy-fives… each claiming to deliver more power and ‘better mileage’, if that’s even possible at the same time, than the other. Buzz boxes abounded, tiddlers screamed manically on every street, and on another road far from where these marketing, R&D and advertising wars were being fought, the Grand Daddy of them all chugged steadily towards the brink of oblivion.
Recently though, there seems to be have been a revival of sorts, at first glance, rather heartening to a die-hard British motorcycle enthusiast like me. It seems as though more people are waking up from their Jap drone-induced stupor, and noticing that there was always a bike that was ‘bigger’ than the plastic clad Jappos available in the country.
Suddenly, one sees many young, macho, iron pumping, testosterone charged, leather clad gentlemen on Bullets. Not just the new-fangled ones, but some even on bikes a tad older than they are. Heartened by this turn of events, I accosted one recently, and asked him why he had chosen to ride a Bullet. My eager curiosity was met by a flat and fake-accented answer. ‘Who wants to buy a 180 cc when there’s a 535 cc available maan. It’s the biggest bike in India!’
I smiled thinly, shook his hand, and walked away thinking to myself ‘maybe the Bullet did manage to stop before it got all the way to oblivion. But it’s probably just standing there teetering at the brink.’
There’s a reason for my pessimism. Viewed from the cubic capacity perspective, the BHP perspective, the wheelbase and weight perspective, the ‘sheer size’ perspective or the advertising budget perspective, there will soon be many, many contenders to the position of Biggest Motorcycle in India. Which means that our testosterone-charged gentleman would buy one of them the moment it shows up on the market (attractively priced I might add). Just as soon, I presume, as he’d use an opportunity to take his shirt off and flex his tattooed muscles.
People today seem to be buying the Bullet for reasons like machismo (pun unintended), attitude, power and freedom. All the wrong reasons if you ask me. Because they’re all easily re-created, duplicated, and maybe even outdone by competition. Just like the 100cc Japs stopped the Bullet in its tracks 15 years ago, we’ll soon have 250, 350 and maybe even 750 and 1200cc Japs shooting the Bullet down again with weapons like cubic capacity, cruiser styling, fatter tyres, more chrome, and more jeans-leather-and-scantily-clad-women advertising — all of which are in vogue now.
So what is it that will keep the Bullet competitive through the waves of onslaught from bikes that cater to the changing fancies of fickle Indian motorcyclists? What does the Bullet have going for it that no other manufacturer can hope to match no matter how much money he spends on research, development, space-age materials and nubile models?
I think the answer can be summed up in one word. Character.
To me, the Bullet stands for simplicity. A design that worked well not because it changed to incorporate every new discovery at NASA, but because the folks that designed it 50 years ago got everything right the first time. And then didn’t try to fix things that weren’t broke. It’s a bike that has built a reputation for being reliable, simple to work with, comfortable to be with, and lasts a whole lifetime… which is definitely a whole lifetime longer than the Japs, who outdate their throwaway models before one has even paid the second EMI. The most interesting thing is that over the years, this unglamorous but truly solid reputation has rubbed off on people that ride the Bullet too. The result, when one looks closely, is a bond between an individual and his Bullet, where one is but the mirror of the other.
To some folks like me who’ve wanted a Bullet since we were kids, it was the persona of these people that inspired the choice of a motorcycle more than the intrinsic value of the motorcycle itself. They were simple people, responsible people, strong people (not just in body) and they were people you could trust and rely on. I for one just bought into the quiet pride, solidity and soft spoken yet powerful image of Bullet riders I saw as a child, only to realize much later that these were the qualities of the bike itself.
In this day where people are realizing it’s better to step back from technology and glamour sometimes and fly subsonic rather than supersonic, I hope that people soon learn to appreciate and aspire to own the Bullet for what it is. A piece of machinery that has lived, served, rewarded and stood by its owners long enough to develop a character of its own. A motorcycle that has reached that point in evolution where its value cannot be measured in cubic centimeters, kilometres per hour or pounds per square inch. And a brand that speaks volumes for its owner for a lifetime… always saying just the same old good things.
If I had encountered my cyclist friend on the way back, I would have stopped him on his creaky bicycle and given him the answer I should have given him in the first place.
There’s just one thing that’s bigger than the Bullet. It’s the pride of owning one.