Royal Enfield...A full circle indeed!

[Icarus]

it's just maintenance heavy for the first two years

Glad to see this a more common problem, just the other day the brake shoe in my front wheel disintegrated and locked the wheel, landing me on the road. The mechanic made light of it by saying "Sir naye gari hai, masla toh nikalay gi na, bas chalatay rahain aik adh saal main bilkul behtereen hojaye gi".

 

[nair]

Not reliable" is a wrong description for RE, they are one of the most reliable bikes, I have used a thunderbird for the last 10 years..it's just maintenance heavy for the first two years. People have used a bullet for 30-40 years without a hitch.

That used to be the case earlier.... But with strict emission norms and additions things have changed a lot...... Not only that once they increased their production capacity, things are not as good as it used to be..... Having said that, It is not a bad bike in any aspect, especially when you consider the current industry standards...

 

[illusion8]

That used to be the case earlier.... But with strict emission norms and additions things have changed a lot...... Not only that once they increased their production capacity, things are not as good as it used to be..... Having said that, It is not a bad bike in any aspect, especially when you consider the current industry standards...

The new buyers aren't as sentimental as well. We see a lot of design changes and different marketing methods..

Glad to see this a more common problem, just the other day the brake shoe in my front wheel disintegrated and locked the wheel, landing me on the road. The mechanic made light of it by saying "Sir naye gari hai, masla toh nikalay gi na, bas chalatay rahain aik adh saal main bilkul behtereen hojaye gi".

Thankfully, I haven't had any spill yet..except once when I was completely sloshed and crashed into a road divider.

 

[nair]

Glad to see this a more common problem, just the other day the brake shoe in my front wheel disintegrated and locked the wheel, landing me on the road. The mechanic made light of it by saying "Sir naye gari hai, masla toh nikalay gi na, bas chalatay rahain aik adh saal main bilkul behtereen hojaye gi".

Lol.... You did not bash him????? That is one of the most dangerous thing can happen in a two wheeler...... Very rare instance here though...... It makes things worse since it was front wheel, thank god you are safe to post here.....

The new buyers aren't as sentimental as well. We see a lot of design changes and different marketing methods

I know, i have handled old customers on bullet, These guys do not want any sound other than that of the dug dug...... Lol..... A small rattling from engine would make them land in workshop

 

[Icarus]

Thankfully, I haven't had any spill yet..except once when I was completely sloshed and crashed into a road divider.

I've had a number of small accidents on two-wheelers only one major accident when a Toyota Hiace crashed into me at about 80kmph, that was terrible.

 

[SmilingBuddha]

Himalayan , RE is working on it.

 

[Icarus]

Lol.... You did not bash him????? That is one of the most dangerous thing can happen in a two wheeler...... Very rare instance here though...... It makes things worse since it was front wheel, thank god you are safe to post here.....

This is the first time I've heard of it happening to someone here too. Never even thought anything like this is possible!

 

[livingdead]

"Not reliable" is a wrong description for RE, they are one of the most reliable bikes, I have used a thunderbird for the last 10 years..it's just maintenance heavy for the first two years. People have used a bullet for 30-40 years without a hitch.



South and services is their largest market.

its all relative, I expect my bike to just run .. even if I keep it outside in rain for 2 days or not ride for 3 month... I used to have a tvs bike.. I doubt enfield will reach that level of reliability... dirt cheap to get fixed too.
bullet people are known to make love to their bike .. so I would take your word as an expression of love.. I never owned so wont know.... I wish I bought 350 instead of tvs bike though because for most of us, you just got 10 - 15 years of motorcycling life.

 

[H.B.]

Enfield riding clubs are very popular all over India. My school mate is the head of the local Enfield club. They organise regular rides and expeditions. Some time back they drove to Myanmar. There is also one regional level annual Enfield meet which is a pretty huge event.

 

[illusion8]

its all relative, I expect my bike to just run .. even if I keep it outside in rain for 2 days or not ride for 3 month... I used to have a tvs bike.. I doubt enfield will reach that level of reliability... dirt cheap to get fixed too.
bullet people are known to make love to their bike .. so I would take your word as an expression of love.. I never owned so wont know.... I wish I bought 350 instead of tvs bike though because for most of us, you just got 10 - 15 years of motorcycling life.

yeah - I guess, one is a bullet person or not..but I doubt any other bike compares to bullets for its longevity. A doctor friend of mine did a 14,500 km drive through India on his bullet alone - took him 45 days and he had just one flat through out his whole trip. He averaged at 500 kms a day driving.

 

[nair]

This is the first time I've heard of it happening to someone here too. Never even thought anything like this is possible!

What exactly happened? may be i could explain it

How many of you know that Enfield used to make 50 cc motor cycle and step thru mopeds??...... And probabaly they were the first to have introduced disc brake in india....

 

[VCheng]

Glad to see this a more common problem, just the other day the brake shoe in my front wheel disintegrated and locked the wheel, landing me on the road. The mechanic made light of it by saying "Sir naye gari hai, masla toh nikalay gi na, bas chalatay rahain aik adh saal main bilkul behtereen hojaye gi".

Do you mean the friction material delaminated from its backing plate? That is a manufacturing defect. Or did the whole shoe break free from its installed position, which would suggest faulty assembly?

 

[Icarus]

What exactly happened? may be i could explain it

I could feel that something was off about the front brake for some time as it kept tightening and loosening on its own but I thought that it was an issue with the cable, maybe it needed some tightening and that's why I kept deferring it. Then one day, while riding from Wah back to Islamabad, I was crossed by a car over a blind curve and decided to slow down a bit in case he had switched lanes, I engaged the rear and front brake for a bit but when I released them, the front brake didn't disengage and the tyre became locked, leading the bike to slide out of control and crash.
Afterwards when I got up and tried to start my journey again, the front wheel remained stationary and would not turn. I got to work and disengaged the cable, still believing it was at fault but to no avail, even disconnecting it entirely did not help. That's when I finally decided to open the drum up and found the brake shoe to be shaved clean of its breaking surface and the leather was all around the drum after having been ripped from the brake shoe surface. I removed the brake shoe and the tyre started spinning again like there is no problem, drove to a nearby mechanic and had a new brake show installed in its place in addition to working on some of the damage due to the crash.

Do you mean the friction material delaminated from its backing plate? That is a manufacturing defect. Or did the whole shoe break free from its installed position, which would suggest faulty assembly?

No just the friction material (called leather in local bike lingo) had been pulled clean off the surface and more or less disintegrated.

 

[livingdead]

yeah - I guess, one is a bullet person or not..but I doubt any other bike compares to bullets for its longevity. A doctor friend of mine did a 14,500 km drive through India on his bullet alone - took him 45 days and he had just one flat through out his whole trip. He averaged at 500 kms a day driving.

Bro, nobody is born that way...
In my case it was affordability, i did not even have money to buy the tvs bike and took loan from bank... glad i did because I will never get that time back, when you are young bikes are an expression of unbridled freedom and joy..

also I had the misconception that bullet is too heavy and difficult to handle... I was determined not to buy hero-honda because every fuc*ing guy has that.. between sexy but shoddy quality bajaj... and slightly dull but better quality tvs, I chose tvs.

 

[VCheng]

I could feel that something was off about the front brake for some time as it kept tightening and loosening on its own but I thought that it was an issue with the cable, maybe it needed some tightening and that's why I kept deferring it.

And, that, Sir, is your fault for ignoring a problem with the brakes.