[bblost]

Get the 500. The torque is worth it.

[motorpsycho]

Higher capacity helps in a much relaxed ride, advantage of higher cursing speeds, you have on tap power for over takes and torque for lugging luggage.

If fuel efficiency is not an issue the 500 makes more sense and is also a more fun bike.

Cheers

[zaks]

Wow, I should say the feeling here is uninaimous --> CL500. Good, because I am also feeling the same thing

Can anything be done about the waiting period? Why is it 6-10months, are they making it to order then? How about going to chennai and getting one from the showroom closest to the RE factory .

Any idea if they take direct bulk orders, like what if a dozen bikes can be delivered by the company itself.

[Ragul]

I am not a bullet owner, but I read news item somewhere that they are re-introducing the carb version after so many problems with EFI. Go for that one ...

--Ragul

[VW2010]

If you have the moolah, always the 500. Remember how you felt riding a 350 after riding a pulsar. The same feeling creeps in when you ride a 500 and your 350 looksand feels "Not enough".

I bought my 500 in 2004 and dont regret a minute.

[zaks]

Hmm, so the carb version is in the offing then. That's the reason I am little wary about EFI, because if something is not reliable then it's better to opt for simpler gadget than a complex one.
But I can go ahead and book I think and later change it to carb once it is released.

[Puffdamgcdragon]

I booked the Classic 500 (Green) the day before yesterday. The dealer has promised me delivery within 30-45 days. Am really excited.

[Spitfire]

Originally Posted by zaks

Hmm, so the carb version is in the offing then. That's the reason I am little wary about EFI, because if something is not reliable then it's better to opt for simpler gadget than a complex one.
But I can go ahead and book I think and later change it to carb once it is released.

Guess what!! You are the perfect clientele for Royal Enfield. You should go ahead and get the 500, carb or not it really does not matter.

[Puffdamgcdragon]

The latest news is that even the Chrome and Standard 500 are likely to come with EFI. Seems RE has solved the issues regarding the Fuel Injection and lack of Sensors by remapping the EFI and cold spark plugs. I got confident enough to book the Classsic 500. If it gives trouble I'll keep replacing the plugs untill Race Dynamics people bring out their ECU. It'll be a plug-ans-play ECu within 10grands that should take care of all the problems of the 500. (Fingers crossed)..

Randhawa should know the details.

[Puffdamgcdragon]

I've haven't tried the Classic 500 for a long trip but i used to own a Machismo LB500 and my Cousin has a Thunderbird UCE 350. In the hills, going fast up, the LB was waaaayyyy more powerful. U can feel the frustrating lack of power in the 350 once u get used to the 500, esp. when U are riding two-up.

And the Classic 500 with UCE is supposed to be much more powerful than the LB500.

More than outright bhp, in the Ghats, it's the torque that matters. The more, the merrier..

[Randhawa]

Buy the C5 or else you will regret it once you ride the C5 and buy C3.

[stnair]

Buy C3. It has the tried and trusted engine of TBTS - more than 4 years on Indian roads. Good F.E and you can cruise all day long at 80kmph. I ve been using it for 9 months now and great for city rides too.

If your usage pattern is more on daily city commuting and occasional Highway rides, then C3 makes more sense and value for money - and moreover it has none of the problems associated with C5 - like sensor mapping, absent O2 sensor, high speed instability etc etc.

Only advice is never test ride a C5.

EssYouWee... where are you? Come and defend our C3...these bhpians are putting us to shame....

[Randhawa]

Our instability starts where your C3 runs out of breath, you can never loose what you never had. Try overtaking anything above 100 and going on a highway cruising at 120 all day long and enough juice left to overtake at 140. You should see the faces of the 4 wheelers turning from red to pale when you overtake at 140 on a bullet and keep it for hours at a stretch. Reaction and feeling is priceless hehehe now beat that..

[Beast_of_Burden]

@zaks - Until you see more data points proving the C5's reliability, stay away. I suspect the long waiting period is because RE is working through the issues, not because they can't make them fast enough. It is a bad strategy to beta test a product on the general public, the risk of permanently tarnishing the company's reputation being rather high. A limited release on the other hand might be a cost effective way to leverage the early adapters to fine tune a product. They have to weather the storm a bit, but it does make sense to me.

My prediction is that RE is feeling pretty confident at this point that they would have a reasonable grip on all the issues by the time of the launch of the new variants. Mark my words, the waiting period will drop drastically after that. No company in their right minds would like to lose sales, they will pull back only if they are not 100% confident of their product.

Mind you, I am not entirely doubting the superlative performance and VFM pricing although some reports are somewhat uneven e.g. some say it accelerates to 90 quickly but has difficulty getting to 120 while others say that it can hang on to that speed forever. It is possible to have variations in performance from bike to bike, especially when the production process hasnt yet stabilised fully.

[jeeva]

Go for the Classic 500. Its worth it.
I am only used to standard 350's and a CI 500. The other day, I rode the Classic 500 and was blown away by its sheer torque. On a 500, you can be more relaxed during long rides and that's an important factor you would want to consider. The 350s get stressed out once you cross the 100kmph barrier and is at its best cruising at 80-90kmph.