[grplr02]

Originally Posted by bhasker

For some reason, I feel that the Cafe Racer is not going to be a successful product.
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Though their might be takers for its looks and Continental GT tag, but the street races might want to look toward other options like KTM Duke 390 and Kawasaki Ninja 300.

See post by karthikpra in the previous page ...

Originally Posted by karthikpra

I don't understand why we are comparing this to the duke or the ninja. Despite being in the same price bracket, these bikes appeal to different sets of people. Personal i feel the duke is for someone who loves the power, the ninja is for someone who loves the way the bike handles on the track and the cafe racer is for someone who wants it for its unique styling. If we expect everything from every bike, what makes them different?

Looking at the “racer” in the café racer” name and thinking RE is positioning this as a pure race bike is getting it a bit off-track to say the least! This is a retro-styled fun bike that evokes the spirit of the café racer culture of the 1950s and 60s – i.e. modified everyday bikes ridden fast on the streets of UK primarily, by young guys out to have some fun. It is NOT designed to win any races, especially not against modern speed machines. Check out the various online reviews, both nationally and internationally, and they range from outright enthusiasm to grudging acknowledgement. Granted there are the usual complaints – horsepower could’ve been better, some vibrations at higher speed, stock pipes, etc. – most reviewers agree this is a fun bike that will be great for weekend joy riding, and even for everyday urban commuting. Nobody talks about racing it. I’m sure somebody will be racing it in the vintage race series (like the AHRMA in the U.S. but that’s a different story).

RE couldn’t have timed it better as the café racer and custom/retro/vintage bike scene has undergone a global resurgence in the past few years and this year is pretty much being acknowledged as the “tipping point” as far as mainstream awareness is concerned.

I spend part of the year in the U.S. and even in the most motorcycle-unfriendly cities like New York City, there is a growing number of young people discovering motorcycling, and a significant proportion of these people are NOT going for the latest, fastest bikes but for the classic, old and retro-styled bikes. The scene is a far cry from the shiny, chromed-out-pseudo-monster-chopper scene of a few years ago (West Coast Choppers etc.) Those used to be for older guys with loads of cash who wanted a “style statement.” That has thankfully died down, Gawd, some (most) of those bikes were hideously ugly! The authentic chopper guys are still around, but they usually prefer old engines (mostly pre-evo-Harley but also old Triumph, BSA, etc.) and no chrome!

Now the scene here is a young guy with limited budget who picks up an old Honda CB550 or a Yamaha XS650 from the 1970s, customizes it to his taste – usually a stripped down, minimal chrome look, be it cafe racer, brat, street tracker, chopper or bobber styling - and is out & about on the city streets. And for folks with a bit more cash to spend and looking for modern-day dependability you have the Triumph Bonneville range (HUGELY popular), the Moto Guzzi V7, Harley Sportsters, RE, Ural … Honda is back with the CB1100, BMW just introduced the NineT, Yamaha is re-introducing the SR400 for its 35th birthday this year … The RE Continental GT is right up there in this mix of super-cool retro-style modern bikes with one foot in the hallowed past and one foot in the modern day. I hope and I think that they’ll do well.

[bhasker]

Here is a link to an album uploaded on Royal Enfield's Facebook Page today, with the title "Royal Enfield Continental GT Bangalore Burn Up". The album contains 47 photos. A group of five Continental GT's rode on Bangalore roads. The riders rode on prominent roads and made many stops at popular malls and marketplaces. The curious crowd seem to have checked out the Continental GT and it attracted many onlookers. All the riders wore Continental GT special riding gears, helmets, jackets etc. This is a publicity event, before the Continental GT is actually launched in Goa on November 26.

Here is the link to the album:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...3693645&type=3

Cheers !

[Majumdarda]

Good news for Pune Guys

Just got an e-mail from Brahma Motors, informing that 5 GTs will be doing the rounds in Pune at the popular hangouts on the 13th November (Wednesday) and 15th November (Friday)

All interested may please mark your presence at the designated spots and see for yourself. ( I belief we can ask some questions too )

Below is the schedule :-



I am happy with my Amun-Ra, but will definitely try to catch the Friday event, just to see these motorcycles, from close up front.

Anyone coming? Lets catch up and welcome the new beast in the town

Best regards,

[Majumdarda]

I was present at the MG road at the stipulated time, along with my Sony and Canon. But unfortunately there was no GT in sight. Was present from 3:45 pm till 4:45 pm. So might be they have cancelled the event and planned for some other day.

[praveen_sathaye]

From what i heard the MG Road run got canned because of the Processions and Police Bandobast. The GT's were spotted on East Street between 3 and 4:30, and then at St Patricks in Wanowarie and Coffee Jar after that.

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[B O V]

I wonder how many of the current RE owners would go for this?I sincerely expected so much more from RE.Given that the bike would be in the 2-2.5 lakh Rupee price tag.IMO not worth it.

Sure its definitely a looker and they have improved on some aspects.I was waiting for something truly different from RE.Maybe a twin.However I suppose that not going to happen.

Maybe they will start to feel the heat off similarly priced but more powerful bikes from other manufacturers in the future.

[Majumdarda]

Originally Posted by praveen_sathaye

From what i heard the MG Road run got canned because of the Processions and Police Bandobast. The GT's were spotted on East Street between 3 and 4:30, and then at St Patricks in Wanowarie and Coffee Jar after that

The processions etc got cleared from the roads withing 4:15 PM as I was present there all the time. Moreover if an event like this is being organised, then I wonder that how come information was not procured before hand and then on what basis were the route information sent as invitation. Also, if the event is indeed changing its route (as authorities would have understood) then why was there no update communication ?

Probably expectations on these lines should not be entertained by me

Originally Posted by B O V

I wonder how many of the current RE owners would go for this?I sincerely expected so much more from RE.Given that the bike would be in the 2-2.5 lakh Rupee price tag.IMO not worth it.

Sure its definitely a looker and they have improved on some aspects.I was waiting for something truly different from RE.Maybe a twin.However I suppose that not going to happen.

Maybe they will start to feel the heat off similarly priced but more powerful bikes from other manufacturers in the future.

I also have this question. Also who is the target customer of this GT? Paying 2.5l, might be easier for some, but for others it will be tag too expensive. And most importantly where is the road to drive these 535cc machines? RE has a cruiser image attached to it, right from the WW days. But then with the GT, other than a rich man's fickle minded expense, I really cannot relate this to anything else. At least on Indian roads

[B O V]

Originally Posted by Majumdarda

TAnd most importantly where is the road to drive these 535cc

I take it that you mean that 535 cc is a lot of power?.Well I'm of the opinion that its too less.IMO They are doing as less as possible on their bikes.In terms of R & D that is.I would have been extremely happy had they put in a 700-1000cc twin.Simply because there was a 700 cc twin.Called the meteor if not mistaken(or was that a rebadged Indian).So had they introduced something along these lines even at a slight premium,It would have been a welcome change.

Cheers

[Majumdarda]

Originally Posted by B O V

I take it that you mean that 535 cc is a lot of power?.Well I'm of the opinion that its too less.IMO They are doing as less as possible on their bikes.In terms of R & D that is.I would have been extremely happy had they put in a 700-1000cc twin.Simply because there was a 700 cc twin.Called the meteor if not mistaken(or was that a rebadged Indian).So had they introduced something along these lines even at a slight premium,It would have been a welcome change.

Cheers

It is not about the power (though that also plays a role) but more regarding the posture of driving and the accompanying roads

[eltoro]

I am current Royal Enfield owner and own the cast iron engined Bullet Electra. I was very excited to see the Continental GT being announced finally after a long wait of 2 years. Even the reviews by most international auto journalists gave me a very good impression of the GT. So much so that I went ahead and booked a Thunderbird 500 (which I had no intention to buy) so that I could later switch the booking and hope to get one of the first deliveries.

I got a chance to feel the bike during the Bombay burnup which happened on Sunday. Surprisingly I was most disappointed with what I saw. The bar-end mirrors which look cool are totally unusable and impractical. The overall finish of the bike does not justify the price tag at all and the bike feels too plasticky and wannabe. Even my 6 year old daughter told me that please do not exchange the current Bullet for this bike as this does not look like a biker's bike. My primary use for bikes is to go on longish rides read 2 rides to Ladakh in a period of 10 months and mostly around 300 kms odd from Bombay. I thought if I ride this for about 100 kms or so I might need to be hospitalized with a broken back, this despite the fact that I am 6 feet tall and have pretty long arms to match as well.

The expected on-road price of 2.5 lakhs seems to be pretty steep considering all these facts and I have decided that I would rather wait for a couple of years and buy a Triumph Bonneville rather than blow away hard earned 2 and a half big ones on something that is not worth it.

RE - Putting world class components like Paoli shocks, Pirelli tyres, Brembo disc brakes, etc does not absolve you from the responsibility of building and assembling a world class bike if you want to be the World no. 1 in the mid-size bike market. The mentality of handing down a cheaply finished product with its own set of niggles to be fixed by the customer has to be done away with.

[Majumdarda]

Originally Posted by eltoro

... the bike feels too plasticky ...

Hi eltoro,

Though personally I did not get a chance to see these machines close up front, but I am a little worried about the term "plasticky". Please correct me if I am wrong, but do you mean to say that the motorcycle has visible plastic parts, like the petrol tank or some other prominent parts? I myself am not too pleased with the GT either (for reasons known best to me), but if RE is changing the material constituents too ?

[shan2129]

After owning 4 RE motorcycles in the last 10 years, I am pretty sure that Continental GT would not be a good choice for people in India. It might be something for guys in UK, as they are ones getting all the eye candy & performance stuff. We will be getting a very standard bike ( without the bar end mirrors, exhaust, brembo & paoli.

Now, I currently own a TB500 & on 19th of November 2013, when I was riding downhill from Mussoorie to Dehradun, my rear brakes failed ( not jammed, failed ). Though I was able to stop my bike, It was a real panic situation for me. I was doing almost 70 when this happened.

So, when a RE motorcycle built less than a year ago, shows almost non existent quality control, how can I expect RE to build the legendary Continental GT to perfection. Can they, at least this question stuck for us, the Indian Riders.

[man_of_steel]

Originally Posted by shan2129

Now, I currently own a TB500 & on 19th of November 2013, when I was riding downhill from Mussoorie to Dehradun, my rear brakes failed ( not jammed, failed ). Though I was able to stop my bike, It was a real panic situation for me. I was doing almost 70 when this happened.

Holy mother of god! Glad that you are okay and you were able to stop it on time. Can you please share what was the cause of this failure?

[shan2129]

Originally Posted by man_of_steel

Holy mother of god! Glad that you are okay and you were able to stop it on time. Can you please share what was the cause of this failure?

I was so scared at the time, adrenaline pumping. http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorb...y-control.html

The primary reason being that the disc is having some sort of drag with the callipers. it's not due to excess brake fluid, but the rear swing arm & the whole wheel assembly is crooked.

God only knows, how the RE QC works & how the company has lasted this long. The reason for the latter being the followers like us, I think.

[eltoro]

Originally Posted by Majumdarda

Hi eltoro,

Though personally I did not get a chance to see these machines close up front, but I am a little worried about the term "plasticky". Please correct me if I am wrong, but do you mean to say that the motorcycle has visible plastic parts, like the petrol tank or some other prominent parts? I myself am not too pleased with the GT either (for reasons known best to me), but if RE is changing the material constituents too ?

Hi Majumdarda,

I am sorry if I gave you a wrong impression by using the word 'plasticky'. There are no plastic parts that stick out but the overall fit and finish of the metal parts is too tacky and not worthy of the premium that one would need to pay to buy this. I was particularly appalled at the quality of the bar-end mirrors. The silver paint on the mirrors looks like it had been painted by some amateur and not on a machine. This was just after observing the bike for about 5 minutes in the dark. I am wondering how it would look during the day.

At the cost of being repetitive, I am not sure that there would be too many takers in India for this bike. The complete equation of getting a fun to ride retro-cool bike at a low cost which holds good in the UK & US where the other options are available for almost double the price gets reversed in India, where this will cost double as other bikes in the market which have comparable technology and much better fit and finish. RE really need to pull up their socks in the QA department if they want to succeed.

Having a good design team is one thing. Having a team who can execute and deliver that design into production is a different ballgame altogether. Sadly RE has to learn that game yet and is far from winning it!