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Old 20th March 2020, 14:05   #661
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re: Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)

With the advent of the Royal Enfield 650 twins, I was hoping for the still relatively nascent Indian aftermarket industry to pick up on the popularity of these bikes and launch good quality parts for them. Of course, my master plan was to pick and choose the best stuff from that for my Continental GT 535 but I never got around to actually digging through the options and looking for what is actually available.

The prevailing conditions though have meant that like most of us, I too have chosen to be grounded at home and this has given me the time to start searching properly. I found a few vendors like MK Designs India (here) and Adv Tribe (here) that seemed to have good quality products on sale. I exchanged correspondence with Adv Tribe who confirmed that their mirror extender and brake reservoir cover for the GT 650 will fit the GT 535.

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Adv Tribe Mirror Extender

I placed the order for the mirror extender today and within half an hour I received an update that the product is ready to be dispatched. Lets see how well the product suits the GT 535 from a functionality perspective, if for whatever reason it doesnt do too well, I will use it on my Triumph Street Triple instead.

Other items on my wish list that I have not found vendors for, are a side stand foot extension and an engine bash plate. I still remember the sickening thud from my last off road exploration session, safe to say that I dont want to hear it again in my lifetime. Any leads would be appreciated.
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Old 12th April 2020, 01:40   #662
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re: Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)

This is my first post on this wonderful forum. Been following it from long time though, because of this thread Neil.
Will chip in with my thoughts of this awesome machine. Hope you don't mind hijacking of your thread. It is never short of pics,but will add a pic of mine.
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Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)-instagramcapture_0cbb1761ca514538bc1717bb4a94205f.jpg  


Last edited by Eddy : 12th April 2020 at 02:43. Reason: Please use the team-bhp smileys only. Thanks
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Old 13th April 2020, 11:25   #663
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re: Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)

Quote:
Originally Posted by hareshjethwani View Post
This is my first post on this wonderful forum. Been following it from long time though, because of this thread Neil.
Will chip in with my thoughts of this awesome machine. Hope you don't mind hijacking of your thread. It is never short of pics,but will add a pic of mine.
Hareshjethwani, welcome to Team BHP! Please do update this thread with ownership thoughts and feedback on your Continental GT 535. And yes, lots of pictures of your bike as well since this thread can never have enough pictures!

That reminds me, I had done a short ride with some like minded bikers to Kadamakkudy and Puthu Vypeen beach in early March.

Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)-dsc_0024.jpg
Diverse lineup

Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)-20200314_165116-large.jpg

Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)-dsc_0047.jpg
First ride out with the new Rynox jacket


Since a couple of the guys were from the Puthu Vypeen area, they led us through a maze of extremely narrow by lanes that took us to another, relatively emptier section of the beach. The lanes were so narrow in most sections that they was wide enough for only one bike! The end result though was well worth the heart in the mouth moments.


Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)-20200314_183808.jpg

Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)-dsc_0057.jpg

Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)-20200314_185326.jpg

These pre corona motorcycling memories seem like they were from a lifetime ago. Since the first set of restrictions were imposed by the state government, the motorcycles havent left the garage. They just get started once every few days to ensure the battery doesnt run out.
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Old 18th April 2020, 12:47   #664
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re: Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)

Had got this mini leather saddle bag if I may call it. Have quiet a few pics but unfortunately I'm not able to post more than one pic at a time from my mobile. Not sure why. Feast your eyes on this one
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Old 5th May 2020, 17:49   #665
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Adv Tribe universal mirror extender - Installed

Quote:
Originally Posted by neil.jericho View Post
The prevailing conditions though have meant that like most of us, I too have chosen to be grounded at home and this has given me the time to start searching properly. I found a few vendors like MK Designs India (here) and Adv Tribe (here) that seemed to have good quality products on sale. I exchanged correspondence with Adv Tribe who confirmed that their mirror extender and brake reservoir cover for the GT 650 will fit the GT 535.
I had come across the Adv Tribe website based on a Youtube video and I dont really know anyone who has used their products. So I did take a bit of a leap of faith while ordering their universal mirror extender for the Royal Enfield Continental GT 535. I'll try to make this first impressions post on the Adv Tribe mirror extender, a bit detailed, so as to help any other potential buyers.

The package from Adv Tribe that contained the mirror extenders was delivered yesterday and I was quite keen to examine the quality of the product and the visible (no pun intended) benefits. It came in a small box that had the contents very well packed within it. The parts for each side are put into separate zip locked packets for convenience. The box contains an Adv Tribe sticker and a nice Thank You card as well. It is evident that someone has put thought into this aspect of the product.

The bolt for the two sides needed a size 17 spanner, the kit on the bike goes up to a size 16 so I had to pull the right one from the tool box at home. Even with my cave man rivalling clumsiness, it took me five minutes each to install the mirror extenders.

Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)-20200504_171723_hdr.jpg
Nicely packed box

Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)-20200504_171915.jpg
The contents are packed separately for the left and right side


What does it do?
Its simple, it moves the base point of the OEM mirror from the stock position to one that is higher and, equally importantly, wider (as in away from the central console), so as to increase your field of view. This setup gives you a good amount of adjustability so that you can get the right setting on the mirrors for a proper view.

Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)-20200504_172356.jpg
This is the stock setup without the mirror extender

Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)-20200504_175239.jpg
This is the new setup with the mirror extender

Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)-20200504_175253.jpg
Taller and wider

Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)-20200504_182805.jpg
Notice how wide the mirrors actually are now


Fit and Finish?
To say that it feels top notch would be an understatement. It feels like a premium and very well built product.

Fitting time
The seasoned DIY guys here will be able to fit both together in around five minutes. For guys like me, expect to take ten minutes tops for both of them together. If you have a friend helping you, it will be even less.

Visibility before fitting the mirror extender
It was fine really, once I set it up and tightened things to suit my riding posture. Since I only ride with a riding jacket, the elbows would take up around 10% of the inner side of the rear view mirrors. It wasnt a deal breaker but for someone like me, who has to keep checking the rear view mirrors, ever so often, the view from the mirrors could have been better.

Visibility after fitting the mirror extender
The rear visibility has gone up tremendously! The field of view is just so much more now with this extended mirror setup. If you like seeing who or more importantly what vehicle, is behind you, a mirror extender is a no brainer. The elbows now barely make it into the rear view mirrors, if I adjust them further, I am sure that the elbows wont be in the mirrors at all.

Cost
I paid Rs 1,299 for the mirror extender and ordered it from their website.

First ride impressions
- The infamous Royal Enfield vibrations dont seem to be impacting the setup at all, the quality of visibility out of the mirrors at idle or while revving the motorcycle on the move, is as good as earlier.
- I need to learn the width of the motorcycle now, the mirrors are sticking out a bit of the handlebars. With Kerala's infamous lane jumping two wheelerists, I wont be surprised to find many folks brushing the outstretched mirrors on the go.
- Adv Tribe has provided a small tube of Loctite red in the package. Right now I want to get used to this current setup by clocking a few more kilometers, before tweaking it further. Once I get the right settings, I will probably make use of the Loctite.
- If the product holds up well, I will order the same for my other motorcycle in the near future.
- As far as first impressions go, I would give this a 10 / 10.

Last edited by neil.jericho : 5th May 2020 at 17:50.
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Old 18th June 2020, 11:58   #666
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re: Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)

Thanks to the global pandemic, the Continental GT 535 has hardly seen any riding action in the last few months. Once the lockdown started easing up, I took it out a few times and for running some errands. A subsequent containment zone period meant that it was back to being parked in the garage only to be started and idled every few days. With the rains clearing for a while yesterday, I took it out for a short ride and I must say that as much as I enjoy the Continental GT 535 riding experience, the test rides of the Interceptor and the GT 650 a few back have thoroughly spoilt me! I miss the smoothness and refinement levels of the 650 twins while riding the Continental GT 535, no doubt about it. That said, the upgraded seat is such a blessing, it completely removes my mind off the earlier slight discomfort that I used to feel on rides that were above an hour's length. The mirror extenders are also quite handy, they can do with some slight adjustments and the subsequent tightening but for now Im still getting used to the extra length on both sides of the bike.

I had dug out my action camera while spring cleaning during the lockdown and took it out yesterday while on my short ride out of the city's streets. I need to get down to editing the videos so I can put up a short clip or two. And since this thread can never have enough pictures, here is one from yesterday.

Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)-20200617_162318_hdr.jpg

Mileage: I finally topped up yesterday at the usual BPCL pump on the Kaloor Kadavanthra road. Once again, the mileage numbers are back in the mid 30s which is always a pleasing sight, especially given the fuel hikes in the last 11 consecutive days. Distance covered : 154.2 kms. Petrol consumed : 4.52 litres. Mileage: 34.14 kmpl. Mileage since day 1 stands inches up to 27.88 kmpl.
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Old 19th June 2020, 18:36   #667
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re: Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)

The last few service experiences at the Royal Enfield company service center have been quite middle of the road experiences and I was not very keen on getting the Continental GT 535 serviced there again. Attention to detail levels by the service advisors were dipping and largely inconsistent. Also it isnt really close to my place, and going up and down each time through public transport was a bit of a hassle. In comparison, the service experiences in Bangalore have been far better for sure for the few years that I was there. However, the Royal Enfield sales experience in Cochin has been leaps and bounds ahead of the sales experience in Bangalore. Now that really should not matter to me as I am not buying a new Royal Enfield bike in the near future. Or am I ?

Anyways, over the last 6 months or so, I have had a few interactions with the owner of the Republic of Bikers store in Cochin and I had got the single seat re-padded by them. They were planning on starting a workshop along side their store and I thought of getting the service done by them instead of going to the company SVC. I had picked up the parts required from the good folks at JR and Sons and dropped it off at the RoB store. And then the Corona virus epidemic happened.

Finally I decided to get the work done yesterday and called ahead and booked some time with RoB to get the bike serviced. And then I went down to the garage and realized that the front tire had lost half it's air! I gently rode it to the nearby street side puncture repair and tire reseller shop to get the tube replaced. The same guy was there when I had switched both tires to the Pirelli Sport Demons and he remembered the bike from then. He was saying how difficult it is to deal with the new gen Royal Enfield bikes that come with the rear disc as there is hardly any room for puncture repair guys like him to get the tire out properly and replace the tubes. Speaking of tubes, I have come to realize that the regular ones sold today will last you a year at most with regular usage I had last replaced both the tubes in November 2018 and the bike has only done 4,000 kms since then.

Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)-20200618_150348.jpg
This time no balancing act!

Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)-20200618_150339.jpg
The front wheel is significantly easier to remove than the rear

Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)-20200618_151059.jpg
One of many small leaks

The irony is that I was on my way to getting both the tubes replaced during the service at RoB! Anyways, more details on the service experience in the next update.
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Old 21st June 2020, 00:19   #668
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re: Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)

My first post. Just bought a continental GT 535. It was a used one and as I would be doing the occasional Sunday ride I thought this was perfect for me .
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Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)-20200614_071124.jpg  

Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)-screenshot_20200614131604_video-player.jpg  

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Old 21st June 2020, 13:44   #669
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re: Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)

Sunday ride near Bhopal lake.
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Old 21st June 2020, 20:56   #670
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re: Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)

Quote:
Originally Posted by varmaips View Post
My first post. Just bought a continental GT 535. It was a used one and as I would be doing the occasional Sunday ride I thought this was perfect for me .
Welcome to Team BHP and congratulations on your Continental GT 535. Do share some details on your bike and your initial ownership experience with it. And yes, if possible, more pictures because this thread can never have enough pics of the Continental GT 535!
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Old 21st June 2020, 22:38   #671
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re: Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)

I had been on the hunt to buy a motorcycle over the last one year. My favorite was the harley davidson fat boy special. But my requirement was only for fun sunday rides. I thought buying a Harley fat boy would be a waste of good money. I browsed OLX regularly for any good deals. My search took me from almost negotiating and buying a yamaha rx 100 to a harley street 750 and even a triumph thruxton 900r. I also went to karolbagh to look at some more models of Hyosung 650, dominar 400, Harley superlow, etc. Once I went to the triumph show room in Delhi where they were offering a discount of a whopping 5 lakhs on the Bonneville bobber and almost bought it. But better sense prevailed . I then booked the jawa perak on the very first day online and went to the jawa dealership in Indore. They said the Jawa perak deliveries would be extremely delayed.
Then I started considering a used continental gt 535 which would be perfect for fun sunday rides and won't break the bank. Browsing on OLX I finally settled on this beauty. I am extremely happy. With a week in the service centre it looks almost brand new. New bar end mirrors, new seat cover, replaced a gear shifter, and new brake pads, new indicators, new clutch lever, fresh painting and chrome finish made it a pleasant sight to behold. A new speedometer, seat cowl and a grab rail are on the way.
Attached Thumbnails
Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)-20200614_071145.jpg  

Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)-20200614_071124.jpg  

Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)-20200614_070726.jpg  

Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)-20200613_072455.jpg  

Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)-screenshot_20200614131102_video-player.jpg  

Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)-20200614_075418.jpg  

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Old 22nd June 2020, 06:13   #672
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re: Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)

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Originally Posted by varmaips View Post
Sunday ride near Bhopal lake.
This pic is after the whole works was done. You can see the engine gleaming.
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Old 23rd June 2020, 11:05   #673
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re: Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)

Quote:
Originally Posted by varmaips View Post
I had been on the hunt to buy a motorcycle over the last one year. My favorite was the harley davidson fat boy special. But my requirement was only for fun sunday rides. I thought buying a Harley fat boy would be a waste of good money. I browsed OLX regularly for any good deals. My search took me from almost negotiating and buying a yamaha rx 100 to a harley street 750 and even a triumph thruxton 900r. I also went to karolbagh to look at some more models of Hyosung 650, dominar 400, Harley superlow, etc. Once I went to the triumph show room in Delhi where they were offering a discount of a whopping 5 lakhs on the Bonneville bobber and almost bought it. But better sense prevailed . I then booked the jawa perak on the very first day online and went to the jawa dealership in Indore. They said the Jawa perak deliveries would be extremely delayed.
Then I started considering a used continental gt 535 which would be perfect for fun sunday rides and won't break the bank. Browsing on OLX I finally settled on this beauty. I am extremely happy. With a week in the service centre it looks almost brand new. New bar end mirrors, new seat cover, replaced a gear shifter, and new brake pads, new indicators, new clutch lever, fresh painting and chrome finish made it a pleasant sight to behold. A new speedometer, seat cowl and a grab rail are on the way.
varmaips, that certainly is an interesting and wide range of motorcycles that you considered before you finally purchased the Continental GT 535. Congratulations once again, it certainly is a fun little bike for the sort of Sunday rides that are a welcome break from the weekly tensions of life. Do keep updating us about your experience and feedback on the motorcycle.
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Old 23rd June 2020, 17:05   #674
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re: Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)

congratulations on the purchase. It is an awesome bike. I recently brought the 650 GT and took it out on the expressway for the first time in 3 months and more post the lockdown and what a blast I had !

Absolutely perfect thing for sundays and does not break the bank at all and service is easy and so are spare parts and it ages beautifully. Will hold more road value even 10 - 20 years down the line.
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Old 23rd June 2020, 19:19   #675
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re: Royal Enfield Continental GT 535 : Ownership Review (32,000 km and 9 years)

Quote:
Originally Posted by neil.jericho View Post
I had dug out my action camera while spring cleaning during the lockdown and took it out yesterday while on my short ride out of the city's streets. I need to get down to editing the videos so I can put up a short clip or two. And since this thread can never have enough pictures, here is one from yesterday.
Here is a short and pretty basic clip of a ride through one of Cochin's nicest stretches - the Queen's walkway. I need to perfect the camera angle and ensure it provides a view of the console as well.

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