[BLACKBLADE]

Had a good laugh watching the advertisement !

Why would Bajaj compare a modern Sports bike like Dominar with a Royal Enfield ? The bikes are ages apart. The riders of these two types of bikes are leagues apart. Its just plain jealousy on the part of Bajaj. I mean just look at the sales numbers of Dominar and the Enfields, they are no where near. What is Bajaj thinking to achieve ? Trying to convince the RE fan boys to buy the Dominar ? by potraying REs as slow, inefficient and clumsy like the elephants. Common, we know that already and yet we love them for what they are. One dosen't buy a Bullet for performance or fuel economy or for ease of maintenance. Heck, it is not about buying or owning any bike at all, it is about the experience, the blissful feeling, the legendary thump. In one word one buys a bullet for the "Love" of it, period.

That said, I am skeptical about the the way Enfields are being mass marketed. They have sort of lost their exclusivity. Gone are those good old days of 70s and 80s when owning a two wheeler was a privilege. Those were times of the Bullets, Jawas, Yezdis and the Lambretta scooters. Bullets enjoyed a special place in the hearts of the men then. It was a matter of pride to own and ride a Bullet. It was associated with power, social status and respect. Nowadays Royal Enfield Bullets have become so commonplace. They have lost the character of older bullets, not even the thump is same. But one thing is for sure. Forever Enfield Bullets will be dear to the hardcore bikers and the purist mechanics, who love to get hands on, up-keeping, tinkering, polishing, customizing, retro-fitting and keep the thump going strong ! So Bajaj this ad means nothing to us, because you simply don't understand our love for Enfields.

I am not sure if it is appropriate to share this documentary here, which captures the love we have for these marvelous machines. Anyways a good watch.

Bullet Melancholy

[B O V]

Truly enjoyed that advertisement. Any motorcycle manufacturer can take a dig at RE these days coz lets face it, they are merely riding the wave that is the cult motorcycling ethos that has been built up around the brand by true enthusiasts.

Being an owner of two Royal Enfields , I just like maintaining them on my own. Its more like a good way to relax and unwind. Also a Royal Enfield is probably the most mechanically and electronically simplest motorcycle in the market (barring the EFI). Hence it really is very very easy to work on if you do take the time.

That being said, Royal Enfield as a brand must move forward onto better designs ( engine wise and quality wise) coz their current line up just doesn't cut the cake. Their current sales are boosted only because of the relatively higher levels of disposable income the average Indian may have which would lead them to purchasing a Royal Enfield.

I have 2 Royal Enfield spares retail outlets and I can tell you first hand that about 80 percent of the owners are shocked by the cost of spares. Can you imagine what would happen if Royal Enfield were to really improve their quality of parts and if additional costs involved were to be passed on to the end consumer, the situation which would entail.

Its not a simple or straightforward answer. If Royal Enfield needs quality, significant effort has to go into manufacturing and into treating their OEM suppliers right(supply chain) Royal Enfield treats their OEM suppliers in a not very good manner. I know this from a very particular issue relating to camwheels for the CI's.

Hopefully for their own sake, they will change. They are riding the current wave of change they implemented with the UCE's. Time for the next phase. Else they may slowly succumb to the sands of time.

[rbp]

The ad from Bajaj looks like that of frustrated manufacturer who isn't able to crack the RE market. Bajaj could have kept it classy and concentrated on their own product instead. FYI, I own neither a RE or a Bajaj.

[adrian]

Originally Posted by B O V

I have 2 Royal Enfield spares retail outlets and I can tell you first hand that about 80 percent of the owners are shocked by the cost of spares.

Sorry for going OT : Could you please offer your remarks on the following issue ?

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorb...-uce-350s.html

Royal Enfield is not opening up on this.

On topic - Following links holds a collection of trolls on the Dominar ad. Sorry that non Malayalee friends cannot understand these. Use the help of a mallu for translations.
http://malayalam.oneindia.com/cultur...ld-179000.html

[Porschefire]

Interesting debate and I would like to add my 2 paisas here.

I am in no position to comment on performance/reliability etc. of either the Dominar or the REs because I have neither ridden nor have owned any of them. As a pure layman and a person who understands motorcycles on a basic level, I know that the Dominar is the superior product. None of the RE models can hold a candle to the VFM proposition that the Dominar provides. But as Neil pointed out, the numbers tell a different story altogether and it surely doesn't mean that people who buy REs are wrong. Hell no. It is all about market positioning and brand value and that is where RE trumps Bajaj.

Bajaj got it all wrong when they started milking the 'Pulsar' brand name - Pulsar 135/150/160/180/200/220!!! Had they used the Discover moniker/any other brand name for the 135/150/180 categories, the Dominar was instead called a Pulsar 400 and marketed as the 'Fastest Pulsar ever', the numbers would tell a different story today. IMO, it was sheer overconfidence from Bajaj to even think they could rattle the RE market!!!

[V.Narayan]

Only on T-BHP. Only on T-BHP can an advertisement be a topic all by itself. Keep it going guys this is weekend entertainment for some of us (like me) who have never owned or ridden a bike! Bajaj Blasters you are slipping. The RE Rangers are pushing ahead by number of posts at least.

On the advertisement itself - unless you are a motor bike fan you are not likely to figure out it is aimed at the Bullet. I didn't at either the first or second run I had to read one of the posts to figure out! The fist fight in the indomitable village of Gaul should go on. We have nothing to fear except the sky falling on our heads.

PS: I hope both sides don't plaster me now.

[payeng]

Looks Like Bajaj has managed to get what it exactly wanted..

.. i.e. a Little bit of CONTROVERSY.

[petrolhead_neel]

Wow. What a discussion!

If Bajaj's intention was to poach RE customers, then they were wrong there. Most people who buy REs don't even look at other bikes in the same price segment. There is no area that an RE is better than all of the bikes of the same price segment, or hell, even lower. However, for some people, take my Dad for instance, they do ignite a certain feeling of the days gone by. My grandfather, who passed away when my dad was two years younger than I am right now, had a Bullet. It was maybe one of the 4-5 ones in our city. My granddad was notorious for doing impromptu biking trips on this Bullet, mind you, this is the late 1960s to early 1970s that we are talking about. Anyways, without digressing any futher, that is part of the reason why my father always wanted one. Back in 2014, he did a 200km round trip on his CB Twister, which we still lovingly own, and really realized that he needed something new if he wanted to do that kind of distance comfortably. Yes, his mind was set on getting a Royal Enfield. So we went ahead and booked a black Classic 350.

She is going to turn 3 this September, and well, the experience has been very mixed. The main problem has always been the quality of parts and after sales service. When you pay this much, you at least expect a well kept, well maintained motorbike to not start rusting at weird places! When we got her, we knew what she was capable of, and neither of us have ever complained about how the bikes vibrates after you cross 85-90, or how you bet on your life when you are clinging on to the mono-cradle ancient machinery at 80km/h and suddenly a cow appears from nowhere. No, that's never been the case.

Well, my father has recently become more serious about biking and he simply needs something which is more reliable and less prone to fatigue after a long day on the saddle. To be honest, we have been thinking of selling the RE, which was supposed to stay with him forever. My father is not really looking to get his hands dirty anymore. Another reason has been, and this is a huge one, is every Tom, Dick and Harry getting Bullets, modifying them with all sorts of body kits, alloys, windscreens, exhausts that sound like the bike is begging to be stopped and what not! We were so disappointed with these "Bulleteers" after our recent visit to the SVC. And let me tell you this, the number of these kind of people are far more than people like my father. And this, at least for me, is a huge downer.

We were looking at the Dominar seriously for a few days, reading the Team-BHP review over and over again. However, this ad does make me think twice about considering that as a seirous option. The problem with the Dominar is that it doesn't know what it wants to be. I have been following the bike since launch and needless to say, the marketing has been very immature on Bajaj's part. This is NOT the bike to be pitted against any RE that's on sale, except maybe, maybe the Himalayan. However, I found the ad to be quite thoughtful, with the classic thump and struggling to go uphill and all. RE does have a good marketing team, and I am waiting to see what kind of an approach they take with this one. Automotive ads have been about rivalry and competition in the past and while these aren't really rivals in any ways, even if Bajaj wants them to be, I am always up for some good entertainment!

Cheers,
Neel

[jayantvs]

Looks like Bajaj had been comparing Dominor with RE bikes since its launch. Dominor was to take on the space occupied by RE in the market.

Pune-headquartered Bajaj Auto claims to have surpassed volumes sold by market leader Royal Enfield in the 350-500cc motorcycle segment in February.

Eric Vas, president for the motorcycle business at Bajaj, said: “We have already overtaken Royal Enfield in the segment. They used to sell an average of 5,000 units a month until a few months ago.

He claims that two of every 10 Dominars was sold to customers who owned an Enfield. “Some have sold it to buy Dominar and some have bought it as their second bike.” He added there had been a decline in the waiting period of some of Enfield's motorcycles.

What Rajiv Bajaj (MD of Bajaj auto) had to say:

We are making a modern machine, not a heritage brand. It is truly smart and handsome. Our bike is big, bulky and chiselled. It is all muscle and no fat which was our guiding line in design. If Royal Enfield is a Sumo wrestler, ours is a heavyweight boxer, says Bajaj.

One has to be the opposite of what the market leader is,” he said. While Royal Enfield offers old-school looks, a simple design utilising decades-old technology, heritage and a strong follower base, the Dominar offers a more modern perimeter frame, a more powerful engine and updated electronics, including the safety net of ABS.

In response here is what Siddhartha Lal (MD and CEO of Eicher) said:

Royal Enfield, well known for its bullets, said it is not going to be easy for any new entrant to unseat the company. Bajaj Auto, which entered the 350-500cc motorcycle segment in December, claimed to have overtaken Royal Enfield in February in volumes.

If you look at the 250 cc plus motorcycle market in India, every 19 of 20 products are sold by us…that is a reality. It is not that easy to unseat someone who is doing this.

Source:
http://www.rediff.com/business/repor...j/20170315.htm

http://www.india.com/auto/bike-news/...v-bajaj-30887/

http://www.india.com/auto/bike-news/...dominar-31318/

http://www.rediff.com/business/repor...o/20170419.htm

[sathish81]

Bajaj seems to have lost it. Someone buying RE will not buy a dominor period. Why don't they try selling some dominors to the Indian army to prove it's superiority over RE- they can't and they won't. They know why.

My first bike was a RX100 and current one is RE350. I have owned a gen 1 pulsar 150 and pulsar 220 FI in past.

The fuel injected dominor like P220Fi can be serviced only by few Bajaj service centres- in Chennai the so called probiking centre in adyar is the only one equipped to service a dominor. If things go wrong help is at best few hours away- none of the local mechanics will be able to fix things without the diagnostic tool. I have been in this situation with P220 few times.

Contrast this with RE- any roadside mechanic will be able to get you going.

A good tourer needs to have a solid support ecosystem- RE over the years has built and nutured it. Bajaj with it's current breed of FI machines can at best hope customer s get influenced by snazzy commercials.

[Ashley Nair]

The troll says: 1. Seen in the ad 2. What happened after

[ashwinprakas]

Bajaj does know how to provoke competition, they've been doing it for ages now. The only reason they struck controversy this time was due to them taking a dig at the Indian big daddy of motorcycles.

As for Royal Enfield owners, well there are two kinds;

1. The ones who know their shit, they would take this in good humor if not as a compliment as they own the bragging rights to say that they've been there and done that on a Royal Enfield even before motorcycling was a fad.

2. The lot who picked up the motorcycle only as a form of social viagra, they would get really offended and make all sorts of social media clatter which in turn favors Bajaj, because as they say any advertising is better than no advertising.

As for Royal Enfield as a brand. I'm curious, honestly curious as I'm yet to see a battle of wit's amongst Indian brands of this genre.

P.S ex-BajajHater, now hardcore Bajaj fan, rides a CT100B, which is my 3rd Bajaj, not a fan of the Dominar or any other KTM abomination.

[adrian]

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas

As for Royal Enfield owners, well there are two kinds;

Bullet Rider types are identifiable in 'n' types.

1.Purists - Mostly CI guys. (Tell them that UCE is also a bullet and they will murder you)
2.Arrogant fools - Mostly these kind of behavior are seen on the first year of the ownership of Bullets. They are easily identifiable on the road by the way they behave like "Its my highway".
3.Macho guys - They keep telling you about the low mileage of the bullets, the difficulties associated with riding and maintaining one and the like. Their advise to you is "there is no other bike like the Bullet and it is certainly not for you !" (It is easy to baptize the cat than to make them wear helmets)
4.Posers-Easily identifiable by the prayer flags on their motorbikes and their odometer still in three digits.
5.Transformers - They buy the metal motorcycle to modify them using plastic parts and stickers and funny looking silencers.
6.Pin worm infested types - Newly found types (after the UCE boom).They zoom through the traffic full throttle twitching and turning to reach home and scratch themselves.

The list can go on for ever

[sathish81]

Oh brother...

I guess people spew out anything to get more eyeballs.
From RE bashing to RE rider classification thread....what's next.

[vijay_rodie]

I thought, it's trolling Harley