[adrian]

Originally Posted by sathish81

Oh brother...

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

Take everything in jest. Remember, as Narayan Sir has said -it is the weekly entertainment thread

[petrolhead_neel]

Here's another meme, by wanderdriveeat, who, as far as I remember, is a Himalayan rider.
Mods do delete if found irrelevant.

[PrasannaDhana]

Originally Posted by adrian

1.Purists - Mostly CI guys. (Tell them that UCE is also a bullet and they will murder you)

Hahaha! I can so relate to it. I was one of those CI guys who still get disgusted by the phat-phat-phat exhaust note of the current bullets, which sadly, a lot of inexperienced people think it as the "thump".

[ashis89]

Going OT. Please ignore this post if you love Bullets.

I have liked and appreciated Bajaj for their VFM feature-laden modern bikes. Quality-wise a few spares (<10% of the whole bike) might be slightly inferior but I have never faced any issue with the bikes. All my maintenance and parts replacement were pro-active to maintain the perfection. They were cheap to own, maintain and offer very good overall performance (pickup, FE, ride and handling). For me, I felt a connect with the current Pulsar series (not the NS/RS) which I haven't had with the newer bikes till now.

I hate a Bullet. I have my own reasons which come from my experiences. Every single day this hate/detest keeps growing. I would like to share why:

- Ever increasing number of 'hooligans' on the road, proudly riding their Bullet without helmet and slippers on. They try to squeeze through gaps in tight traffic and glare back at you if THEY hit your car's ORVM by mistake.

- A Bullet, with the 'right' aftermarket exhaust pipe, is louder than a marriage procession or sound levels on Diwali. I find these pipes on more than half of the Bullets on the roads. Their owners are revving crazily their non-revv happy bikes or creating loud 'pop' sounds. Here, I am not talking about hooligans only but also the educated office going crowd.

- Bullets have poor brakes. Have witnessed several cases on road. Recently, a chap on a brand new C350 came at a decent speed, tried to slow down to take a u-turn and banged perpendicular into my friend's bike who was waiting for the road to clear up before taking the u-turn. The rider sheepishly admitted that the brakes are poor and he couldn't stop in time.

Disclaimer:

- My apartment is located within 200 ft of the road which is why I feel disturbed by the loud vehicles.
- I have ridden an old '62 model Bullet and a new stock Classic 350. The '62 was much much better, quieter and smoother.
- I wouldn't complain if the Bullet was smoother, quieter and safer (better brakes) even if it was slow and heavy.
- Between me and my dad, we have owned 4 Bajaj bikes and have covered ~40k kms average on each of them. We have an Activa at home now.
- I have ridden multiple bikes of every bike manufacturing company except Suzuki and Mahindra.

Coming to the topic, I could remember the old Mercedes and Jaguar ads which talked about Magic body control and agility.
The old Bajaj ads, especially the Pulsar ones, were brilliant. They made the bike look aspirational. This ad is not in the same league but I like it maybe because I have had enough of the Bullet.
It's high time the Bullet became a Mini Cooper/Beetle rather than an Ambassador.

[musclecar]

It's a nice advertisement but in a very bad taste! It speaks volumes about how insecure Bajaj is with the Dominor. Having owned a bullet for 9 years, I have had a fair share of bad experiences. But back in the day, the feel was unparalleled. Now RE should actually upgrade the products to suit the current scenario.

Now that I have sold my bike, I test drove many bikes but never did a thought crossed my mind to check out the so-called new RE's. Other than the old school charm IMHO they are irrelevant in this age. (No Abs, Poor build quality, etc)

[ashokrajagopal]

Is it just me or is it incredible that Dominar has been misspelled as "Dominor" at least 5 times in this thread ?
I had to say this because I have noticed it before also; half the people call it as Dominor.

Why is that a big deal ? In my personal opinion, the name did not click. Not a big value for that, but remember when Pulsar suddenly appeared about 16 years before and the name became a buzz word ?

[revvenant]

This ad is the literal embodiment of the evergreen Hindi adage:

"Haathi chale bazaar, kutte bhonke hazaar"

(For those who don't understand Hindi, it roughly translates to: "When the elephant walks, a thousand dogs may bark".

Basically what it means is, the elephant doesn't give a rat's back side if dogs are barking, because that's basically what they do, bark.

A company that has built it's fortunes marketing cheap Jap bikes is suddenly ridiculing the Motorcycle manufacturer that built the culture of long distance riding in India, over painful decades, nearly going bankrupt in the process.
Based on what, one bike that has a 400cc (??) engine borrowed from an east European country based company, really?
How long has the said motorcycle been in the market? Do we know how iron clad (pun entirely intended) it's engine is? Has it proven it's pedigree as a long timer? Do we know what customized kits are available for it?
The ultimate question is, does it satisfy your soul when you take it out for a ride (the distance doesn't matter), or just take you from point A to point B like its predecessors have done for innumerable commuters since times immemorable?

I will stick to my "Elephant" rather than a pony that knows 2 tricks and is desperately showing them off to grab some attention, thanks but no thanks.

[charanreddy]

In my opinion the ad is OK.. In business if you need to break stereotypes then these ads do a bang on job and pull prospective customers (Non fan boys) to introspect and take the right decision. I was a fan of the way enfield looked. So last weekend Me and a friend hired a thunderbird 350 and classic 350 on a trip to Hognekal form Bangalore.

Both of us switched bikes and we had on an avg 150 kms each on each bike. The bikes left a lot to be desired.

Thunderbird 350 posture is good for riding in the plains at good speeds but the brakes are incompetent and dangerous for any speed >80Kmph. I had a couple of very close calls at much lesser speeds. The bike also does not turn and resists steering input..

Classic is worse and for show for driving 50 Kms or less in a day.. it is worse than the thunderbird as stabilty post 80 KMPH is a joke. The handle vibrates so much that it acts as a natural preventive mechanism from going over 80 KMPH. The brakes are again really really bad.

Overall, to say the least we decided that enfields are not for us..

If this ad brings a few customers to think and make the right choice, I am all in for it.

[VKumar]

So we are talking about a manufacturer who still sells a 350cc motorcycle for around 1.5 lac bucks which still doesn't come with a fuel gauge?

If this is the elephant, than I appreciate those elephant owners and give my best wishes to them. I, personally is very happy with my 'show off' and 'blingy' choice.

I really don't understand where this spirit etc concept comes in from. A rider is a rider and he/she doesn't need a specific brand motorcycle to prove his/her mettle. Royal Enfield needed to add cutting edge technology to classy design, but they decided to hold it back there itself on the name of 'classic'. Handlebar vibrates, no tubeless tyres, no fuel gauge, poor handling and even poorer brakes - fans can find a distinct charm in it, I don't do.

The ad, IMO was actually good as they simply found an innovative way of highlighting the shortcoming of their competition - none else.

[Gildarts]

IMO Bajaj's AD is spot on. The ad targets all cruisers including HD, Indian, etc. I can only think that RE owners are overreacting because of their own insecurity. The ad highlights the weaknesses of cruisers and dominar's superior features in those aspects. It is a fact that Dominar offers better performance, agility and control than RE. So there is no reason to trash Bajaj for a honest ad. When it comes to business, you can't fault them for shooting at a rival's weak spot.

[amit_shimla]

This advertisement perfectly summed up the frequent issues faced by RE owners. Eicher is the manufacturer and it is just the name which continues. Most of the people whom I know bought it for the love of the thump or simply because their presence on the road it too much now a days. What exactly you get after spending so much;poor service network, no modern technology, lack of ABS, no option of tubeless tyres, killer vibrations and high maintenance costs and still unreliable.

[jayantvs]

Originally Posted by ashokrajagopal

Is it just me or is it incredible that Dominar has been misspelled as "Dominor" at least 5 times in this thread ?....

Thanks for pointing that out, I was under the impression the correct spelling is "Dominor" not "Dominar"

Originally Posted by Gildarts

The ad targets all cruisers including HD, Indian, etc. I can only think that RE owners are overreacting because of their own insecurity.

The thumping exhaust sound in the background is a solid reference to Royal Enfield bikes

So there is no reason to trash Bajaj for a honest ad.

Then they shouldn't have used the fake exhaust note for Dominar if they were so honest.

P.S. I do not own RE, I ride a bajaj bike

[pratyush6]

Originally Posted by ashokrajagopal

Is it just me or is it incredible that Dominar has been misspelled as "Dominor" at least 5 times in this thread ?
I had to say this because I have noticed it before also; half the people call it as Dominor?

A pointer as to what people think of it perhaps? Dominor.. Dominar.. Dominos does not really matter to the RE guy who actually saw that ad.

In my personal opionion, was very poor in taste, but perhaps that was the only way to get some cheap attention by Dominos.. err Dominar.. (did I still get that right?)

Yes, everyone understands, REs are a pain to take care of, but where or not anyone believes it, the brand has a very deep connect to our psyche and the ad was frankly; offending at the least.

[ViMo]

My friend who runs a small business owns a RE 350 and a Mahindra Centuro. When he had to travel 45Kms to collect some payments he took his Centuro and I was surprised. When asked he said RE vibrates after 80km/hr and with Centuro it's easy to cut through traffic ( not much though). He bought RE for the sake of owning one.

[T2luvroads]

I own both a 2004 RE Electra and recently A Bajaj Dominar. But the the TVC made by Bajaj really pulls the morale down. I'm also part and parcel of Royal Riders Club Kolkata so it hurts my sentiments and many other RE fans who could have been probable customer of Dominar. Rather projecting on the pros of Dominar would seek more support.