[farhadtarapore]

Originally Posted by Zinda

Learn from Triumph!

They can't now. Bajaj has taken that last straw also away from RE

[adityasiera]

Allow my ignorance to be pitched in this online marketing trick.

Disclaimer: I own a 2005 AVL TB, and 2017 Dominar 400. I would never ever take my RE out of the city and I would never ever ride my Dominar in the city. RE Quality and their apathy towards riders/brotherhood is well documented. How they treated BOBMC, plus i experienced fast hand during my this years K2K ride, where a bunch of guys from the Air Force were stranded, then left to fend for themselves by the Himalayan Odyssey Crew. (I have video evidence of the same)

Now coming back to the point - This kind of ads try to divide the brotherhood, no matter what you ride, as long as you ride a motorcycle you are awesome (no offence car guys). So let the marketing teams battle it out, and let us riders keep on riding/thumping/hyper riding.

Cheers

[srishiva]

I think RE deserved this. But then has Bajaj done anything great themselves other than hanging on to others like Kawasaki, KTM and now Triumph ?

But I cant ever understand why RE is not able to build a ordinary reliable vehicle with the looks that comes with the Bullet and the history. God forbid if they were ever to build a car.

[Slick]

I own neither RE nor Bajaj - Ridden REs on a few occasions, Absolutely love the way they look, won't buy one though. I cannot imagine buying such an expensive bike which offers so less in terms of tangible value.

The advert seems childish to me, Bajaj can never wean away the RE Customers attracted by aspirations or emotions, Why even try? These people treat RE as family.

The ad makes fun of these people & their beloved REs, Why would they buy Bajaj now?
A lose-lose case.


Though if I were to pick a brand here, I would pick Bajaj as they have been responsible for trying to bring better bikes and technology, RE seem to be milking the fans. (Himalayan is one after many many years, and even it has mixed ownership reviews)

I hope the small capacity Triumph stirs things a bit, Would be nice to see if it affects RE.

- Slick

[Rajiv0909]

Look at what Bajaj did to Dominar, they punctured a powerful, punchy engine from KTM with 2 additional spark plugs, brought down the power from 43 to 35ps. I don't know if the product engineers were underpaid or high, as common sense warrants one to improvise on existing technology for performance but here they did what kids do to balloon to have fun

When that wasn't enough, they seem to have appointed a demonetization affected creative agency who seem to have sold archives for survival, come on! an year ago Bajaj wanted to be brothers with RE, now what happened?

I thought Bajaj would get more confident with Triumph, KTM and Kawasaki (ex) tie ups, but they seem to be more insecure then ever and that's reflecting in sales numbers

[manij]

Originally Posted by silverado

RE was never made to race on streets, but there are few people who do that in traffic. Also I cant figure out why would someone like to ride a RE in bumper to bumper traffic to office on daily basis!

Originally Posted by ashis89

- 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.

Thanks.

Living in Bangalore and not owning a Bullet, this is currently my main peeve with the Bullet. There are much too many Bullets on the crowded roads (e.g. in Bangalore, some 1-2 km stretches take between 20 - 45 mins to cross depending on traffic if on a four-wheeler). Due to their being heavy/elephant-like, Bullets are not easily manoeuvrable and end up closing perfectly usable / squeezable gaps for other two-wheelers (read scooters like Activa and smaller and more manoeuvrable bikes). As someone who prefers to ride two-wheeler to office (and let the cars idle at home) for sheer convenience and quicker travel, I absolutely hate what RE and RE riders are doing to other two wheeler riders at peak hours - they throw the others' time estimation for travel completely out-of-whack.

[adrian]

Originally Posted by Rajiv0909

When that wasn't enough, they seem to have appointed a demonetization affected creative agency who seem to have sold archives for survival, come on! an year ago Bajaj wanted to be brothers with RE, now what happened?

I thought Bajaj would get more confident with Triumph, KTM and Kawasaki (ex) tie ups, but they seem to be more insecure then ever and that's reflecting in sales numbers

I think this is a very good observation. With REs becoming common motorcycles, Bajaj might have lost customers in the lower segment (Pulsars, Avengers, CT-100s). Why I am saying this - almost all the Splendor / Discover owners in our Office have moved on to Bullets.

From then on the company was like

1. We will try the "Brotherhood" thingy with Royal Enfield. (It is not working guys)

2. We will try to utilize the fame of the warship INS Vikranth with "we have a chunk of the war vessel in our motorcycle campaign". (OK we were somewhat successful in utilizing the Patriotism aspect; but not up to the target)

3. We will try woman empowerment, we will collaborate with what ever companies that we can get our hands on..we will use their technology (of course we will add two more spark plugs) and.. and..we will lash out at RE for the pain they have caused.

I think it is Bajaj that is reaching out for straws and the current ad is a desperate attempt from the company to keep it's nose above water level.

P.S : I am running for cover

[kshivaa]

I own a Thunderbird 350 (2011 model) and have done long trips with my group. Chennai - Mudumalai, Chennai - Kodai, Chennai - Ahirapally and so on. Have not seen any oil leaks, bike drives steady and you can comfortably cruise at 80 kmph all day, with no issues and no fatigue. so, the generic statements - all RE's leak oil, parts fall off.. looks like they were issues in the past, but not now.

Of course, the service network is PATHETIC - yes it was that bad. As I rode my bike from the service center after a service, the left battery cover falls off on the GST road. I slow down, pull over and put the side stand, the bike falls down - two nuts are missing from the side stand. now, these are faults of the service center - not the bike per se. I go back to the service center, shout and fight for an hour to get these fixed. The same service center had also serviced my self-motor, when my bike did not start due to battery having no charge. After all this, the next day a guy from their feedback department calls me, I give him an ear full, and finally he says - thanks for the feedback sir, next too please give your bike to us for servicing.

I think it is the after sales and service network that RE has to fix.

And the Dominar, I don't think its a bike for cruising at 80 kmph for 10 hours. Bajaj comparing apples and oranges.

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by kshivaa

I don't think its a bike for cruising at 80 kmph for 10 hours. Bajaj comparing apples and oranges.

80kmph used to be my cruising speed on the Discover 100 4G used to take me around 14 hours to commute 750~800 kms. The same distance on my P220 took only around 9 hours.

So yeah the Dominar might not be the kind of motorcycle in which you could do 80kmph all day but it would definitely keep better average speeds when covering long distances, which is a boon especially if you frequent the route. Cause once it becomes a habit you'd get pretty bored and would involuntarily try to cover more distance and that's where the Dominar triumphs over the Pushrod thumper.

[VW2010]

And the Dominar, I don't think its a bike for cruising at 80 kmph for 10 hours. Bajaj comparing apples and oranges.

Definitely not. The Dominar is meant for cruising at over 80kmph for 10 hours. Riding a bullet for 10 hours vs riding the same distance in a Dominar for 8 hours makes a huge difference.

And i am sure you have never ridden a dominor or say a KTM covering similar distance like in your bullet, before passing that judgement. I have done similar distance in both a bullet and a KTM and i would always pick a KTM for long distance travelling any day of the week.

What is working for RE is, their customer service to a large extent. When you have an issue and raise a complaint,within 24 hours there is someone who is chasing you to get your issue fixed. Their problem is with their dealers and sales guys who are pathetic because they are not even putting any effort to get business. Business is flowing like a river for them. The presales experience in RE is currently very poor and my brother just picked up a 500 and he can tell you stories of the dealer and sales persons apathy towards customers.

Bajaj has two intentions with Dominor brand. One to get away from the killer bike image the KTM carries for no fault of its own. Second create a second brand using the same engine and call it along the lines of the pulsar which had a more middle class image and more modern in looks than a "Rasukutty" image of a bullet then.

[BB311]

This ad will actually not serve a purpose. They might portray the RE as an elephant, but people in love for the machine would not be swayed by this. Bullet owners and aspirational owners (like me) have all the more reason to chose RE over Dominar. For me personally, I want ABS, I want a fuss free ownership, however, at the same time, my head always turns to each and every bullet there is in my field of vision. My ear, responds to each and every thump there is in the traffic. What this video actually means to a fanboy like me (the major RE customer base) is, "I'll ride my elephant to war with my brothers, let the doMs scuttle away"

[kshivaa]

Originally Posted by VW2010

And i am sure you have never ridden a dominor or say a KTM covering similar distance like in your bullet, before passing that judgement. I have done similar distance in both a bullet and a KTM and i would always pick a KTM for long distance travelling any day of the week.

Bajaj has two intentions with Dominor brand. One to get away from the killer bike image the KTM carries for no fault of its own. Second create a second brand using the same engine and call it along the lines of the pulsar which had a more middle class image and more modern in looks than a "Rasukutty" image of a bullet then.

Just clarifying.. I have driven KTM - again one of our group members has a Classic350 and a KTM, but did not feel comfortable after driving over 100 kms, that I went back to my thunderbird. Let's say our preferences defer.

thanks
Siva

[jeeva]

Well, I personally believe that the motorcycle called "Bullet" is much bigger than the so called "Royal Enfield", as a company.

I would like to share this old piece written by Swami Ashwinananda. Note that this was written in those times when "UCE" was some funny jargon and "AVL" wasn't even heard of.


What's Bigger Than The Bullet?

Seemingly innocent question, teenaged boy on a bicycle, small dusty village on NH 45. And considering I was on an RE 500, I smiled confidently and replied 'nothing else in the country'! Little did I know I was being set up to be knocked down. The young chap had been strolling around my bike as I enjoyed the customary 'chai' at a local tea shop, his casual air of disinterest thinly concealing the gleam of admiration in his eyes. My answer was met with a disdainful smirk. 'I saw a foreigner on a Yamaha last week. That was much bigger. He told me they're going to make it in India. 1200 cc, and it was sooo (he stretched his arms out as far as they would go) big. When I'm old enough, that's what I'm going to ride'. He gave my bike one last look out of the corner of his eye, then pedaled away nonchalantly on his creaky bicycle. Many kilometers down the road, and alone with my thoughts on the highway, I pondered his question. It was the classic mental pivot. Both ridiculously simplistic and unbelievably deep at the same time.

In the old days, people bought a Bullet not because of displacement, size or weight, but for very different reasons. It was the 'Raja Gadi'. The choice of real men. At least that was the picture Bullet advertising painted then, and a vivid and colourful picture it was, best viewed with the 'Bullet meri jaan' jingle playing in your head.

Then about 15 years ago, the Jap Bike wars started. First there were the hundreds, then later the one-tens, the one-fifties, the one-seventy-fives? each claiming to deliver more power and 'better mileage', if that's even possible at the same time, than the other. Buzz boxes abounded, tiddlers screamed manically on every street, and on another road far from where these marketing, R&D and advertising wars were being fought, the Grand Daddy of them all chugged steadily towards the brink of oblivion.

Recently though, there seems to be have been a revival of sorts, at first glance, rather heartening to a die-hard British motorcycle enthusiast like me. It seems as though more people are waking up from their Jap drone-induced stupor, and noticing that there was always a bike that was 'bigger' than the plastic clad Jappos available in the country.

Suddenly, one sees many young, macho, iron pumping, testosterone charged, leather clad gentlemen on Bullets. Not just the new-fangled ones, but some even on bikes a tad older than they are. Heartened by this turn of events, I accosted one recently, and asked him why he had chosen to ride a Bullet. My eager curiosity was met by a flat and fake-accented answer. 'Who wants to buy a 180 cc when there's a 535 cc available maan. It's the biggest bike in India!'

I smiled thinly, shook his hand, and walked away thinking to myself 'maybe the Bullet did manage to stop before it got all the way to oblivion. But it's probably just standing there teetering at the brink.'

There's a reason for my pessimism. Viewed from the cubic capacity perspective, the BHP perspective, the wheelbase and weight perspective, the 'sheer size' perspective or the advertising budget perspective, there will soon be many, many contenders to the position of Biggest Motorcycle in India. Which means that our testosterone-charged gentleman would buy one of them the moment it shows up on the market (attractively priced I might add). Just as soon, I presume, as he'd use an opportunity to take his shirt off and flex his tattooed muscles.

People today seem to be buying the Bullet for reasons like machismo (pun unintended), attitude, power and freedom. All the wrong reasons if you ask me. Because they're all easily re-created, duplicated, and maybe even outdone by competition. Just like the 100cc Japs stopped the Bullet in its tracks 20 years ago, we'll soon have 250, 350 and maybe even 750 and 1200cc Japs shooting the Bullet down again with weapons like cubic capacity, cruiser styling, fatter tyres, more chrome, and more jeans-leather-and-scantily-clad-women advertising --- all of which are in vogue now.

So what is it that will keep the Bullet competitive through the waves of onslaught from bikes that cater to the changing fancies of fickle Indian motorcyclists? What does the Bullet have going for it that no other manufacturer can hope to match no matter how much money he spends on research, development, space-age materials and nubile models?

I think the answer can be summed up in one word. Character.

To me, the Bullet stands for simplicity. A design that worked well not because it changed to incorporate every new discovery at NASA, but because the folks that designed it 50 years ago got everything right the first time. And then didn't try to fix things that weren't broke. It's a bike that has built a reputation for being reliable, simple to work with, comfortable to be with, and lasts a whole lifetime? which is definitely a whole lifetime longer than the Japs, who outdate their throwaway models before one has even paid the second EMI. The most interesting thing is that over the years, this unglamorous but truly solid reputation has rubbed off on people that ride the Bullet too. The result, when one looks closely, is a bond between an individual and his Bullet, where one is but the mirror of the other.

To some folks like me who've wanted a Bullet since we were kids, it was the persona of these people that inspired the choice of a motorcycle more than the intrinsic value of the motorcycle itself. They were simple people, responsible people, strong people (not just in body) and they were people you could trust and rely on. I for one just bought into the quiet pride, solidity and soft spoken yet powerful image of Bullet riders I saw as a child, only to realize much later that these were the qualities of the bike itself.

In this day where people are realizing it's better to step back from technology and glamour sometimes and fly subsonic rather than supersonic, I hope that people soon learn to appreciate and aspire to own the Bullet for what it is. A piece of machinery that has lived, served, rewarded and stood by its owners long enough to develop a character of its own. A motorcycle that has reached that point in evolution where its value cannot be measured in cubic centimeters, kilometers per hour or pounds per square inch. And a brand that speaks volumes for its owner for a lifetime? always saying just the same old good things.

If I had encountered my cyclist friend on the way back, I would have stopped him on his creaky bicycle and given him the answer I should have given him in the first place.

There's just one thing that's bigger than the Bullet. It's the pride of owning one.

[Anuruddhs]

Jeeva , very well explained and for me these dominar and duke are just made for few years and then craze fade away while bullet still is bullet even after 20 years. So no matter whatever Bajaj or other people say still it will be in top slot .

[TorqueyTechie]

Originally Posted by manij

Thanks.

Living in Bangalore and not owning a Bullet, this is currently my main peeve with the Bullet. There are much too many Bullets on the crowded roads (e.g. in Bangalore, some 1-2 km stretches take between 20 - 45 mins to cross depending on traffic if on a four-wheeler). Due to their being heavy/elephant-like, Bullets are not easily manoeuvrable and end up closing perfectly usable / squeezable gaps for other two-wheelers (read scooters like Activa and smaller and more manoeuvrable bikes). As someone who prefers to ride two-wheeler to office (and let the cars idle at home) for sheer convenience and quicker travel, I absolutely hate what RE and RE riders are doing to other two wheeler riders at peak hours - they throw the others' time estimation for travel completely out-of-whack.

Seriously buddy! Is this the reason for you to hate RE? No words!

Roads are crowded because of many Autos (Bajaj/TVS), Cars [Maruti's and Tata (cabs) ] which do take up space and sometimes doesn't allow even cycles to go in gaps. So do you hate them as well? I am just amazed at what all reasons one can come up to hate a brand.

Coming to the topic, I find no fault with the Ad. But in the end as many have pointed out a person willing to buy RE would go and buy it and similar for Bajaj as well. I don't think that this will impact in their sales any way but yes it would provide visibility to the product for sometime on all social medias.