Team-BHP - Royal Enfield Pegasus 500 owners feel cheated, express disappointment over cheaper Signals 350

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR (Post 4455947)

But still these doesn't justify RE releasing a lookalike bike themselves IMO, specially considering the 40% premium they had charged. So I feel RE is wrong here, irrespective of what the customers deserve or not.

PS - 40% premium for the hot looks and those typical dinchak aftermarket alloys. :deadhorse

I thought the lookalike bike is 350CC while the original "limited" edition was 500CC ?

Dont know why the customers are crying hoarse when they willing paid the premium.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethanhunt123 (Post 4455956)

I thought the lookalike bike is 350CC while the original "limited" edition was 500CC ?

40% premium is over the Classic 500. Which was only for the Pegasus paint scheme. No mechanical changes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethanhunt123 (Post 4455956)

Dont know why the customers are crying hoarse when they willing paid the premium.

I doubt any one of them would have bought if Signals would have launched first. Let's face it - all of them bought for the unique looks, none would have bought to pay tribute to a WWII military motorcycle.

All hell broke lose when they realized (with the launch of the Signals 350) that the unique looks promised ain't unique afterall. Unless you go close check the logos.

PS - I would have blamed the customers had it been the other way around though - premium for the motorcycle inspired by Indian armed forces. I would have a pride owning that. I'll never buy a motorcycle without ABS - so personally for me - Pegasus 500 looks thrash now against Signals 350.

Quote:

Originally Posted by OrangeCar (Post 4455933)

or the deeply in love customer.

Deeply in love with the limited edition but changed the rims to those cheap looking aftermarket alloys!! :Frustrati

I mean, if they were already planning to put their creative minds to task to further modify the bike, why bother to spend 40% more and pick up a limited edition?? They could have done the mod to a regular RE as well.

:OT - Is that bike still lying in the garbage? May be, some RE fan pick those up and enjoy the exclusivity.

And if any of our Team-BHPians picked up the Pegasus 500 and is in a mood to discard it as a garbage, please use the "Give Away" thread!

R-Six

While there is no justification for RE killing the exclusivity of the Pegasus with the Signals, the Pegasus owners are acting like a bunch of drama queens. Considering that they have ended up with egg on their faces by paying a premium for a cheap paint job, they might want to keep their dignity by doing something that will make an impact. Like a member had suggested earlier, they could sell the bike and donate the money to the flood relief fund.
Visually, the Signals looks too similar to the Pegasus and most people (myself included) would not be able to tell the difference between the two with a cursory glance. I think this is the main issue. The 500cc engine is definitely better than the 350cc one but Pegasus owners didn't pay a premium for the engine. They paid for the paint job and the stenciled serial number.
There is a lesson in this somewhere, but I'm too lazy to type it out on this post.

Quote:

Originally Posted by OrangeCar (Post 4455933)

With the aforesaid debate.. one RE lover is so heartbroken, that he throws his limited edition, INR 2 lakh rupees bike into the garbage dump!

Not sure who's to blame here? RE as a firm.. or the deeply in love customer.

Source (Article in Kannada essentially summarizes the discussion in this thread).

Attachment 1796271

Having owned a desert storm myself.. I can tell you that this bike is where it exactly belongs i.e in the garbage dump. Because the quality is such. Not surprised at all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roy.S (Post 4456112)

Pegasus owners are acting like a bunch of drama queens.

Like a member had suggested earlier, they could sell the bike and donate the money to the flood relief fund.

I doubt any of these owners will just dump the bikes permanently in the thrash. If they cared zilch about 2.4L, would have bought a Bonneville Bobber or Z900RS instead.

They would just be trying to get maximum visibility for their cause. Don't be surprised if it was washed and taken back afterwards. :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR (Post 4456145)

..
.
Don't be surprised if it was washed and taken back afterwards. :D

My advice would be to not wash it and try to sell it as a limited-limited edition. "Be the proud owner of a bike which was part of my futile protest against RE. With authentic bits of trash on the bike from the time it was carefully placed on a garbage heap for a photo op."
Most RE critics say that RE owners pay for garbage. Imagine the premium that could be charged for a bike which has actual garbage on it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by typlo (Post 4455851)

A new development: Pegasus 500 disposed off into a garbage dump by someone.

SOURCE

The customers and the company aren't handling this situation well.

Its just a gimmick by the guy who did it. I am sure he picked up his pegasus and rode home after clicking the picture.

See what his questions are to RE

Quote:

I have few questions for you:
1. If it was just the color and the emblem, why did you make this big fuzz about it’s overall styling, specially the unique stenciled number on the tank?
2. How can a ‘homage’ to the Indian Army and Airforce be exactly same to ‘homage’ to the British Army?
3. Why didn’t we get ABS when the rest of the 750 bikes sold around the world has ABS in them?
4. Why are your dealers calling up people, who couldn’t get their hands on the Pegasus 500, and telling them to test ride the Signals 350 as it looks exactly the same to the former model?

I mean, what was he expecting in the limited edition anyway?

Anyway, I have an RE 10 years old but I am no fan of RE. They are just in the game of hitting new lows and I have no respect for the current products that they have on offer. But still, I think the fanboys are going a little too far. The Signal will be a 350cc only (at least for now, it looks like that !) and what should ideally matter to the riiders is the 500cc heart but somehow all they are concerned about is the similar paint scheme, as if that is all the reason there was for them to buy this edition and pay 65k extra.

Instead of paying a premium of 65k, if I was a "such" a fanboy, I would buy a good old CI 350 or an LB500 (although the LB parts are hard to come by), and give it a 3D paint job, put in a brown leather saddle bag, a front wind screen (is that what it is called?), and some made to order accessories like skull shaped mirrors, a different handle bar, blah blah and still spend half or less of what they paid for the pegasus.
Heck, I can buy a brand new RE and get it repainted immediately and that would also not cost 65k.

This also proves that even the fanboys have left the RE ship, and it is only the showboys left, making all the noise.

The guys who booked, should have kept the expectations realistic.

Quote:

Originally Posted by neil.jericho (Post 4453853)

Well, its threads like these that really brighten up the weekend! So where do I start?

. Happy riding.

Man, what a way to reply. I too didn't understand the hue and cry by the 'willing' people who knew what they were getting for what they were paying.

Its like buying a limited edition race spec Ferrari (which is stripped down to save weight) at a higher premium and complaining that the regular Ferrari have more features in it and we need all retrofitted for free.:Frustrati

Look at this way: the bullet is sold as a lifestyle product that "enhances" the owner's status. When RE managed to convince this group of people to pay a hefty premium for just cosmetic differences, the buyers have a reasonable expectation that RE will protect the value of their purchase, in this case the exclusivity of the product. So, in my opinion, RE deserves every bit of bad press and criticism for this stupid own-goal. How nice the bike is to own, ride or any such thing is simply irrelevant in this case. If the buyers of this limited edition bike were more concerned about the riding experience than the looks, they would have chosen the standard bike. But they haven't.

What I have noticed as a result of this incident is that RE's marketing machine has become so arrogant that it believes that there is no need to apologise to the aggrieved buyers or compensate them in some way. Most luxury brands are very careful about protecting their reputation but RE doesn't seem concerned.

Whilst the debate is on, there’s already an example of Pegasus 500 drowning in a lump of garbage.

It’s really a bad sight to see the bike in such a state. While I empathize the owners frustration and feelings, they shouldn’t have gone down this route as bikes or cars are meant to be respected. Taking the fight head-on legally (if such an option exists) would’ve got them more attention from the company instead of blowing up their own hard earned money for nothing and illtreating a bike this way. Hope RE realizes the fact and gets in contact with the respective 250 owners and give them a satisfactory response.

Somewhere, I feel their PR or showroom sales reps are a reason to all this issue. They shouldn’t have advertised or influenced customers on the 350 ABS stating it’s more or less having similarities to the Pegasus, that triggered this whole issue. Somewhere they are directly or indirectly the cause for their own Pegasus Fiasco! As mentioned by our fellow bhpian above, customers would love their limited editions to have the exclusivity. But, RE seems a bit careless or confused here in keeping the differentiation or too bothered in continuing their profit making streak and record sales growth.

Image: Web based & the same pic is also on Rushlane.

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