[skrishdrives]

Great!!

All the accessories that I intend on availing myself except for the bar end mirrors as I am not sure about how useful they will be unless I can see it for myself. Add the fact that there have been a few negative reviews for the bar end mirrors in earlier posts as well.

However, I am curious about the Black LED indicators. Where are these available? I couldn't find them on the RE website in MIY either!

Are these aftermarket or am I missing something here ?

[Sommos]

Originally Posted by skrishdrives

Great!!

All the accessories that I intend on availing myself except for the bar end mirrors as I am not sure about how useful they will be unless I can see it for myself. Add the fact that there have been a few negative reviews for the bar end mirrors in earlier posts as well.

However, I am curious about the Black LED indicators. Where are these available? I couldn't find them on the RE website in MIY either!

Are these aftermarket or am I missing something here ?

In almost half of the existing mirror glass I can see only my hands.
The bar end mirrors have been ordered with the expectation that it will provide a far better view of the rear.

The LED indicators are OEM and not after market and are much brighter than the halogen ones. It is available in two colors - silver and black. I have ordered the black colour considering everything in the bike is painted black. It is a direct replacement of the halogen indicators fitted from the factory ensuring the correct flash rate is maintained. It comes in a set of four (front and rear) and the listed price is Rs. 4750.00.

I have been told by all the dealers (including 2 at Pune) that if you opt for customisation of your bike from the factory, it will take more time to deliver.

I have received the BH number yesterday and the plates are expected to be received in a few days. All the accessories have been received by the dealer. Once the accessories and number plates are fitted, I will post a picture of the bike. Hope that will clear the things for you.

[svsantosh]

Originally Posted by Sommos

Now, in my fifties

I honestly click baited this 'News' post thinking which dad looks like this (who has a 18+ age son)

A picture of the bike - the person driving is a colleague :-

Whew! that clarifies.

Mabrook to you and your son. Ride safe, gear up always.

[Sommos]

Originally Posted by Sommos

Once the accessories and number plates are fitted, I will post a picture of the bike. Hope that will clear the things for you.

Well, as promised, here are the pictures of the accessories fitted in the bike. All the accessories have been chosed by my son and not by me :-



This is the front view of the bike where you can see the front LED indicators and the Compact Crash Guard / Engine Guard. I would have preferred the normal (or wider one) Crash Guard, but son felt that it kills the look of the bike.



These are the rear indicators. The OEM indicator has 3 LED fitted in a triangular formation. One can also fit aftermarket LED bulbs e.g. Symtex inside the OEM indicators and probably the cost will also be lesser.



The bar end mirrors - I feel these are much better than the OEM factory fitted mirrors. Each of them provide a wide view of the road behind and has very little blind spot, though the front profile of the bike is lowered.



This one is just for looks - the bar end finishers.




These are the signature seats - rider and pillion. The rider seat has a bucket shape that provides somewhat more comfort than the OEM one, but the seat height is lowered by a few millimeters. The seats have beautiful white stiches and the Royal Enfield name is emboidered on the rider seat. Maybe I will explore the possibility of fitting a gel pad (if possible) inside the front seat at a later date.

That's all friends. No transporter at Chandrapur is willing to transport the bike to Pune - I have almost hit a roadblock here. Now I will have to explore the possibility of shifting the bike through Rail -whch was my second option originally. And the last option is for my son to drive it to Pune - this suggestion is now coming from the recepient side. I can understand his excitement to lay his hands on the new bike, but for that I have to complete 500 KM and get the first service done. That is exactly what I am doing now - using the bike daily for office commute and trying to reach 450+ KM as soon as possible.

Grudges :-
1. The rear suspension could have been much better. It still transfers some amount of jerk in case of deep potholes.

2. The rear brakes could have been better considering the momentum this bike would generate at high speeds. At moderate speeds of 60/ 70 I feel thay are adequate.

3. I normally drive a XUV700, which has one-of-the-best headlights in the segment. Coming from that background, I found the bikes headlights to be inadequate.

Before I finish, here are two parting pictures of the bike :-

[Sommos]

Used the Shotgun for almost a month and just when I started enjoying the comfort of the two wheeler, it was time to say Goodbye to the power house. Drove the bike for just above 500 KM in 26 days, got the first service done and kept it ready for the first long journey in the life of the bike as-well-as it's owner. One Sunday morning we both went out on a long ride for about 40 KM one way - just to have a feel as-well-as to munch up some miles so that the servicing could be done early. The dealership opened their shutters on a national holiday (02nd. October) just to service my bike. They had called skeleton staff to prep the bikes for delivery scheduled on 03rd October and they were kind enough to accomodate me within that schedule.

On Dusshera morning, my son drove off solo with the bike to Pune - a drive of 715 KM. This was his first bike ride of such distance and that too solo. As parents we both were under lot of tension. He eventually took a break at Aurangabad and reached Pune on day two.

Thus the short sojourn of the Stencil White - Shotgun in my life ended.

Wishing all the bikers (in this forum) safe and happy riding. Bye !!

[Freespirit27]

That's a great father and son bond. It must've been a few tense hours for the parents to let their son take the long ride (his) home. Glad it's done, and without hiccups. Good for both of you!
Cheers to safe and memorable rides, keep updating.

[sre]

I used to ride a motorcycle in my younger years. I had a first generation CBZ which I bought immediately after I got my job. I still remember that the standard motorcycle loan didn't cover it and I had to take a personal loan on top to buy one. We had three CBZs in that bachelor pod where I used to live. Those days we used to head out of Bangalore every other weekend. Clocked around 70K Kms in 7 years. After getting married, I moved on to a four wheeler and settled down.

A few years ago, when I turned 40, a friend of mine - who was also my fellow rider from those days - called and asked if we can do a long ride. Started with South America and Scotland plans and towards the end was coming towards a more realistic north east India ride. Anyways none of it happened due to family situations and later Covid19. But the thought of getting back to riding got into my head. Did a few short trips around Bangalore on a rented 310 GS.

I was quite clear that ADV is the format that I wanted. Then the additional wishes started coming in [Closer to 50 Bhp, multi cylinder etc..]. Unfortunately all the multi cylinder ADV options were expensive. The cheapest was CB500X [Now NX500]. Even that felt a tad too expensive considering that I was not confident of myself using it enough!! For some time, I thought a Himalayan 650 might come.. That didn't happen either.

When I saw the Shotgun for the first time [on Youtube] kind of fell in love with it. The reviews from abroad (like Stuart Fillingham] were quite positive. The domestic reviews [specially Shumi from MotorInc] wasn't quite so.. I was kind of torn but decided to take a test ride.

I went to Technik motorcycles in Bangalore and did a short 10 minutes ride. I kind of liked it in the first ride. The suspension (which is supposedly the weak link) felt reasonably ok. The sitting posture was also ok ( I didn't like the interceptor so much as it felt a bit cramped for me so this was also something that I wanted to validate). I asked them for a longer test ride which didn't happen right away but asked me to come another time. A few days later I took a 30 - 40 mins ride through some bad patches and so on and felt that this would the closest I would come to something that I like for the money that I was willing to pay.

I came back from the test ride as I wanted the idea to sink in a bit more. In the mean time, I also tried to figure out colour preferences from the family. After two days, I went ahead a booked one. Interestingly, they had a green drill in stock and I got the vehicle by end of the week.

I added a few accessories after that [Compact crash guard, Sump guard and bar end mirrors]. It took almost a week to get them as they didn't have in stock. It was ok as I could combine accessories fixing with number place fixing.

So here she is..

[skrishdrives]

Congratulations Sre... a wonderful choice indeed

I had the chance to take a test ride of the SG650 from the bellandur outlet in bangalore last month and boy was it a beast of a ride. Although, the demo bike had a broken front brake lever which kind of marred the whole riding experience and I to be honest was a bit wary of giving it a proper go at that time it being late in the evening and beginning to rain.

I am looking forward for another proper go at it some time soon so that I can finalize on whether or not to go ahead with it. A couple of things that do bother me are the gear pedal which is only up and down (worried about the shoes/sandals getting spoilt ofcourse ) and more importantly fitting a back rest would probably kill the look of the bike, however, not having a back rest would more definitely get me killed by my wife!!

Happy riding to you bro... enjoy the good times! Cheers!

[sre]

I have had the bike for almost three weeks now. First week was mostly waiting for the number place as I wasn't sure if it is ok to ride around without a number plate.
As of today, I rode slightly more than 200 Kms. Most of it has been errand rides during the weekend [Taking it to office hasn't been possible as the drive back from office is a time that I use for office calls or personal catch up calls. Making the best use of Bangalore traffic]. Also did an 80 Km short morning to the outskirts of Bangalore.

First impressions :

I got a few adulations for the bike from strangers and friends as well.
The ride is pretty good. I am loving it so far.
The sound is amazing. It's like music. part load sound and wide open throttle sound are quite different notes.. both are good.
Suspension is good but not great. Low speeds on bad roads are ok. good roads and high speeds are great. If you want to ride fast on bad patches, it's not a something you enjoy [no where close to ADV comforts]. You can stand up when it gets bad or when you hit an unexpected pothole and didn't have time to slow down. I really wish we had better roads here. We are still an ADV country.
I felt that 80 - 90 Kmph is a comfortable cruising speed. The machine can handle higher speeds [did try higher than 100 as I wanted to run in for some time] but the wind blast was an issue for me. Perhaps I will get used to it but would prefer to have some wind protection for sure. I don't know how to do it without spoiling the looks. Suggestions welcome.
Absence of a pillion backrest is an issue as skrishdrives mentioned. Complaint received from wife already with a demand to fix the issue. Didn't find any good looking options yet. Suggestions welcome for this as well.
The right side panel came off in the first week. I asked the showroom guys to fix it while fitting the accessories. It seems the rubber bush that is holding it in place is having an issue and they didn't have it in the showroom. They have tightened it for the time being and asked me to take to service centre. Will get it done with first service.

That's all for now..
PS: Is there a shotgun community like the one for interceptor?

[Boringrider]

Originally Posted by sre

So here she is..

Congratulations and wishing you many happy rides with it!

Very tempted to pull the trigger on the green drill myself, once the finances are in order. I always had this dream of owning an air-cooled engine since I was a kid. This is arguably the most affordable and reliable twin cylinder engine. It's one of those bikes which just makes me forget everything and concentrate on the ride. Despite everyone criticising the long outward canted exhausts, I actually like it for precisely those reasons. The note is butter smooth.

[Aryan.M]

Prelude:
My father has been a car enthusiast and has been a part of this forum for quite a while. Even since childhood, I had a liking for cars; bikes never really amused me as much. Till now, I had only driven bikes on a few short trips during college from Pune to Lavasa, Tamhini Ghats, and the bikes that I rode were RE Hunter 350 and Yamaha R15 owned by my friends. But this all changed after I completed my Bachelor’s degree and started working. Being in a city like Pune, I got to see a lot of beautiful-looking and sounding bikes. One that stood out to me was the RE Continental GT 650. That sculpted tank and the twin exhaust system are just amazing. Coincidentally, there was a Mr. Clean edition in my apartment’s parking lot, right next to my parking space. Seeing it every day after work just made me smitten like a kid. That’s when I started looking into bikes, especially GT, and after a while, decided that I wanted to own a bike as well. When I first told my parents, it was an outright no. After some time, they were ready to let me get a 350CC bike, but I had my eyes on the Continental GT. After discussing it with my parents for quite a while, I finally got the green light.

Decision Making:
Initially, I did not even consider any other 650; GT was the one that I wanted. My father did insist a lot on looking at the other bikes with the same 650CC engine. Super Meteor was a little too “comfortable/relaxed” for my liking. Interceptor has the same engine and exhaust as GT, but out of the two, the sculpted tank of GT is what made it a clear winner for me. Shotgun was fairly new to the market, so I had not given it much thought.

My father insisted on getting the Shotgun over GT as it has better riding posture and bigger disc brakes. As I was busy with office work, I was not able to take a test drive of these bikes for a couple of weeks. When I finally got some time, I went to the nearest RE showroom. Unfortunately, they did not have GT available for a test drive. I hesitantly tried out the Shotgun. This would be the first time I would be riding a 650CC bike.

It was only a short ride, just a couple of kilometers, but I was in love with the engine. The feeling of having that much power at your command was just unparalleled.

I did enjoy the seating posture of SG, but until I rode the GT myself, I would not be able to let go of that unconditional bias that I had for GT.

A few days later, at a different RE showroom, I was able to take a test ride of the GT.
Despite driving it on a pretty well-maintained part of the highway passing through Pune, I did experience some shoulder and ankle pain in just a 10-minute ride. And even driving through small potholes did transfer a lot of jerk up to my shoulders.

It was only after that ride that I started leaning more towards the Shotgun. I am a tall guy on the heavier side, so the seating posture of GT would definitely be a problem for me.
I rode the Shotgun as well on the same road, and it took the potholes very smoothly with only the rear suspension being slightly stiff.

I discussed the pricing of both the bikes with the sales rep, took a print of the cost sheet, and came home to discuss my experience and my decision of going with the Shotgun. I was ready for the “I told you so” from my father, and as soon as I mentioned my experience with GT, there it was “Maine toh bola hi tha”.

I started doing some research about the SG, and the single-seater/ bobber look of it started growing on me. In just a few days, I decided to book the Shotgun in Stencil White, but due to some documentation issues, I could not get the bike in Pune.

The other options were:
1. Buy it in Bhilai (my hometown), when I would be there for Diwali holidays
2. Buy it in Chandrapur (where my father is currently employed).
After some discussion, we decided to buy it in Chandrapur, as the time for getting it delivered and getting all the documentation done in Bhilai would be cutting it very close with my leaves at work.
My father booked the SG and did all the documentation for the bike. The bike was delivered on 16th September.
Now the hurdle was bringing the bike to Pune. No transporter was ready to send the bike to Pune. After some discussion, it was finally decided that I would ride the bike back to Pune, so my father had to drive it for ~500 kms and get its first servicing done.
He has a post detailing the experience.
( https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motor...ml#post5844141 (Royal Enfield Shotgun 650 unveiled) )
( https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motor...ml#post5851013 (Royal Enfield Shotgun 650 unveiled) )

The Ride to Pune:
Seeing that my father was enjoying the bike and had forgotten about his car while he had the Shotgun, I made a proposal that he could keep the bike for now, and I could take his XUV 700 back to Pune.

Unfortunately, the request was denied.
(It was obviously worth a shot )

To prepare for the ride, I bought some gear:
- RE Full Face Helmet
- Rynox Storm Evo 3 gloves
- Clan Stealth Shoes
- Edyell C8 Bluetooth Headset for listening to some music on the long ride.

I had planned to go till Jalna, and based on the time I reach there, I would decide if I wanted to continue driving and reach Pune the same day or take a halt in Aurangabad.

I left Chandrapur on the day of Dussehra at around 6 a.m. Took the NH930 to Warora.

Photos taken at Warora:



Warora to Wadki was just a single-lane road through villages. From Wadki, I took NH 361B till Kalamb.

After crossing Kalamb, it was the first time I saw a 4-lane highway on this trip, NH361 up till Yevatmal. I took a short break near Yevatmal and clicked some more photos.

On the way from Kalamb to Yevatmal:


Yevatmal to Shelu Bazar was on single-lane state highways SH212 & 210.
At this point, I was starting to get a little tired and getting a bit sore sitting on the seat for so long as I was not used to it. I started taking a break at around every hour or when I needed to refuel as I was not used to riding for this long.

The road from Shelu Bazar to Jalna was on NH 753C which was a single-lane highway throughout and passed a bunch of villages on the way. Even though it was a single-lane road, the road itself was very well maintained and I was very comfortably cruising at around 80-100 Kmph, only having to slow down when passing through the villages.

I reached Mehkar at around 3:30 PM and had my lunch there at a restaurant next to the highway. During lunch, I decided it would be better to take a halt at Aurangabad and booked a hotel room online.

Just as I was getting ready to head out after lunch, it started raining heavily. I decided to wait it out in the restaurant as I did not have any rain cover for my bag or even myself. Luckily, it only lasted for around 15 minutes, after which I headed out to Jalna. I reached Jalna at around 6:30 PM.

The road from Jalna to Aurangabad was a 4-lane highway but the road had significantly more traffic which was only made worse by the Visarjana processions. It was also getting dark now and a major shortfall of the SG came to light (or lack thereof, for that matter). The headlights that RE provides are very weak for highways and I could barely see the road especially with the lights from oncoming traffic. This made me drive at around 35~40 Kmph as I was not at all confident in driving faster even though the roads were decent enough. Because of my slow pace, I ended up reaching my hotel at around 8:15 PM.

The next morning, I had my breakfast and was ready for an exciting ride as I knew that the road to Pune was a 4-lane highway. But to my disappointment, the road was not at all maintained properly; the top layer had worn down and had rough patches scattered throughout. Driving a car with decent suspensions would be okay, but riding a bike on that road was not at all enjoyable as I had hoped.



I started to relax a bit once I crossed Shirur and headed towards Ranjangaon as this road was pretty familiar to me. My office is in Ranjangaon, so I knew the road onwards fairly well and could drive pretty confidently knowing where I can speed up and where I would have to slow down for rough patches. I took a 10-minute break near my office to get Nimbu Pani at a restaurant near my office as I wanted to get home and have lunch in the comfort of my home.

Overall Experience:
The bike feels lively when above 60 Kmph, and there is more than enough power in the engine that you would never feel short of it on a pull of the throttle. At the time of writing this post, I have taken the bike out for a few trips since then, and the discomfort that I had while driving for long has gone away. I only experienced that on the first day.

I have yet not been able to use the sixth gear due to road conditions and traffic both. And I will definitely not risk going that fast unless I can get on a good highway.

Shortfalls:
The major shortfall that I felt is the stock headlight. Before going on my second trip, I got Maddog Alpha aux lights fitted on the bike.

The second thing I feel could be better is the rear suspension. Some friends have said that it does get better as it opens up, but I am not sure how much time it needs to do that as the bike has clocked little over 2200Kms now. Would appreciate if anyone has any suggestions for the suspension, whether they should be upgraded or if anything else can be done to make it better.

Changes I plan on doing:
- Aftermarket Exhausts: The stock exhaust note feels a little soft below 60Kmph. Once you pull the throttle to go above 60, you can hear the engine thump and come to life.
- Navigation System: Although it does come with the RE Tripper Pod installed by default, it fells a little lacking when it comes to some successive turns or complicated roundabouts in the city, something with the road being displayed instead of just the next direction would be nice. (This is not very high on my priority list, but just a thought that I might need to look into in the future)
- Aux Lights: As mentioned earlier, the stock headlights are not very good. (Have gotten Maddog Alpha installed at the time of writing this post)

As it is my first post, would appreciate any feedback you guys have to offer.

That’s all for this post.
Ride Safe.

[Iyencar]

Bike looks really cool! I read that the usable tank volume is only 10 L. With a claimed FE of 22 kmpl, how annoying are you finding fuel stops?
Does the suspension get better if you had a pillion seated?

[TheHelix0202]

Originally Posted by Iyencar

Bike looks really cool! I read that the usable tank volume is only 10 L. With a claimed FE of 22 kmpl, how annoying are you finding fuel stops?
Does the suspension get better if you had a pillion seated?

I have a GT and I get around 240-270km of range. Yes, it’s annoying to keep refueling. Especially since my previous motorcycle was a 390 Adventure!

[Aryan.M]

Originally Posted by Iyencar

Bike looks really cool! I read that the usable tank volume is only 10 L. With a claimed FE of 22 kmpl, how annoying are you finding fuel stops?
Does the suspension get better if you had a pillion seated?

The fuel tank capacity in the SG 650 is 13.8L and out of this the dead stock is 1.7L. So usable capacity is 12.1L. Out of this 10L is normal and the rest 2.1L is in reserve/ low fuel warning. I get a mileage of approximately 20 KMPL which translates to approximately 240KM max range.

Actually it is difficult or rather tiring to ride a bike continuously for more than 1.5 hours. I use this as an excuse to take a small break after every 150 - 200 KM to break the monotony and recharge myself. While planning the journey, I search for reliable fuel pumps on the way and pre-plan my fuel breaks.

I have never driven the bike with a pillion - in fact the pillion seat has been removed in my bike. In fact I do love the bobber look - with the single seat. But I have kept the metal tray, for now, for the sole purpose of carrying my bags during the journey.

[pragyaal]

My Personal Review on Recent Bike Upgrades on my Motoverse Shotgun 650
I recently installed a few new components on my bike and wanted to share my personal experience.
Wider Front Rider Foot Pegs
While they look great and seemed like a good idea, I found them a bit uncomfortable for my riding style. Gear shifting felt awkward, especially while wearing riding boots, and upshifting was not as smooth as I’d like, sometimes i found that riding boots got stuck between the foot pegs and gear pegs. The brake peg, though flat and seemingly more spacious, slightly engages the brake when I rest my boots flat on it. For long rides, I found the original shorter foot pegs more comfortable.
FuelX Pro+
I feel absolutely no performance boost or it’s not very noticeable during regular rides. Perhaps it’s more suited for specific use cases or riding conditions.
I feel that i wasted my money in this and my strong advice to everyone is not to install it. To actually see if there are some performane improvements in numbers i purchased a OBD cable and sensor, the data that i took from bike in all riding modes of FuleX Pro+ were exactly same, there was no even slightest improvement. I tried talking to Fuel X guys but did not hear any satisfactory answer. In My opinion this performance upgrade is completely useless.
Fly Screen
I didn’t find it aesthetically pleasing. Personally, I feel the bike looks better without it. Additionally, the fly screen collects dust, making it harder to clean the speedometer and tripper unit display.
Performance Air Filter
This was the one upgrade that really stood out for me. After installing it, the bike’s sound changed to a deeper, more satisfying roar, and it enhanced the overall riding experience.

Again, this is just my personal perspective based on my usage and preferences. What works for me may not be the same for everyone!