[topedgemonk]

I saw this bike testing.. the acceleration that engine produces is simply astounding.. for an RE.

was talking to someone from RE there... he was saying it was not going to be launched in India immediately as it would cost upwards of 2 lakhs and they did not see a big enough market for bikes in that range.

..but definitely- a delicious bike

[hollywoodhogan]

Originally Posted by topedgemonk

I was talking to someone from RE there... he was saying it was not going to be launched in India immediately as it would cost upwards of 2 lakhs and they did not see a big enough market for bikes in that range.

yeah, like i have earlier said, its not viable at the moment to launch this bike. besides re has just launched the 350cc uce and needs this engine to settle down before the next uce launch.

[ac 427]

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your visit to the Royal Enfield website and your interest in the Bullet Classic.

We wish to inform you that the Bullet Classic has currently been made specifically for sale in the European markets. This model is not scheduled for release in India for the time being. We will inform you through the media at the appropriate time regarding the release of this model for the Indian market. Thank you.

Regards,

Andrew Anantharaj
Senior Manager - International Business.

Phone : +91 44 42230209

Royal Enfield (Unit of Eicher Motors Limited)
Thiruvottiyur High Road, Thiruvottiyur,
Chennai 600 020. India.

Welcome to Royal Enfield Motorcycles | Motorcycle India


This is the reply i got after a mail which i sent them.

[alpha1]

Fail to understand the >2 lac price tag.

27bhp from 500cc is not something revolutionary.
Ennfield's old 500cc cast iron engine developed 22 bhp.
Enfields's old cast iron 350 cc engine developed 18 bhp
AVL aluminium 350cc engine developed 18.x bhp

So its not the engine which makes this so expensive.
Then what is it?

Styling?

I can get similar styling done in less than 50K.

[Steeroid]

RECEIVED TODAY:

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your visit to the Royal Enfield website and your interest in the Bullet Classic.

We wish to inform you that the Bullet Classic has currently been made specifically for sale in the European markets. This model is not scheduled for release in India for the time being. We will inform you through the media at the appropriate time regarding the release of this model for the Indian market.

The Royal Enfield factory does not deliver export model bikes in India to customers as they will not meet regulations in India for road use and cannot be registered by the RTOs in India. Thank you.

Regards,

Andrew Anantharaj
Senior Manager - International Business.

[Gregory]

This is typical of RE or any other company in India. The best of what they produce goes into exports, and the rest left over junk is sold in the local markets. Yes Indian consumers always come second.

And about the cost. The UCE 350 costs about 1.1laks? The 500 classic surely wont cost more than 1.5L then.
I was looking at the RE US website. The 500CC model sells for 5300$ there


People talk about the heritage of RE and this and that in the end they still get treated bad by the company with substandard quality.

[kcstheg]

The UCE350 (TBird) costs <10k more than non-UCE Machismo350 and <10K less than Machismo500

I would not want to believe that the UCE(+EFI)500 would cost upwards of 1.5L.

Where did we get the estimated figure of >2L from ? a reliable source or heresay ?

I am also quite diasspointed with this kinda treatment by RE.
I dont understand why they dont want to increase the chances of their sales ? Do they think they are the Ferrari of the 2-wheelers? Are they running short of land to increase their production capacity and running short of money to aquire more land too?

The Bulletclassic website takes the record for being the slowest website I've ever come across the internet. Even in old dial-up days websites used to load quicker.

Looks like the site is hosted on a residential cable connection in UK and all the bandwidth has been taken up by torrents....lol.

[topedgemonk]

Originally Posted by kcstheg

Where did we get the estimated figure of >2L from ? a reliable source or heresay ?

hearsay i hope they bring it down a bit from their stratospheric levels.

[prabhuav]

I am a diehard bullet fan. But this is what I got on one of the bulletech forum - the author writes for a motorcycle mag.

If you can purchase a complete Brasilian 2008 Honda Cg125E for ?1699
otr which has very comparable cycle parts to the Bonnie and the
Bullet, you are basically saying that the engine is worth another 3
_grand_ on top of the chassis and the cycle parts. That's just
ridiculous!

I was a big advocate and owner of the clasic bullet when it was 2k otr
here in the UK. But, new engine or not, 5k+ is just too much to ask
for what is in effect a scaled up 125 OHV single.

And the recent model iterations, whilst some do look great, seem to
have an over emphasis on chintzy bling and Harley Chrome imitation.
Which is the complete antithesis of the Bullet in my opinion. I do not
want an Indian made, Enfield branded Sportster clone for the same
money. I know for a fact that if I buy an 883r for 5500 otr I am
getting a substantial chunk of machinary for my money that's backed up
with cast iron warranties. I used to hold that true for the Enfield
classic at less than half the price, quirks or not.

If this new bike was 3.5k not 5.5k I'd buy one, but it isn't and the
quality of a 5.5k Japanese or Yank Tank (yes, even those are now
modern CNC engineerd blocks) just isn't there. With that in mind, I
slated it at review (I work for a motorcycle magazine in the UK) as
being a hideous mish mash of concepts and business direction, clearly
blinged up and failing in the core values of what Enfield enthusiasts
consider sacrament:

1. Character and substance.
2. Individuality ie. set apart from the generic classic competition
3. Affordability
4. Tried and tested technology. Costly licensed fuel injection
implementations which add uneccessary complexity and remove critical
aspects of engine maintainence and tuning from the enthusiasts spanner
drawer and plant it firmly in the dealer network's coffers, EU
emissions regs or not, is a bad move. It forces up the base cost of
the machine and involves third parties.
5. To show progress without selling out to mass market generic
motorcycling punters. e.g. fair weather, middle aged, more money than
sense bling bikers.

I can understand why they have gone the way they have, but they are
missing one MASSIVE key point: They do *not* have the quality control,
the craftsmanship and the branding to go big time with the likes of HD
and Japan. So why build a sub standard (it is, I have ridden it and it
rusted overnight during the test!) new model using a fantastic new
engine concept and totally undermine it by overpricing it and being
entirely greedy and short sighted by pocketing the profits and not
providing a durable, quality product that will last - or the
infrastructure to produce that product in the near future.

The Indian Enfield has the worst quality control and build quality of
any motorcycle I have ever ridden, tested or owned. But for the price
I couldn't complain. I knew what I was buying.
Now, I feel like I am being asked to buy cheap crap dressed as a
Harley for far more than it's worth. With little or no real dealer
network support. This was fine when it was cheap, cheap crap. Now its
expensive crap I just don't see it working for them. I really don't
want it to, if frank, as the product is just so damn awful I'd be
embarrased to be seen on one; with every passer by thinking 'what a
muppet, he paid Harley money for that lump of thinly plated scrap!'.

Sorry if this sounds like a anti R.E. rant, but I am just so
disappointed with the new bikes pricing and finish and dismayed by
what I see as hopelessly unrealistic business policy by the money men.
Without a Japense type mass production facility and trained
professional staff its never going anywhere as a business if you turn
out the same crap and try to get top dollar for it in the single most
competative category of the motorcycle market outside of Super Sports.
The Italians couldn't break the Japanese hegemony, the Germans haven't
since the 70's and 80's and the Americans have long since given up
trying to sell the (albeit dramatically improved) hardware, focussing
their hard sell almost entirely on the lifestyle.

I suppose that's what R.E. is trying to do, but it's a house built on
the sand. With no enduring classic machines coming out the factory
door anymore, just homogoneous pulp covered in chrome and billed as a
complete solution to your 'lifestyle need', its just depressing to see
a quirky, largely incompetent but enduring business turn to whipped
choco latte frappocino turd by short selling foreign investors who'll
cut and shut ASAP.

- Chris

[alpha1]

^ Totally agree with that rant.

I had said something similar in xbhp forums when Enfield was launching chrome plated versions of its bike, with whopping proce tags, and no significant improvement.

My point was if there is no improvement - please dont launch a new model.
Just maintain the old one, and keep its pricve low.

Thats what sells Enfield Bullet

[Sankar]

Wow.. i'm liking each and every word Chris said! "Thinly plated crap"

I am agitated and offended by RE's attitude of not selling Indian products to Indians.

[prabhuav]

And they are pissing off the firangs at the same time. A bullet 500 for the same price as a Honda hornet? Mr Lal is smoking some serious herbs if he expects to sell decent numbers.

Vijay

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by prabhuav

And they are pissing off the firangs at the same time.

Forget the firangs - they've pissed their home base off.

Originally Posted by prabhuav

Mr Lal is smoking some serious herbs if he expects to sell decent numbers.

Perhaps he's trying to get us to pay for his expensive habit. What herb could be that expensive, though?

[madhokritesh]

If u remember guys RE had launched the Citybike 500cc in 1997-98 priced at abt 85k OTR, and all other bikes were priced at 45-50k then, guess RE has the habbit to always overprice its product, BTW does anyone know wot the price for the Fi unit thats on the new 500Classic cud be?