[streetrage911]

Hi all T-BHPians,

help me in buying a second hand royal enfield thunderbird. I went to the 'Hot n Spicy RE' showroom in jhandevalan, Delhi to enquire about the bull. RE-TB comes for 98K which is above my budget (70K) so now am planning to buy second hand TB. I need ur your suggestions and buying tips. And yes I am buying a RE for the first time so dont have much idea. Please senior bulletiers, provide your useful tips.

thanks

[bmw_m5_titus]

Streetrage, 70k, thats a good budget. I am no senior bulleteer btw, but you can get 05 t birds for 50k or even lesser.
Else you can stretch your budget a little and buy a brand new Std 350, its about 78k on road i think,Delhi prices may differ.

[streetrage911]

hey thanks BMW-m5-titus for your reply....but am simply in love with the thunderbird....i just hav to get this machine....

buying a second hand TB is not a problem but the problem is am new to RE....will be buying a RE for the first time...so i need buying tips...what all to check while purchasing?

thanks

[kuttapan]

My advice is to find out a good bullet mech near your area, tell him that you will pay for inspection, then take the bike to him to get inspected.

[Sudipto-S-Team]

With due respect to all TB owners and seeking advance apologies for some atrocious comments - that motorcycle is not recognised as a Bullet, if at all it is recognised as a motorcycle in the first place.
If you want to ride a piece of history buy a good old fashioned 350 cc Bullet and repair it and then learn its character. If you want convenience of two-wheeling and dependebility - go for a Japanese bike.
Don't ride an ugly mish-mash of the two, which the TB is. There is neither any thunder in it, nor is it a bird.

[streetrage911]

Originally Posted by kuttapan

My advice is to find out a good bullet mech near your area, tell him that you will pay for inspection, then take the bike to him to get inspected.

thanks kuttpan for ur advice...will be doing the same

[bblost]

@Sudipto: Maybe thats the reason why the thread creator spoke on buying a RE Thunderbird and not a RE Bullet Thunderbird

@Street: Excellent choice. I own and love my thunderbird.
The bike went thru a couple of design changes.
The stay design of the earlier bikes was different and prone to failure. This was rectified in the dual colour thunderbirds. So if you get the older bike you need to check for cracks in the stay just under the pillion seat. Its a simple weld job to fix and since I ride alone most of the time its not a problem for me.
However I weigh about 100 and am prone to riding a lil aggressive on bad roads.

The chain is another area. My thunderbird has been thru 2 chains in the 70+k its done.
Also check the sprocket condition. These alone will cost you about 1k in replacements.

Buy the bike the original silencer.

Check for cam wheel clatter.

To check the general condition of the cycle parts get the bike on an long incline and ride it down with the engine off. Ride handsfree (be careful) and check for any weird listing towards any side.

Check the conditions of the wheel rims. They may have a lil rust spotting but not a lot.

If it passes these tests then get the bike over a mechanic and if all clear. Get ready for the time of your life.


Verify why the seller wants to sell the bike.
Good people usually keep their vehicles in good repair.
And these bikes reflect the personality of the owner to a great degree. So if you like the owner, chance are you will like the bike

[Sankar]

Sudipto, He never said he wanted a Bullet, he said he wanted a Thunderbird. And Thunderbird is not ugly. And Thunderbird's engine is an 'evolution' of the cast iron engine, just like the Bullet engine that evolved from it's predecessors.

I am sure many would've criticised the Bullet engine when it came out. For eg: the lack of manual advance and retard levers, forks that aint as rugged as the girder forks, shock absorbers at the rear which is 'sissy' compared to previous hard tail 'iron butt' suspension, aluminium head which is just too soft compared to the iron head (more macho)... lol

Go ahead and buy the Tbird man, it's a nice bike. It can keep up with the rest of the traffic, is pretty reliable, less hassle and gives you a similar experience.

[Sudipto-S-Team]

looks like the post has had its desired result. Streetrage this is just to give you a taste of the thunder. And by the way, once you buy a TB, you may kindly consider changing your personal icon. It looks like a good old Bullet to me.

[deepclutch]

If you got 70K ,My advice is to NOT to go for a used Thunderbird.for around 30k more ,you will get a brand new bike and also - New UCE engine twinspark model!that is highly recommended over old avl engines powered tbirds.
Dont waste your money on used Tbird.used ones deserved to be bought are CI Bullets ONLY.

[Sankar]

Do you have any problem if he buys a Thunderbird and keep his personal avatar picture of a Bullet?

What many Bullet owners need to do is to change their attitude towards other bikes and bikers.

[Sudipto-S-Team]

No, no. That's perfectly fine. Lots of Maruti 800 owners have Ferrari stickers on their cars. I don't think Ferrari owners are worried about that.

[deepclutch]

^this remembers me about a 1100 posts long Thunderbird Gaali Thread In Orkut RE community see below :(warning :words are too bad!)
thunderbird sucks!!!

[desideep]

Originally Posted by Sankar

Do you have any problem if he buys a Thunderbird and keep his personal avatar picture of a Bullet?

What many Bullet owners need to do is to change their attitude towards other bikes and bikers.

i like this... as the gentle man mentioned that he is new to the EnglishLady so that fine. bro call me up number is 9910337897 call between 11am and 2pm will help you find a good TB and where do you live in DELHI?

---------------------------
EDIT
Just went thround the orkut thingi

[COLOR=#9c5f01]Nachiketh P[/COLOR] this gentle man seems like he is the F@#got himself.
i would respect the TB as much as a Bullet but the fact would stay there that TB is not a Bullet. but it is a TB for sure

[streetrage911]

Originally Posted by bblost

@Sudipto: Maybe thats the reason why the thread creator spoke on buying a RE Thunderbird and not a RE Bullet Thunderbird

@Street: Excellent choice. I own and love my thunderbird.
The bike went thru a couple of design changes.
The stay design of the earlier bikes was different and prone to failure. This was rectified in the dual colour thunderbirds. So if you get the older bike you need to check for cracks in the stay just under the pillion seat. Its a simple weld job to fix and since I ride alone most of the time its not a problem for me.
However I weigh about 100 and am prone to riding a lil aggressive on bad roads.

The chain is another area. My thunderbird has been thru 2 chains in the 70+k its done.
Also check the sprocket condition. These alone will cost you about 1k in replacements.

Buy the bike the original silencer.

Check for cam wheel clatter.

To check the general condition of the cycle parts get the bike on an long incline and ride it down with the engine off. Ride handsfree (be careful) and check for any weird listing towards any side.

Check the conditions of the wheel rims. They may have a lil rust spotting but not a lot.

If it passes these tests then get the bike over a mechanic and if all clear. Get ready for the time of your life.


Verify why the seller wants to sell the bike.
Good people usually keep their vehicles in good repair.
And these bikes reflect the personality of the owner to a great degree. So if you like the owner, chance are you will like the bike

hey bblost...thank you so much for such information...this is a very useful piece of information that u've shared with us...will be checking all that before buying my BIRD mmmm am feeling good