[EssYouWe]

It could be because of a spent battery. But wouldn't the ammeter be completely on the left in that case?

I usually avoid spraying any water at the wires and insist on the service station guys to double dry it with the air pressure hose.

I understand how you feel bro... It is just such a heartbreak sometimes. :(

By the way, did you get your forks repainted?

@Nandish

Of course! RE has a lousy QC center.

But what we see here is a general incompetency at their end. They are just not good enough to create a niggle free bike.

The CI engine despite of being almost half a century old still did not have *any* of its faults ironed out.

[Randhawa]

Originally Posted by RECL350

Now the self start stopped working . I was very proud till now, whoever asked I always replied 'fantastic bike, no problems at all'. After facing so many problems for a brand new bike[fork sleeve rubbing, primary drive chain noise, leaking tank and now this self start], I understand after-all this is a RE product. It stopped working after last sunday's wash; all electricals are fine except self start. Checked connecting wires none are loose; ammeter slightly deflects to left when self start is pressed, I guess current is passing through. I have to take it to service center for the 3rd service after a 1000kms anyway, but would like to know if it is some known issue and if there is a fix. Usually bike is parked for whole week and is taken out only on weekends, does the starter take more current ? Could it because of drained battery ?

Do you hear tic tic noise when you press the button? Try depressing the clutch and see if it works. If still nothing then most probably your starter relay is kaput.

Any problems with starting the bike with the kick and any thud kind of noise while using the kick to start?

[RECL350]

@EssYouWe: I painted sleeves with a paint brush at home.
Yes, RE is least bothered about QC. Dhruva confirmed petrol leak from tap on his bike too, also few others have confirmed sleeve rubbing on their classics, I have seen oil leaking through engine head of one TBTS, never heard of so many issues with brand new bikes from other manufactures. After watching them brush adhesive over 4 month old fuel tank tap, I have lost hopes. It is unfortunate that we love these machines so much.

@Randhawa:Everything is normal, except self start. There is no sound when I press start switch.

[bj96]

Enfield stops fresh bookings till year-end - Corporate News - livemint.com

[Dhruva]

Got mine from the first service, 600km done, all seems to be well. Leaks have stopped. The bike was cleaner before i gave it for service, which was expected. All the did was wipe the tank with a waste cloth. There is still that tak-tak-tak noise from the engine, more audible at 30kmph+, clearer with the throttle closed. Dont know if this is normal(feels out of place), but the service guy said it is(they dont give you a chance to make your point!). Also want to think the same. Have to ride another UCE350 and see if it really is. So far so good.

[EssYouWe]

Our dear UCE makes a million noises. Don't worry too much about it. Do see another UCE is you are having too many doubts.

After the second service, I have decided to look for a mechanic. I don't want the bozos at RE touching my Bull.

[EssYouWe]

Hi, I have been meaning to post this mini-review for a long time now.

Model: Classic 350

Bought on: 6th December 2009

Price: Rs. 1.03 lacs

Odo Reading Today: 2200 kms

Number of Services done: 2

Number of oil changes: 2

Each Service Cost: Rs. 700/-

Top Speed touched: 95-100 kmph

Fuel Efficiency: 42-45 kmpl

Riding Distribution: Mostly city, with quite a few early morning long distance (100 km) rides.

Major Problems: Shocker Sleeve fouling with the front mudguard, Defective rear-view mirrors, Very uncomfy front seat.

Service Experience: Could beat Skoda at its game.


It has been a bittersweet experience for me till now. I love my Bull a lot, and the excitement of riding it is still just as much as it was 5 months back.
On an open highway with little traffic it is a completely different biking experience.
Let me go into what I do not like about the bike first:

• The engine note. Although I never bought it for the thump, I am really not okay with its dead clanky sound. It sounds like a really old auto-rickshaw (or you have seen, the three-wheeled cargo transporters. They are called 'Peepas' in local parlance).
  Having installed an Upswept, I can assure you it is the worst way you could spend 1700 bucks. Accessing the rear wheel in case of a puncture is practically impossible.

Every time a CI bullet passes by, such anger bursts forth in my heart!

The UCE engine note is flat, has zero bass, is not loud and sounds like clanging plates.

• I was wondering the other day as to why the UCE still pumps out no more than 20 horses. For a supposedly new generation engine, why were we awarded with no power gain? The Classic 350 is a slow bike and is easily beaten by most when driven hard. At high revs, it vibrates your head off.

• It is extremely uncomfortable. The front seat seems to be taken from an electric chair.

• Is nowhere close to being zero maintenance as claimed by RE. Maybe it will be zero maintenance if I stop going to the RE workshop.

• The horn is just the worst. Would be more at home on an old Luna. That's not quite it! If you press it continuously for more than 5 secs, it starts sucking the battery dry and sounds like the old chetak horn.

• It can not be driven in Delhi traffic. It is not even the weight that is a problem. The fact that it sets your legs on fire if idled for even a minute ensures that you will spend 2 hours on a longer route rather than fighting a 30 minute jam.

I bought the bike expecting a nice bike that I could trundle around on. But the UCE engines are poor at slow riding. No more 30 on the 4th gear. One doesn't even want to, it start sounding like the bike's falling apart.

When I was buying a 350, people told me it would be decent at touring. Imran bhai's TB is consistently driven at speeds of 80-90 on highways. I doubt the CL 350's ability to maintain those speeds.

I wish RE had stayed with its core engineering and probably bettered that. What we have now is something that isn't Jap-fast or old world.

Even still, it puts a huge smile on my face every time I ride it.

I guess its the unreasonable love that the Bullet induces.

Time to ride!

Cheers guys!

[RECL350]

, man that's right, even my wife complains that it sounds like goods carrier auto, earlier I used to hear a lot of clitter-clatter, click-clicks, now not much. Engine sound has improved a lot after 5200kms may be the parts are tired of rubbing each other. And regarding cruising ability, it can do 80-90kmph easily, it becomes unconformable only around 100. I agree pickup is very bad. Yesterday had been to Mysore; there are road humps every 2-10kms and a TVS victor with a pillion rider was much quicker, it was funny how after I overtook him he will again leave me behind on road humps, at times I feel 500cc is much better option for such a heavyweight.

[indian21r]

Surprised to hear that pick up of 350 is bad. I have done close to 2k in 500 in Mumbai traffic. The bike has amazing pickup, leaves all the vehicles behind at signals.

City driveability is never an issue with 500. It get hot but only after 45 mins or more. I have given it for second service let me see how it will perform now. The only gripe for me is the tires. Somehow it feels as if the bike pulls to side when the difference in road level is more than say an inch ( like road markings or lane gaps )

[stnair]

@EssYouWee,

I booked the CL350 reading your initial reviews and attracted by the charming history of Royal Enfield. The tentative delivery promised by RE is June end.

Most of the Independent reviews (I mean other than Motor magazine's reviews) has been critical about both C-5 and CL350. Its noisy, vibrates, leakes, scratches, heats up and uncomfortable seats. But still the waiting period is more than 8 months.

@ EssYouWee, RECL350, Randhawa, Would you still recommend buying this bike? or should I flee with my hard earned money (Rs1.1lakh is big for me) and buy a trouble free Unicorn or something like that?

I value your suggestion guys. So please give an honest opinion. By the way I am not a 20 year old who would like to go screaming in a Pulsar or Karizma...

[amit.ga]

Originally Posted by akas_chauhan

Hey congrats for your black classic 350. BTW why did not you go for 500CC green one?

Hope you'll keep this thread alive.

Green..!! They are military green and they are manufactured by RE only for the international markets. RE cannot sell military green colour in India due to Army restrictions.

When it comes to old vehicles also, if you change you colour to military green, though you dont find any problem during regular use(it is not permitted) you are very much certain to face issues when you try to get your Fitness Certificate renewed. You will not get an FC.....

[bhasma]

Originally Posted by amit.ga

Green..!! They are military green and they are manufactured by RE only for the international markets. RE cannot sell military green colour in India due to Army restrictions.

The c5 green is not military green pal.

BTW did you just come out of a coma or something?

PS: Couldn't resist.

[JayPrashanth]

STNair,

No two bullets are same and this applies to the Classics too, the UCE engines notwithstanding. While Achint and RECL350 complain about the low pick up, there are plenty of others who are happy with the pick up. The issue with 350s, especially the UCEs is that they need to be revved up for any significant progress but getting it up to higher rpms isn't very enjoyable as the issue of vibes crop up. This is because of the low end torque that is lesser than the Cast Iron models. This means that you can't thump along majestically like say the STD350 nor be as fast as say the latest crop of premium Indo-Japs at the traffic lights. As far as the reliability of the UCEs is concerned, it is way better than CIs and AVLs.

Cheers,

Jay

[RECL350]

Originally Posted by stnair

@EssYouWee,

I booked the CL350 reading your initial reviews and attracted by the charming history of Royal Enfield. The tentative delivery promised by RE is June end.

Most of the Independent reviews (I mean other than Motor magazine's reviews) has been critical about both C-5 and CL350. Its noisy, vibrates, leakes, scratches, heats up and uncomfortable seats. But still the waiting period is more than 8 months.

@ EssYouWee, RECL350, Randhawa, Would you still recommend buying this bike? or should I flee with my hard earned money (Rs1.1lakh is big for me) and buy a trouble free Unicorn or something like that?

I value your suggestion guys. So please give an honest opinion. By the way I am not a 20 year old who would like to go screaming in a Pulsar or Karizma...

Hey, don't worry. There are lot of good things that we generally don't talk about. Yesterday we were on the way to my wife's office and she was not in office mood, instead she wanted to see her grand mother. We turned the bike and hit Mysore road. On my earlier bike, forget about Mysore, I never even liked dropping her to office. This bike is fun to ride, there is something about it, you never get tired, bored I suggest spend all your hard earned money just to get that feeling it is worth. I can change to lower gear, rev engine and overtake someone like Jay said, for some reason I just don't want to do that. It may not jump like a pulsar when the signal turns green but surely it will overtake a bus, lorry going at 80kmph quickly enough. 'Initial Pick Up' I meant the 'Low-End-Torque' is bad, the same doesn't apply for 60-90 kmph range. Nothing to hate about it, what it lacks is a rev friendly engine and a low low-end-torque[Compared to CI bulls it has less torque and more weight] that is essential for towing 182kg quickly.
I never complained about engine heating or uncomfortable seats. We have done 550[Bangalore-Munar], 610[Kochi-Bangalore] kms one stretch single day long rides on this bike never faced these issues. And regarding engine sound it is not that noisy anymore.
PS: And when riding 80-90kmph on highways my wife also says 'those bikes make so much noise , ours is so calm', that's the beauty of long strokes.

[EssYouWe]

Originally Posted by RECL350

, man that's right, even my wife complains that it sounds like goods carrier auto, earlier I used to hear a lot of clitter-clatter, click-clicks, now not much. Engine sound has improved a lot after 5200kms may be the parts are tired of rubbing each other. And regarding cruising ability, it can do 80-90kmph easily, it becomes unconformable only around 100. I agree pickup is very bad. Yesterday had been to Mysore; there are road humps every 2-10kms and a TVS victor with a pillion rider was much quicker, it was funny how after I overtook him he will again leave me behind on road humps, at times I feel 500cc is much better option for such a heavyweight.

The 500 cc was as most of you guys know, my first choice. That sadly didn't work out and I landed up with the 350.

Shantanu, Sanjeet and Jay unanimously told me that the 350 would be enough for city and occasional touring.

It isn't that the 350 is bad or its slow... it just comes across as a compromise.

Neither is it fast, nor can it trod along majestically. This is the problem I have with the bike.

It has left me in a lurch, in the middle of nowhere.

As far as cruising at 80-90 is concerned... Mine touches 100 pretty easily. Let me tell you that I am very very easy on the throttle and this might be a reason why I feel that the 350 is underpowered.
Anyways, the problem is that the 80-90 is not relaxed. You can feel the engine beating furiously (not running out of breath).

That is just not how I like to ride. :(

I like the feel at 70 though. What shocked me was how Imran Bhai's TB does a 90 constantly over long stretches and that too easily.

Originally Posted by indian21r

Surprised to hear that pick up of 350 is bad. I have done close to 2k in 500 in Mumbai traffic. The bike has amazing pickup, leaves all the vehicles behind at signals.

City driveability is never an issue with 500. It get hot but only after 45 mins or more. I have given it for second service let me see how it will perform now. The only gripe for me is the tires. Somehow it feels as if the bike pulls to side when the difference in road level is more than say an inch ( like road markings or lane gaps )

The 500 is a friggin locomotive! I have seen the way it just tears off like a mad rhino.
The 350 is just not in the same league.

I am surprised that your engine takes that long to heat up. Its pretty hot in Delhi these days, that might be impacting the temperatures in my case.

But the point is, I can't even dream of being stuck on a flyover on the way up. I am pretty sure even a 10 minute jam would cause the engine to cease.

I rode for 1.5 hours extra yesterday to avoid a 20-30 minute jam (on a flyover).

Originally Posted by stnair

@EssYouWee,

I booked the CL350 reading your initial reviews and attracted by the charming history of Royal Enfield. The tentative delivery promised by RE is June end.

Most of the Independent reviews (I mean other than Motor magazine's reviews) has been critical about both C-5 and CL350. Its noisy, vibrates, leakes, scratches, heats up and uncomfortable seats. But still the waiting period is more than 8 months.

@ EssYouWee, RECL350, Randhawa, Would you still recommend buying this bike? or should I flee with my hard earned money (Rs1.1lakh is big for me) and buy a trouble free Unicorn or something like that?

I value your suggestion guys. So please give an honest opinion. By the way I am not a 20 year old who would like to go screaming in a Pulsar or Karizma...

I am a 21 year old who just wanted a bike that would trundle along at low speeds. Even though I never wanted a screaming fast bike, I did not expect the 350 to be as slow.
With a 80 kilo pillion, you'll probably be overtaken by a Luna coming off a red light.

However, let me clarify... The Classic is much less troublesome than the CIs.
I haven't had any leaks till now.

That said, RE service is a sure shot way of killing your bike.
The weeks following my service are invariably the most hated. They absolutely screw up the tuning.
My bike now goes off every time I drop throttle once it is warmed up.

Also there is a point during accelerating when it seems to gasp for a second before going on.

I really can't tell you whether to buy this bike or not. If you are hoping that it might sound somewhat bearable, believe me... it doesn't.

Originally Posted by JayPrashanth

STNair,

No two bullets are same and this applies to the Classics too, the UCE engines notwithstanding. While Achint and RECL350 complain about the low pick up, there are plenty of others who are happy with the pick up. The issue with 350s, especially the UCEs is that they need to be revved up for any significant progress but getting it up to higher rpms isn't very enjoyable as the issue of vibes crop up. This is because of the low end torque that is lesser than the Cast Iron models. This means that you can't thump along majestically like say the STD350 nor be as fast as say the latest crop of premium Indo-Japs at the traffic lights. As far as the reliability of the UCEs is concerned, it is way better than CIs and AVLs.

Cheers,

Jay

@ Jay

As you know, I go very easy on the throttle. I hate it when the bike moves a-rhythmically.
I bought a Bullet solely because the engine had a beautiful rhythm associated with it.
The UCE is like a washing machine full of loose bolts.

If Bajaj and HH can squeeze out comparable power from 200 cc mills, RE has to be highly incompetent to be stuck at the same old power level (while losing some of the torque too!).

It just seems like a huge compromise.

I hate the fact that after paying a fortune I get a lousy horn and a seat full of nails. I know these things can be rectified... but I paid a lot of money and why shouldn't I get them.




I am sorry guys if I am sounding really angst ridden here. All said and done, I do love my bike and enjoy riding it a lot.
I just wanted to put the real picture out there so that the fleeting moments of disappointment faced by me are not faced by others.

I will write some more about the bike in a bit.