[desideep]

Congrats Janab, i though that the problems would be gone with the UCE

[ron_9191]

This was indeed a very detailed review. You have covered from all angles found out all the glitches. Absolutely fantastic.

But mind you, that is the whole point of this machine. No matter in what form it rolls out of the factory, you dont really own it the day you buy it. It is rather a learning experience, and you own it as you ride it mile after mile. Most of the time the glitches that you found on your bike may not be found on one that belongs to someone else. And that can sometimes be surprising and if you are stuck in the middle of nowhere with your unique glitch, it can be quite irritating and pain in the you know where.

However, now that you own one, and after you have done around 15k Kms or more on the odometer, the machine begins to understand you and it starts to get owned by you. So the next time it play the fool at you, you know exactly what went wrong.

I feel that is the whole point of owning a royal enfield. I admit that it isnt the easiest of the motorcycles to ride on, but there is something that cannot be explained bolted on to these machines that gets you bolted on to the seat or in this case the saddle.

All your bike is asking you is a bit of patience, after that its yours and you will love it.

[iron]

great review. very well written.
All enfields, no matter how similar they are in technically & cosmetically, behave differently.

[Beast_of_Burden]

Originally Posted by ron_9191

This was indeed a very detailed review. You have covered from all angles found out all the glitches. Absolutely fantastic.

But mind you, that is the whole point of this machine. No matter in what form it rolls out of the factory, you dont really own it the day you buy it. It is rather a learning experience, and you own it as you ride it mile after mile. Most of the time the glitches that you found on your bike may not be found on one that belongs to someone else. And that can sometimes be surprising and if you are stuck in the middle of nowhere with your unique glitch, it can be quite irritating and pain in the you know where.

However, now that you own one, and after you have done around 15k Kms or more on the odometer, the machine begins to understand you and it starts to get owned by you. So the next time it play the fool at you, you know exactly what went wrong.

I feel that is the whole point of owning a royal enfield. I admit that it isnt the easiest of the motorcycles to ride on, but there is something that cannot be explained bolted on to these machines that gets you bolted on to the seat or in this case the saddle.

All your bike is asking you is a bit of patience, after that its yours and you will love it.

There you go again. Its alright being a fan, but why be an apologist?

By the factory's own hype, these new machines are "modern" classics designed to appeal to the mass market, in which case modern benchmarks should apply. Perhaps I am being naive, maybe expecting too much of RE. No I am not rushing to judgement, just wanted to point out RE needs to redouble their efforts and fix the issues.

@Randhawa - Great review, enjoyed reading every word of it. The question I have for you and I am asking for your subjective opinion here, does the CL500 do some things so well that the flaws become inconsequential?

In the handling section, you mention the bike feels unstable over 90, is the vintage chassis upto scratch in handling the extra power? or was it just the road surface. Road conditions vary a lot on back roads making 90+ speeds unsustainable, but does it feel like 100+ is sustainable over long periods on the right kind of roads such as a carriageway. I had some misgivings about the lack of upgrades to the chassis with such a powerful motor.

You are one of the first to get past run-in and start opening up, hence this question - at an indicated 120 kph does the engine feel smooth and controlled? Is there something still left in reserve at 120 or is it all over? I ask this because the two things that are normally cited for any of the 500s relatively low top speed are the high piston speeds due to the long stroke design and the lack of precision in the way cranks are balanced(the gurus say the crank needs to be exponentially more precise/true for higher rpms).

[naveenroy]

Originally Posted by ron_9191

........But mind you, that is the whole point of this machine. No matter in what form it rolls out of the factory, you dont really own it the day you buy it. It is rather a learning experience, and you own it as you ride it mile after mile. Most of the time the glitches that you found on your bike may not be found on one that belongs to someone else. And that can sometimes be surprising and if you are stuck in the middle of nowhere with your unique glitch, it can be quite irritating and pain in the you know where.
................
I feel that is the whole point of owning a royal enfield. I admit that it isnt the easiest of the motorcycles to ride on, but there is something that cannot be explained bolted on to these machines that gets you bolted on to the seat or in this case the saddle.

Yeah but seriously, why like such a feature on your bike. Especially when you are riding all across the country and find out a unique problem on your bike?

The Royal Enfield gremlin strikes again!

[smenon]

Originally Posted by Beast_of_Burden

There you go again. Its alright being a fan, but why be an apologist?

By the factory's own hype, these new machines are "modern" classics designed to appeal to the mass market, in which case modern benchmarks should apply. Perhaps I am being naive, maybe expecting too much of RE. No I am not rushing to judgement, just wanted to point out RE needs to redouble their efforts and fix the issues.

I fully agree here. With the UCE engine, RE claimed to have achieved better stability, less moving parts, and less wear and tear with the components. That technology came from Japan, and are supposed to be of the same quality as the international Japanese bikes. Of course I haven't heard anyone say that the UCE part is pron to failures, but it's too early in the lifetime of the model to see some of these.

These naggling issues with the FI did not take me by surprise. RE has always been shoddy in the R&D department, but seeing it happen to a flagship model that's supposed to be a welcome departure from the older line makes me sad.

Oh, I lied. It actually makes me happy because I bought the older gen AVL carbed machismo relying on the fact that it had two years of refinement in the market.

[ACM]

Super Review,

Though much easlier to live with compared to earlier RE's this one too has a fair bit more to be done before it is truly a modern classic.

[Randhawa]

@JKdas- Thanks for the appreciation.
@Sankar- Reducing the free-play doesn’t helps.
@rrahul_2778@JayPrashanth @naveenroy@mantrig@amit_purohit20
@GreaseMonk@abhinav.sThanks@bharti22shresh@Pri2@ni v26@desideep-@iron@ACM Thanks to all

@ron_9191- I feel what you say but I am one of those impatience dude’s who want to get things sorted there and then. But I have to adapt to the bull I guess.


@beast of burden- I had a different reason for buying the bull to lot of people. I don’t want anyone to sit behind me for sake of ride pleasure. Wont care for the mileage until it starts giving me under 20km/l. I can ride anytime without the fear of her breaking down on me. Wont mind chasing up a pulsar if one decides to piss me off and give him some taste of embarrassment . So yes for me it does my thing and so far I have ignored her tantrums. I enjoy every moment of my ride.




The chassis (it’s not vintage) is made from scratch although on visual comparison to TBTS, it may look the same. But I do feel, RE should work on it a bit more.
In Chandigarh, the roads are pretty descent so I cant blame the roads here.

I say you can do 100+ on her all day long until your bottom feels the need of
some botox injection. Why? First of all, I tried it on a longer stretch. Given the roads like Jaipur to Agra or Bombay-Pune highway, you will feel the rush to keep the throttle twisted. I favorite part is the torque which gets you to three figure speeds and the way you feel about it. It’s all in the way she gets you there which you enjoy the most.


In the beginning when I started touching 120, at that time she had the juice to get 10 more. Since last month the scene has changed. Sometimes I’ll get to 120 slower then before and now maxing out at 120, 124 with the feeling of breathlessness.
When I had crossed initial 350km, I had a noise coming from engine which to this date has not increased but constantly bugging me. RE engineers are not acknowledging it and so far only one RE mechanic has agreed to have listened to that particular noise. We booth feel its the piston pin and I am going to get the half opened up to inspect it. That could be the problem of her loosing out on performance but I don’t know if play in piston pin can reduce performance.

You are spot on balanced cranks. Key to performance on heavy thumpers is a truely well balanced crank with minimum tolerance/clearance.

[Beast_of_Burden]

Originally Posted by Randhawa

@beast of burden- I enjoy every moment of my ride.

The chassis (it’s not vintage) is made from scratch although on visual comparison to TBTS, it may look the same. But I do feel, RE should work on it a bit more. In Chandigarh, the roads are pretty descent so I cant blame the roads here.

I say you can do 100+ on her all day long until your bottom feels the need of
some botox injection. Why? First of all, I tried it on a longer stretch. Given the roads like Jaipur to Agra or Bombay-Pune highway, you will feel the rush to keep the throttle twisted. I favorite part is the torque which gets you to three figure speeds and the way you feel about it. It’s all in the way she gets you there which you enjoy the most.

@Randhawa - If it is a joy to ride, then that is all that matters really.

Are you sure it isnt the same old chassis? If it is indeed new, it looks remarkably same as the old one. You are the only one here doing ton up speeds, so excuse the barrage of questions. Has the swingarm been upgraded? What about the front suspension? Any changes to rake or trail? Almost all the talk has been focussed on the engine, did not hear anything about the chassis upgrades.

By all accounts, the single seat and ergonomics are no good. But for a city slicker in need of a poser, the single seat and low handle bars are de rigueur. BTW, I am very happy with the ergonomics on my LB500.

[Randhawa]

Even to me, chassis looks the same including the swing arm(will compare it with electra) but carefully examining the chassis reveals some minute changes. RE engineer from R&D in his official wording said its done up from scratch and all the new bulls with UCE will be based on CL chassis.

Rear shocks are picked straight from the TBTS but front shocks seems to have been worked upon. Possibly on the rebound rate.

Rake and rail angles are the same to my observation as the front headlight casing is same from electra and if they would have played with the angles then surely the casing would have changed.

You can tour on LB500 without sweating out but CL is just different and not so happy touring bike.

[ac 427]

Originally Posted by Randhawa

Four wheels move the body and two wheels move the soul!



you would be rattling your tail off or perhaps churning milk into butter at 100+. Praying at the same time for early radar warning of any movable approaching hazard in your way.

Originally Posted by Randhawa

Some Issues/Flaws


I have Christened her Anastassia- AKA- Nastia and hope to ride her from
dusk till dawn. The story continues..

Amazing review, well written and i was Laughing my guts off when i read the milk into butter bit, as i do experience the same.

Thanks to your review my decision of upgrading to a Classic 500 has become more firm.

And ride safe.

cheers,
ac

[Beast_of_Burden]

Originally Posted by Randhawa

Even to me, chassis looks the same including the swing arm(will compare it with electra) but carefully examining the chassis reveals some minute changes. RE engineer from R&D in his official wording said its done up from scratch and all the new bulls with UCE will be based on CL chassis.

Rear shocks are picked straight from the TBTS but front shocks seems to have been worked upon. Possibly on the rebound rate.

Rake and rail angles are the same to my observation as the front headlight casing is same from electra and if they would have played with the angles then surely the casing would have changed.

You can tour on LB500 without sweating out but CL is just different and not so happy touring bike.

The grapevine is that the UCE500 is going to be released in Electra guise with 19" wheels, maybe that will be a better choice for touring.

[JayPrashanth]

Originally Posted by Beast_of_Burden

The grapevine is that the UCE500 is going to be released in Electra guise with 19" wheels, maybe that will be a better choice for touring.

Yeah, the Machismo will get a UCE engine. Also, I hope they release a carb version and price it 10K lesser. That would make it a tad more affordable.

Cheers,

Jay

[Randhawa]

@AC427-Thanks man

@JayPrashant- I am not 100% sure but I remember when I got the passing certificate from the RTO for CL5, it had two more models listed under 500cc category and one was carb version.

[Randhawa]

Bad news
Sprag clutch finally went kaput on me today although it's functionality remains intact. I had undivided attention from the people at traffic lights today. Bearing of the sprag is making hell lot of noise like grinding and screeching.

Good news
Since I changed the older plugs with the new colder temp plugs RE provided me, on inspection today turns out quite clean. With black soot only on the base and mileage improved to 27km/l.