ROYAL ENFIELD "THUNDERBIRD"

Royal Enfield "Thunderbird"

Some say its first cruiser of INDIA, some say its product that had been launched by RE to copy Harley Davidson...  Some say "it is a bad copy of Harley Davidson" some also say it’s F***** up version of HD launched by RE.

And some also a say it’s the MIGHTIEST MACHINE a man can posses. I don’t listen or believe any of them... Because it’s me who has to decide and who has to ride it..... And will say “I LIKE IT”

People has different opinion based on past experiences & knowledge, various pre quoted and discussed issues and topics. This exactly happens with “THUNDERBIRD”.

Royal Enfield is known for its muscular, enormous power generating heavy bikes with a voice of DARA SINGH in between soft spoken Bollywood Heroes. Which ones upon a time ruled the INDIAN two wheeler market and was loved by most of the riders. I still remember the advertisement of the Royal Enfield Electra. It shows everybody stops, even the train of INDIAN RAILWAY to give way to RE and it says. .”Bullet chale to duniya rasta de”.  Since then i haven’t heard much about the “BULLET”(It is called Royal Enfield bullet because in some year of our history the Company which makes the RE bikes used to Manufacture Bullets for Royal Army(British Army) factory which was located in Enfield UK, and when they launched their new designed Bike(Cycle), they named it Enfield in the Honour of their legacy and then started calling it Bullet to get the benefit of patriotism ;-) ) so, since then most of the Indians stared using Japanese bikes which are comfortable, economical and cheap also and RE left behind in the race..

    There were some technical issues which were responsible for this. Bullets were and still are heavy; it had poor mileage (which for Indians is “THE QUESTION”..... Kitna deti hai”) it had gear lever in the place of brakes and brakes in the place of gear lever, it needs a muscular man to start it (which was a myth I think, because it’s the technique that you have to master just press the compressor lever and pump it and then with a KICK, it starts firing LMG Bullets (simple isn’t it))... but still the market for bullet has gone down, But believe it or not RE is one of the most technologically advanced bike makers of INDIA... and that what makes it special .. and there were people who.... loved and admire the RE. Most of the people won’t believe, but I will tell u some facts which you can check ... They started as cycle manufacturers, then they started making motorcycle, Quadricycles, they had made a very successful 2.75 HP engine with two speed gear box in early 19’s, they had produced bikes during world war which had V Twin Engine and oil cooled and to a surprise the oil container was made up of glass.. so that oil level can be instantly checked how cool is that, it was one of the first companies to adapt front fork, during second world war, light weight RE has been manufactured so that it can be dropped from the parachute for airborne troops, it came to INDIA in 50’s and owned by MADRAS MOTOR COMPANY. RE won 31 races out of 39 in 1961. It had a small 200 cc engine mini bullet which if you remember was used by many Bollywood heroes.

These were the first bike to give faring and alloy wheels and hydraulic disc brakes, in INDIA. RE were the first to manufacture of Diesel Engine Motorcycle in the world. And now they are using ECE technology by which you can get a immense power still with a very good mileage.

That’s a lot of history...but that was not the idea of this comment, paper, article or whatever you want to call it. I just bought an “RE THUNDERBIRD” this is the new twin spark one earlier I had a normal 350 CC Thunderbird which was good but little hard to afford as a student. So when got into my Job I got this new Thunderbird. It has a 350 CC twin spark engine which generates 19.8 Hp with 28 Nm Torque which is very good but for vehicle which is 187 KG’s heavy the torque should be little more.

It’s designed as a cruiser with the curled handle and a couch like sitting with a back rest for pillion. First time when I saw TB I realized it has a lot of Design similarities with first Enfield cycle Manufactured by RE in end of 18th century, the whole form of the TB is Inclined which is very similar to the Enfield cycle, its tank is shooting towards sky as it is going to fly with a high rise seat and big wheels.

Now RE has changed the position of gear and brake lever so that a normal bike driving guy can also think of driving it and it also has Electric start with kick start so that you will not be thrown off the seat while starting it. When you start it you can feel Power in your Body. Ride comfort is awesome you always have a straight posture as you are sitting on a couch. Handles could have been straight but that is a personal choice, current one is good but it’s not good for visual appearance.

I had gone some long but not very long drives... And I can tell you they were hell of rides.... you can have an awesome experience riding it, until you are racing with a sports bike. As they have more Torque due to weight to power ratio. But handling of the bike can be little tricky on the curves as it’s a big bike you need to consider its turning radius, otherwise you can simply fly in the road with wind hitting your face you just have to lean your body with the TB to get the right on turns.RE brakes are not very good so you need to be little careful while braking.  As it is high above the ground it has a high centre of gravity. So if you are not holding it properly and wind comes... It will start wobbling. But when you increase the power you can simply feel the adrenaline in your body and you zoom easily above 100KPH after that it’s on your heart because bike can make it but you .......depends.

In the lower gears it feels like something is wrong or may chain is lose, but it’s just, that it’s huge amount of power which is supposed to be used .As you give the throttle you will feel everything is going right, engine and gear everything is going smooth, try to maintain a cruising speed than you will be fine. After a little bit of mastering you can ride it and traffic jams and congested roads and u can definitely zoom ahead of others.. Isn’t that most of people wanted? It has something different from other bikes it is a cruiser which can run like a roadster. So you need to have something little special in you to own it otherwise ...... go for something else.

The only thing I don’t like about this bike is its silencer and its noise. It has gone very soft which is not a RE thing, you can change it but it should not be optional and RE should make the noise. Otherwise how the people will now that a bullet is coming and if they will not know how will they give way for it? And If that won’t happen how can we say “Jab Bullet Chale to Duniya Rasta De”.

And please forgive me for any Language mistakes.