TB cant be caged in city. Review on Bullet ThunderBird

I am an often visitor for MouthShut, but this is my first review.

I bought Thunderbird on June 2004 for my birthday. I bought this bike with my one year savings(so my first bought own property:-).

I have ride this bike for more than 3 years so think this is the right time to give some review on it.

Let me start with the positive things(To be optimistic)

1.)    Driving comfort: The riding position is great so gives a good comfort for long drivers(A good feature about cruisers)

2.)    Stability: The stability or road grip is great. The normal driving speed is 90Kmph at 3500 rpm(I would state this as a comfort zone for TB. There is absolutely no jerks or wobbling at this speed as per my experience)

3.)    Looks and Style: It is definitely a head turner. Good looks and styling

4.)    Sound: Very mild sound. Most of the people living in colonies / Apartments don’t like noise makers. This bike has a very good exhaust and the sound is very smooth. Its sound doesn’t resembles the std Bullet but still I cant consider that as a drawback.

5.)    Pick-up: Awesome! While standing in the signal, the 2 stroke guys take a look at the TB and think that as a lazy bull. But once the green signal is On, Voooom…. and gone the bird leaving the rabbits behind.

Now coming to negatives

1.)    Driving comfort: Not good to handle is traffic. That too when the traffic moves at 10 Kmph, its really a pain in the leg and hip(of course neck J).

2.)    Stability: Not very stable when the opposing wing is high. Because of the flat front head light, a small amount of riding skill is required to control this bird on high winds.

3.)    Looks and Style: Poor Nickel coating and paint jobs. Sad to see some rust forming within 4 years(that too in a non coastal area.). The rear mud guard support frame(Don’t know the technical name) cracks due to design flaw.

4.)    Maintenance: Not costly but requires constant maintenance. The oil seals are not good and constant wax coating is required the keep the paint and nickel coating is good condition.

Over all comments

Each machine Is made for a specific mission. TB does its job well for what it is done. Very good for long drivers(but never forget to take a pair of spare clutch wires). Adding a windshield or a front visor, the TB may be very stable at high winds too.(I have not tried it yet)