The Ride of Your Life . Review on Bullet ThunderBird

Here it was, Aug 5, 2003, 1345 hrs, and the mechanic at the dealer's place handed me the keys to my new silver Thunderbird with disc brakes. I'd never tried riding the TB before and from reviews at the Royal Enfield website and here at MS ( I discovered MS while scouring the web for reviews on the TB a few months ago), it was enough for me to decide that this was the next bike I'm gonna own.

Although I had initially thought about buying the ELectra instead, MS really helped me a lot in deciding on the TB. Anyway let's get to the ride....

Initially the TB feels bulky (if you are used to 100 cc toys like me), but then I had used a friend's Bullet for nearly a year, and the feel of the bike soon became comfortable. The TB's gears felt a bit rough and it was hard to locate the neutral without down-shifting all the way to the first, but then once you are on the road and in fifth, the thump takes over and it feels like the royal beast. (Of course its an Enfield and the newest addition to the Royal Enfield family, after the new Machismo). Very very manoeuverable indeed, don't get caught in those cruiser handlebars, this bike though with a high handle-bar and cruiser styling, is very easy to manoeuvre, even in bumper to bumper traffic.

Since its new, I have yet to exceed 60kph, but a slight turn of the throttle and you know that this one here, is not the old sluggish Std. 350 but one with a new purpose. (i'm waiting to clock 2000 km on the Odo and try revving her up a bit). Once on the roads of Delhi, it was a grand feeling... (hmmmmmm) I clocked 70 km on the odo on my first day itself... Anyway, I saw this figure on a CBZ-like bike zooming in and out of traffic on my rear-view, and the dude slowed down alongside me... revved his bike (signalling: wanna race dude?) and zoomed out of sight. This one was on a brand new Karizma. Probably didn;t give two hoots about running in or whatever... I was telling him in my mind...lemme complete 30000 kms dude and gimme an open highway and then we'll see.... ;)

LOOKS

The TB is clearly a looker, and as far as its looks are concerned it will give even its cousin, the Lightning 535, a run for its money. Its an almost embarassing feeling when heads turn at red lights. Even guys diriving the latest SUVs will not fail to steal a glance at the TB. As for the girls..... hmmmmm I don't know.... really the reactions I got from my female friends were ''wow!!'' ''sexy'' hmmmmmmmmmmm If a man is judged by the steed he rides I'm sure you won;t have problems finding admirers of the opposite sex. Unfortunately this isn't the case here......

PERFORMANCE

So far I've clocked only about a 100-odd kilometres and I really can;t say how well the TB performs. FOr that I'll have to write another review on MS after the first two services are done.. The real point is, the TB will definitely give a comfortable ride, with the aberration of a slightly hard seat. And if you have dreams of mountains and the pine-fresh wind on your face, the TB will take you there like a wild mustang, or a mountain roan, without even a shudder. I'm saying this, by riding only 100 km so far, so wait till I experience it for some more time.

At the dealer's I checked two TBs for the sound, engine and everything and the one I got has a slight sound at the front. I don;t knowif that's the sound from the tappets or the rockers, or whatever. Any suggestions would be extremely welcome. Even the mechanic there adjusted the tappets several times and finally gave me the green. I'm hoping the sound of the (tappets/rockers??) will diminish by the time I finish the second service. Anyway, here's wishing me the best and guys, pls do some up with comments!!!!!!

Happy Riding Everyone