Thunderbird.. how much of thunder in it!!. Review on Bullet ThunderBird

Finally I was able to drive ''Thunderbird'', the latest offering

from royal-enfield. Should you even think of buying this bike??

Well you must make a list of what you expect from it. Now dont

tell me that you expect this bike to have smoothness of a

Hero-Honda kind 4-stroker. If you dont mind slight vibrations

you are in the right place. 18bhp with a mileage of 40+ is

something intresting. Isn't it?? Add to that a five-speed gearbox,

with a shifter on the left side, and brakes are on the right side.

But .... The brake linkages have been brought to the left,

and the brake drum is still on the left side. Here comes a lame

excuse from the dealer:: Enfield has done it so that same rear

wheel of Machismo can be used. And look at the rear brake- drum size...

thats a bit small for a bike this big.

Looks :: It gives a very good sitting posture for the rider.

But dont buy if you are short and ur girlfriend/wife is tall.

The seating arrangement will make her look veryyyyyyyy tall.

Looks macho but the engine looks a bit small for the bike of

this size..Finish is acceptable but cant match bajaj eliminator

or CBZ. Neutral and turn indicators are great looking ..Neatly

placed under a semi-transparent acrylic material.

The Drive :: Taking it off the stand is very easy, so is putting

it back. Start is effortless not requiring more than 2 kicks..

Thats great!!! Shift pattern is yamaha like 1 down 4 up!! so no

time has to spent in getting used to it. Put it in 1st and go!!!

wow!! good acceleration super torque.. and u are at 60 even before

u can think of putting in that 5th cog.... handling is good ..

braking is ok if u use both of them simultaneously. Sound is closer

to a A350 Machismo (uses the same engine I suppose!!) than the

traditional bullet. The actual fun is in driving it fast .. and u

dont need to honk.. ppl always make way for a BULLET!!!

Recommendation:: Buy it if u dont mind slightly raw and unrefined

bike. Brakes on the right side have made the traditional hassle

of adapting to a bullet vanish. Power and torque is great, coupled

with the mileage of 40 we got for a 120km drive. The price in bangalore

for a non-disc brake version is 73K on road. (Thats much cheaper than

eliminator!!). disc brake version is another 4-5K more expensive,

but is highly recommended if u dont mind spending a few more

thousands.