TBTS --- almost a classic!. Review on Royal Enfield Thunderbird Twinspark

Reaching 30 this year, I realized that if I didn’t now fulfill my boyhood dream of owning a Royal Enfield, I never would.

I had ridden only the Royal Enfield (RE) Std350, but when I checked the web I found out about the Thunderbird Twinspark. I had never previously seen one(I now live in Kanpur, not the most modern of cities), but I liked what I read about the TBTS in mouthshut.com and other websites, and decided to go for it. I booked a red TBTS which I received in 10 days—Rs100, 000(on road). I have now had it for over two months and have done around 2500km onit.

I have mainly positive opinions of the bike, and a few complaints. The bike gives a great ride. It is smooth and powerful and has great presence. It dominates the road when you ride (even without the famous engine “thump” of the other REs).

The riding comfort is superlative. You won’t feel tired or get an aching back or bottom on this bike. Its shock-absorbents are very good; believe me, some of the roads here in Kanpur are more potholes than road. I have read complaints about the shocks in other reviews, but those owners probably just need to get them adjusted.

The brakes are good. The disk front brake is very powerful(and should be used with caution at low speeds and on curves, as it can lock the wheel), the less powerful rear-drum brake is ideal for low-speed braking, speed corrections and bike stabilization. It was a good idea for RE not to put in two disk brakes, as that would have made the bike more difficult to control during braking.

The fuel efficiency is good. I haven’t checked rigorously, but I believe I am getting 40+ kmpl--- which is outstanding for such a big bike. The service is good. RE is ensuring the service for thisbike is especially good as, I think, it wants TBTS to become its main product in the future.

It is a great cruiser. I haven’t gone too fast on this bike, keeping around 60kmph during its “break-in” period, but on a few occasions recently I took it effortlessly to a cruising speed of 80kmph and a maximum speed of 100kmph. (I believe I could have gone faster, but I didn’t have the nerve!) I did not notice any significant shuddering or vibration even at the latter speed.

While clearly a cruiser meant for long-distance riding, the TBTS is okay for city riding. I have taken it into the worst of Kanpur rush-hour traffic where you will find trucks, tempos, scooters, motorbikes, rickshaws, cyclists and pedestrians all jammed within spitting distance of each other. Despite the big size, the TBTS is very light on its feet when it is moving and does not have problems in maneuvering.Once the traffic comes to a stop, however, you need to be somewhat muscular tohandle the heavy bike. (But RE enthusiasts are usually better built than average!)

The real problem with the TBTS in city driving, however, is its false neutrals. There is a neutral between every two functional gears, and in stop-and-go traffic when you are changing gears every few seconds you invariably get into these neutrals and the TBTS roars ineffectually instead of accelerating as it should. (You actually need to change gears in the TBTS, not run along in 4th gear as in the RE Std 350s!). These false neutrals are the main reason I will give the TBTS a C+ for city riding, while I give it an A in all other departments: ride, power, comfort, looks, cruising, fuel-economy, etc.

I had two other, more minor, problems with the TBTS:

Mirrors: the rear-view mirrors are relatively useless. They are too small, have limited adjust ability, and are positioned too close to the central axis of the rider. You end up staring at your shoulders, for the most part, when you look through them. However, I found that Pulsar(!) mirrors are just about perfect for the TBTS; they are larger and hang just over the hand-grips, giving a clear view of the rear field from both mirrors. I changed to the Pulsar mirrors within a couple of weeks of getting my TBTS.

Turn signals: The turn-signals do not make a beeping sound to remind the rider that they are on; a green LED indicator on the dashboard is the only warning. This causes the rider to quite often forget he has left the indicators on (who keeps looking at the dashboard in rush-hour traffic?) which is both embarrassing and dangerous.

I think RE should rectify the problems with the indicators and the mirrors very soon. I think they should really work on the problem of the false neutrals, which significantly undermines the TBTS as a city bike.

I think the TBTS is a major initiative by RE to break its very loyal clientele from their love with the old 1950s Royal Enfield to introduce something that looks and feels traditional but yet is much more modern (at least 1990’s!). This is a risky maneuver for any company, and hats off to RE for trying it. I think that the TBTS is a vastly better cruiser than the older versions of REs (my apologies to the old RE fans), and you should very seriously consider buying it if you are into REs at all.

My final verdict is that the TBTS is a great bike, but not yet perfect. But it could become a classic with a few improvements. With all the above problems rectified, I think that, in a couple of years, RE should go in for a 500cc version which would deliver 30BHP and around 35+ kmpl, without a significant weight increase. That bike would be a classic. In the meanwhile, you can buy the current TBTS while you wait!