Current state of Royal Enfield? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Current state of Royal Enfield?

TwistedKestrel

King of GTAM
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Lately!?! :lmao:

In my mind the quality of bike RE was putting out has been up and down since they were available again in North America. Pierre Terblanche had been working for them up until the start of this month, for whatever that's worth. I thought they were still on an 'up' but I guess not.
 
I know. I put that into the general "Royal Enfield putting in an effort" column, not "definitely making good motorcycles" column. Which Ducati wasn't always in while he was there either (again, I understand that he had nothing to do with that)

But yeah, those pictures tell a story of a bike that is completely bad. It makes Hyosung look good.
 
The bike in those pics is a 2013. Has anything changed in terms of quality in the ensuing 3 years?
 
Current state? Huge production and sales numbers, owned by a well financed company. Sure they added Fuel injection and electronic ignition but the overall sum of the parts is still pretty lacking.
The UK distributor punted the line about three yrs ago because the warranty claims and service issues were overwhelming. Not unlike every "british" bike manufactured in the 60's and 70's they are just not ready for an everyday riding experience.

In thier home market of India a 10-15km commutes are normal, people dont ride 300kms on Saturday.

A Harris frame, Olins shocks and bosch FI cant help a bike with Indian switchgear and electrics.

Remember the Royal Enfield slogan , Loud Valves Save Lives.
 
It's really too bad. Not everyone wants hi-tech bikes with the latest and greatest. Some would love a stylish bike that looks and feels like an old bike but don't want to deal with all of the headaches of an actual vintage bike (finding parts, wrenching all the time, etc). I know because I'm one of them. I think the RE bikes are great looking but wouldn't touch one because on top of the reliability issues there are only like 4 "dealerships" in the province. Not exactly handy for getting parts or service from.

I wish the Japanese would start building retro bikes. I'd have a hard time not buying the Kawi W800 if it arrived in our dealerships. If we get the Yamaha SR400 here I'll be taking a serious look at it.
 
I wish the Japanese would start building retro bikes. I'd have a hard time not buying the Kawi W800 if it arrived in our dealerships. If we get the Yamaha SR400 here I'll be taking a serious look at it.

The Canadian distributors won't touch either of the bikes with a ten foot pole.
Too expensive and they wouldn't sell enough to justify the hassle.
 
I'm surprised by the gas tank. The rest does not surprise me. RE are beautiful motorcycles but in recent years someone has taken over and ramped up production while cheapening the product. They're stickering their logo on the gas tanks now where they used to hand paint them. From the pics it looks like the paint is a simple lacquer on the inside of the tank instead of an activated epoxy. I considered buying one a couple of years ago but it seemed a tad risky. Parts availability and service are important for me and RE didn't have either. If you want the retro look on a reliable bike get a Harley or an Indian.
 
To be fair, this guy wasn't the original buyer.
Not to say RE isn't an overpriced POS but who knows what atrocities were committed by the previous owner ?
 
I dont know why the chumps in india swear by these things...

I have a buddy who is getting back into riding and WILL NOT LOOK at anything else despite pleas from me and everyone else


He likes cruisers, but wouldnt look at a japanese one, or harley.

Maybe he'll like Indian or victory?
 
I dont know why the chumps in india swear by these things...


?

affordability, India has very large tariffs on motorbikes not made in India. If your guy average and Enfield is a big leg up from your bicycle. The Japanese and HD are building factories in India to get around import taxation. Its just too large a market to be ignored. Plus when a product outlives its life in the rest of the world , the tooling can go to India.
 
The last RE I saw was a less than a year old, army green 500, just like the Reddit post. There was rust in a lot of places. I would never buy one.

If India is anything like China, there are motorcycle repair places on every street corner, and bike rust is not a big deal. In China getting your bike repaired is quite easy. The bikes are smaller though, usually 125s, and are pretty simple.

The comments on Reddit about RE are quite shocking. The comments about offshore IT work being crap, from personal experience I totally agree, bit this is OT.
 
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The RE is probably as reliable as it was when first designed.

I want bikes I can ride. I don't own a museum and if I did I'd want the real thing, made in the UK.

Triumph Bonnie would suit me better.

There was a Japanese Bonnie clone a few years back and I think a good bike that no one bought.
 

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