Tryst with My Bullet. Review on Bullet 500

Bullet – I have this monster with me for the past 12 years. I find people usually have very strong opinions on this bike. I am describing my odyssey and I just hope someone will find it useful to be able to be comfortable using one.

When I brought this bike home from the dealer, I liked the stability. The positioning of gear and brake levers on right and left irritated me the first couple of days. I soon got a list of things, which I hated, on this bike.

1. Choice of Colors (Only grey and green for 500 cc)

   
   




2. Starting trouble – I was used to start bikes with ONE kick

   
   




3. It is damned heavy to handle in congested parking space of my flat

   
   




4. The Battery drained too frequently (once in 2 days)

   
   




5. The Authorised dealers were of little help with spares

   
   

Now, I detail below why I persisted with my bike. Life should have been lot peaceful with my 100 cc bike if not for points below.

1. The road stability is unmatched

   
   




2. The only bike, which I can ride for hours together without backaches

   
   




3. The bike refined my riding style (Little brakes – Steady cruise as far as possible)

   
   




4. The Disc brakes I had fit (Mika – long before Enfield got out its own) rocks

   
   




5. The beat – I will give anything for that

   
   

Now I detail how I tackled the problems point by point

1. Colors – I changed to black – had it repainted and RC book endorsed

   
   




2. Starting trouble:

   
   

a. For this I tuned the engine with the prescribed 3 mm clearance checked on the dial gauge

b. I learned the rotary kick mechanism, which necessitates force in later part of the kick

c. I re-checked the wiring and got them re-wired to prevent grounding of charge lines. Lucky to get this in guarantee period

d. Located the fault in battery and changed the battery (again within guarantee period)

e. Learned that you have to start it in ONE kick that’s it. This means a couple of faulty kicks floods the engine and hence making it an ordeal. I was able to choke and cold start in one kick from that day I rectified the stuff above. Till date I do not face any problems of cold start – God! I never realized starting the bike so smooth.

1. I learned to respect and use the weight in generating stability. You should not manhandle the bike

   
   




2. Disc brakes costed me 9K in 1998 but I love every bit of it. It fitted well

   
   




3. I was lucky to have a great mechanic in chennai who made my bike for what it is today.

   
   

The above narration will tell you what to take care on this bike. You have to ride this monster at 90 Kmph cruise on a highway to realize why this bike is a legend.

To Summarise, I would say the road stability, beat and cruise comfort are the best. The bike does not come without pitfalls (After all it is not Harley Davidson)

The spares and maintenance in general is costly It now costs me 600 Rs/year

The fuel efficiency leaves me with a lot to desire. After 3 years of use, I have now stabilized at 35 Kmpl which my friends open their mouth on hearing. Seems 25 -- 30 for everyone.

Lack of Innovation on part of Royal Enfield. They could have done more for this wonderful piece of machine. Even Disc brakes were introduced just a couple of years back.

You need a crash course in automobile engineering to see what is wrong – Build quality is pathetic and you will do well to maintain it nicely. Indians generally are emotional about their bikes and some will get more emotional realizing the expenditure on maintaining this.

Bottom Line

The Engine is standard 500 cc 24 bhp engine which can cruise for 4 hours non stop. I tell you what – Those hours are thrilling – I swear!