Hey All,
2003:
I am going to office, crossing the Enfield Showroom, Lamba Enterprises on Jail Road enroute.
On display is the new bike from the Enfield stable... I see her and BOOM !!!! its love at first sight... Promptly get a proforma Invoice made for her, take it to the co-operative bank, scrounge my savings, make a down payment and posess her.
2006:
3 years down, I am still awed by the feel and the experience of riding her. This is one bike which grows on you. Initially, when I was a newbie on the T-Bird, had a difficult time kick starting it, but once you get the technique right, you can never fail. Even on the coldest day, 1-2 decompressions and she thumps to life.
Pros of the Bike:
Awesome power, 350 CC, 18BHP, gives it enough punch to take on the punishment dished out by the rugged terrains of Manali - Leh highway and ample enough to ensure that you zip through on the plains. This bike is at home in the deserts of Rajasthan as well as it feels right at home in the chilly climes of Khardung La, the world's highest motorable Road at 18000+ Ft.
I have done enough touring on it to confidently say that by far, it is the most reliable machine I have ever ridden. No flat tyres on the tours or any broken clutch cables, throttle cables, or anything else. just oil checks and tyre pressure check and oiling of the chain and you are good to go.
Some of the people come up and ask "bhaisahab iski mileage kitni hai"... I give the reply "Kabhi socha hi nahin uske baarey main"... this statement would aptly convey the Bulleteer's thoughts about petty things like mileage. When you are riding THE MACHINE, mileage is the last thing on your mind. However, for the die hard Mileage seekers, the figures were scattered from 25-50KMPL, due to the staggered ignition timings, but I guess a thing like this would have been taken care of in the 3 intervening years.
The aesthetics ave also been improved upon... the two tone paintwork makes it look snazzy and the electrical switches have been upgraded to be more user-friendly with the pass button/flasher being a boon as compared to the pull down version of the same which was initially offered.
Now, lets talk about the much debated aspect of a different engine and the gear shifter on the correct side of things in life. Many Bulleteers think that the T-Bird is not a true blue Bullet, and I would agree with them. The reason is that the motor powering the Bullet is different than the one powering the T-Bird. The cast iron block on the Std Bullet & Electra models has a meatier thump but the company had to go with the times and introduce better engines which were fuel efficient and still packed a punch.... the result of this search was the Lean Burn engine which is on offer on T-Bird, although a little noisy, still does what it is meant to do and more.
The only drawback in the entire package is the longer silencer, which muffles the exhaust note very efficiently. This has been provided by the company to meet the emission and sound level norms enforced by the government. This drawback can be rectified if you go in for the short silencer which would be readily available at the showroom. Once the shorty is fitted, the thump is considerably improved.
I can go on and on about the good things about the bike but space constraints dont allow me to do so... To wrap things up, dont be bothered by the oil leaks... these are quirks of all good bikes... Even the legendary harley Davidson leaks oil... and the way the company acknowledges this fact is by saying "A Harley never leaks oil... It marks its territory!" or by the problems of kickstarting ( for the delicate babies, the company has the option of ES)... Just go out there and possess and prepare to be posessed by the most awesome machine...
- Thank You! We appreciate your effort.