Royal Enfield Motorcycles are not for a particular age section. Every person sitting next to you wants to own them or is already dreaming about getting one before they retire and visit Ladakh. So we are discussing today whether should you buy a Royal Enfield motorcycle or not!
Let’s start with the positive aspects of owning a Royal Enfield first and then we will move to the Negative stuff!
Reasons to buy a Royal Enfield Motorcycle:
- Royal street presence: Whenever you just pass by any street or place, people look at you, which feels good as every person wants attention! Retro styling and cool all-around styling make it look nice every time you see one.
- Build quality (Engine): Royal Enfield engines are built nicely, they don’t die so quickly. One of the best things about bikes is the engine and that’s why you buy them.
- Engines: As we know that Royal Enfield engines are bulletproof, we should also know that these bikes were made to do a lot of touring. Both 350cc and 500cc engines have a great amount of torque, you just twist the throttle and the bike pulls you. Although bikes don’t produce jaw-dropping power, they have enough torque to take you anywhere.
- Driver’s saddle: The best place to be on a Royal Enfield bike is always the driving saddle. It feels relaxing and good for touring. And when everyone is looking at your bike, you won’t go unnoticed in the driver’s seat!
- Shapes and styling: The only reason this brand is successful in the Indian market is its looks. No matter how dated the styling is, these are the only bikes around that never felt old enough. Tank shapes and handlebar positioning just make things better.
- Customizable: Go to any online store or any nearby market, and you will find maximum accessories available for Royal Enfield bikes, It’s just like an iPhone of bikes! From fancy exhaust pipes to tank guards to luggage stands, you just say it, and the market has it.
- Stable: Every coin has two sides and the weight of any Royal Enfield is just like a coin having a positive and negative effect on it. The first side is positive and that gives it stability. Going on long highway runs, the bike will move without moving here and there.
- Resale value: When you think it’s time to move to another product, you can get good value.
- Royal Enfield Events: Buying a Royal Enfield bike will make you eligible to ride in Rider’s Mania and many Royal Enfield-organized events.
So after discussing almost all the positive points of buying a Royal Enfield bike, let’s move to negative things now!
Reasons to avoid buying a Royal Enfield Motorcycle:
- Materials and build quality: Engines are significant but the main problem is the body panels and parts used are cheap! You can find rust on various parts, though fit and finishing are good on some parts, you can manage to see cheap works in some places. Cables and welding marks are visible here and there!
- Ride quality: you’ll enjoy the ride but you won’t love it on your long tours, after a 60+km ride you’ll feel like stepping out of the bike. On long and open highway straights a person won’t be able to get a bike going above 80-90km/h+ speeds. Vibrations are continuous above 70kmph speed but you will not feel good pulling bikes over 80+km/h speeds; although the bike’s top speed is ranged above 100+km/h.
- Vibrations: After you get used to the bike, you’ll not feel good riding it with heavy vibes. As the speed increases the vibes also go up!
- No tubeless tires on offer (period): No tubeless tires mean less bulletproofing on tours. If you get a puncture, you have to get some pretty stupid ideas to take it to a repair shop.
- Unnecessarily heavy: The second side of the weight is here, you drive any other modern bikes, and you don’t feel the weight when standing in traffic. But it’s the opposite in Royal Enfield bikes, they feel unnecessarily heavy and stupid.
- Mileage: One of the desired problems is mileage, a bigger capacity engine without any optimization and old-school technology in hand may surprise you on the way to your office.
- Gears and clutch: Changing gear on a Royal Enfield bike takes a little more effort than on your regular bike. The Clutch feel is not continuous, the clutch is heavy and it can get sudden engagement with the engine.
- Next to zero comforts on passenger seat: (for classic models): Front and rear seats are set on the same level, so the person who sits behind you must keep his/her feet wide open and that means all the weight of the pillion will go on their hip bone, which is a big problem while you are on a long trip.
- Slow: People say you don’t buy a Royal Enfield motorcycle to ride hard and fast, but I guess when you buy a bike, at least it should be able to travel highways a little fast at a constant speed so you can save time. 90+ km/h speeds are just a danger zone in REs!
- Unreliable: You can’t find any Royal Enfield motorcycle owner saying “No bro! I ain’t good any problem with my bike.” You’ll make a mechanic friend near your home.
- Noisy: Engine noise is good to hear, but that continuous dug-dug sound is not at all fun to hear all day long on the move. In the city and on short rides, it feels so good, but while riding for more than 6 hours, it feels so annoying even with stock exhaust.
- Brakes: A heavy bike and rear drum, I mean you will be able to slow down and stop at lower speeds, but on highway speeds, you have to apply them before time.
- Waiting period: As Royal Enfield’s styling is never getting old, people are still buying them even though they have so many problems.
- Service issues: You go to the service center with 9 problems and come back with 13 more.
So, as you can see there are fewer points in the positive department but if your heart says your next bike should be a Royal Enfield Motorcycle, just get one!
Otherwise, if you hate it then move to other more value-for-money motorcycles. At that same price, you can surely get better things on the planet.
