Royal Enfield and Classic 350 are those words that don’t need any definitions or introduction. Though around 30,000 new Classic 350 comes on the streets of India every month, every time you see a person standing next to you at a traffic light riding them, you give a look that “Oh Man! How manly it feels.” So reviewing a motorcycle in 2016; which also has technology next to nothing in it is a challenge. And here we took it! Let’s dive into Royal Enfield Classic 350 review.
Before you jump into the review, make sure you visit this: SHOULD YOU BUY A ROYAL ENFIELD?
Styling
Styling and design are not changed in age, but the longer you see the bike, the more attractive it becomes to your eyes. Big round headlight with a basic speedometer in the front; a big retro-looking fuel tank, a giant and comfy rider’s seat, a big 346cc engine below the tank, and body-colored fenders. What else do you need in a retro-styled classic bike? Oh yes, chrome touches are also here and there!
The stock exhaust isn’t the most attractive piece on the bike; though you can take a look at a whole lot of factory-made exhaust options and swap it. Front and rear wheels are spokes and not alloys, so there isn’t any discussion about how good or bad they are!
A single disc at the front and drum at the rear maintains its classy looks. On the right you get an oval-shaped body-colored box, behind it there is your air box and the air filter lives there. On the left side, the battery is located with a triangle box that screams it’s a CLASSIC 350. A huge carburetor can be seen below the front seat, and it looks huge and cool.
Speedo maintains the touch of the past, but it actually remained a design of the past and is useless! More on this later!
Engine, Gearbox, and Performance
346cc single-cylinder 4-stroke engine with twin spark ignition and air cooling is huge. 70mm x 90mm bore x stroke is really huge for a single cylinder and you can feel the torque produced by that! The engine compression ratio is 8.5:1 and thus you don’t need greater RON premium fuel in it all the time. The engine has a twin spark plug set up, thus engine knocking is reduced, which was a common issue in past. Somehow a little bit of misfire is present in it to date.
The engine produces maximum power figures of 19.8bhp @5250rpm and the maximum torque is 28Nm @4000rpm. As these jaw-dropping torque figures suggest, the bike will actually pull you forward like Mohammad Ali punches your face. Whichever gear you are in, the bike will pull you ahead. Though in the real world, you can only feel that adrenaline rushing pulling, on the other side at the speed spectrum and pick-up timings, you’ll remain wanting more.
Turn the ignition key, switch on the ignition switch, and press the starter button to turn the engine alive. A cold engine will start with some khat-khat tik-tik sound and then will settle in idle RPMs without making unwanted sounds. Twist the throttle slowly and the engine will react, give a sudden twist on the throttle and engine response will lag a bit. As RE350 is not using an overhead camshaft to open/close valves, so more components mean engine reaction will remain slow.
The clutch slip is not there but the engagement of the clutch is not consistent; you can’t get a fixed point when the clutch will exactly get engaged.
Comes with a 5-speed content mesh gearbox! Now changing gear is almost next to easy; with riding boots, the gear shift is easy, but if you’re wearing flip-flops, stuff goes a little on the thud-thud side. False neutral is present in lower gears, when you change gears and release the clutch with a throttle twist, the engine will rev suddenly and no gear is engaged. A little bit of practice may help you but a person like me who switched from a smooth gearbox may face a few problems!
Vibrations?
Accept it or not, in the higher rev range, you will feel vibrations. Unlike other common commuter bike vibrations, these vibrations on RE CL350 are not bearable at all for longer drives. Okay, Classic runs well within the speed limits and that’s why you can give your hands a relaxing twisting movement while driving with an alternate hand, though not too good to drive at least 350cc Classic on long drives.
For example, while riding a motorcycle on mid to higher RPMs; you won’t be able to see what’s going on behind you via the rearview mirror! In a classic bike, vibrations are fine and that feels like a diesel generator is running between your legs and ready to explode.
Handling
If your heart tells you that buy a RE, don’t think about handling it at all. But if your mind interferes with that how will be the handling of my machine?-then understand that you can’t ride a CL350 like other smaller-capacity sports bikes in the market.
Classic 350 weighs nearly 180 kg with fluids, and with that weight with only one disc at the front for braking and a drum at the rear, your chances of stopping the machine from 100-0 in an emergency situation are next to zero. And it is not the weight of the bike only that matters, stock tires don’t offer the best grip, too!
On-the-fly handling is above average, because of the weight and sitting position, crosswinds on the highway or high-speed truck overtake won’t make your ride move here and there. Cruise between 40-80kmph and you’ll have comfort like sitting on a bean bag at home, cross the 80kmph mark and vibrations will come to make you uncomfortable. Though those vibrations are not alarming and you can easily make your way up to 90-95kmph, then you won’t feel relaxed after riding more than 60km!
Talking about turning, obviously, you can’t lean in corners; you’ll find yourself planning corner turns, 90° turns can’t be done without slowing down. On the other side, highway maneuvers can be easily tackled.
Comfort
The front (rider’s) seat is the most comfortable seat I’ve ever been on a motorcycle, period. Leave motorcycle suspension, RE provides separate seat springs, that absorb almost all the so-called “well-maintained Indian highways!” The sitting posture is straight up and the handlebars are well-spaced so you don’t have to lean forward. Take your machine on a solo ride and you’ll just find yourself relaxed.
Neither sitting posture nor seats make you tired; vibration, (not so cool) engine + exhaust sound, a lot of vibration, continuous thinking about “will my bike stop on time if I apply brakes or not?” makes you tired.
I myself have done 350+km one day ride and believe me or not, in the first 100km, my mind told my heart not to buy a RE at all.
The rear seats have a different painful story with them. If the rider is fat like me and you’re sitting as a pillion, you’ll have to sit with your legs open wide because the rear seat is at the same level as the rider. By opening your legs open wide; your body will shift its weight on your bottom bones and that’s really painful. Really really painful on long rides. The foam of the pillion seat becomes very soft and after some riding, it won’t remain supportive enough; so you’ll find yourself making painful expressions!
Ownership experience?
Owning a RE CL350 is now so common that every tom-dick-harry is getting one. Sales figures say that every month around 29-30k CL350s come on the road, and if you can’t relate figures, they are a load of numbers. Spending 140 Grand on an outdated though almost young machine that works as an adrenaline pump to make you feel alive.
Next to zero “feel-good factor” from RE after delivery. Okay, they arrange trips and gathering programs, but almost all the RE service centers aren’t great enough. Nowadays RE’s approach to end-users is changed though I would say bikes are perfect not the company, IMHO!
If you don’t take care of your machine, rusting is a big issue. Leave rust and all aside, parts aren’t 100% reliable. You can read others’ opinions about it too on various forums and sites.
The cost of ownership isn’t hard on the pocket until you break some important parts. Oil change intervals, service times, and stuff are pretty normal on these retro bikes.
Let everyone buy REs, people will always turn their heads to look at you.
Final verdict
If your heart takes all the decisions, go ahead and buy RE, if you take decisions in mind, think twice before making a booking. As there are next to zero techs on it, no proper fuel gauge, no trip-meters, no fuel injection, etc. A 13L fuel tank is not at all preferable for long rides and fuel efficiency isn’t that great.
So buy it if your heart says yes, DON’T if your mind thinks over it!
So decide wisely. Enjoy motoring!