Royal Enfield Bullet Classic 500 reviews

I bought my 350 Deluxe new in the sring of '94 when they first came to Canada. It has been an entertaining workhorse for my 50km round trip to work ever since. It now has 55000km on it and the only machanical failure has been a transmission bearing which cost $20 to fix and took less than two hours to replace. If only the Suzuki it replaced had been this well put together! Show less

I bought a 2000 bullet classic in Sept. i have 1300 miles on it and it is running great. The only problem I have had with the bike is a carb. Problem. The choke didn't work properly and I did a little tinkering and it works fine now. There is nothing better then riding around at 50-55 mph enjoying the bike. I did some modifications to the bike. I took the seat off and put a solo seat and I also took off the turn signals, break light, and the plate holder. I put a tombstone light on the rear and put small lights for the turn signals. It makes a BIG improvement on the looks of the bike. I have found that if you dot like to tinker with things this bike is not for you. If you like to ride and work on bikes this is the one. Show less

It's slower than any 125 I ever rode. Second gear needed a major kick to find. Instruments should have been left off. Seat incredibly uncomfortable. It's sort of like riding a rorotiller that needed a tune up. This was a south Suburban Chicago dealers demo with 100 miles on it. I can't believe they would let anyone try it out YUCH!!!!!! Show less

I bought a 2000 Enfield Classic two months ago. I've put 1200 miles on it since then. It's a USA version. I own five motorcycles. I use the Enfield to relax and commute. It get 70 plus miles to the gallon in all-around driving. Mine has very little vibration from 45mph to 60mph in top gear. In stop-and-go traffic I have no problem out accelerating most cars, up to about 50mph. You have to shift it slow and deliberate. don't rush it or you'll get a false neutral. When it comes time to stop, make sure you give yourself time. If you relax on this bike, it is great. The same goes for the handling. It corners great, if you are smooth and don't get violent with it. I own a Yamaha FZR1000. It's always getting me in trouble. On the Enfield, I can have a good time and not worry about going to jail. I'm very happy with the stock seat. It's wide and firm. And that is necessary when you can go 200 miles with out hitting reserve. The looks and finish are very good for a $4,000 bike. I'm always receiving complements. The fastest I've had it up to so far is 75mph. The vibration at that speed was getting pretty fierce. I was still accelerating slowly at 75. But, I think the speedometer is fairly optimistic -- about 10 percent. So, 75mph indicated is probably more like 68mph actual. Am I happy with it? Yes. Show less

I have had a 500cc classic since April and have covered 2500 trouble-free miles on it. The bike is a first-kick starter in the mornings and thumps along happily to my place of work returning 70+mpg into the bargain. Once run in, I opened it up to see what it would do and it reached just short of 90mph which indicates that the manufacturers quoted top speed of 75mph is a tad conservative. I think that sensible running in -- although a chore -- has contributed to the satisfactory performance. Maintenance is easy and therefore enjoyable. Couple this too with cheap insurance and running costs and you are riding a winner, and is not what motorcycling's all about. Do I love my bike? You bet. The only problem is the amount of people that want to stop you to talk about this handsome little machine. Show less

History: The Enfield Bullet is a plain-looking air-cooled four-stroke single with a very traditional British-bike look. The original factory in Redditch, England went bankrupt back in 1971 but a subsidiary factory in the Indian city of Madras (now called Chennai) still builds about 20,000 Bullets per year. This motorcycle is essentially a 1955 Royal Enfield Bullet with some modest updates: 12 volt electrics, some modern electrical components, and the engine is available as a 350 or an optional 500 CC version.

Starting: When in good tune they're usually easy to kick-start, but occasionally can be difficult. (At one point in India I stalled the Enfield and it took ten minutes of fussing to restart it.) It's important to have a clean spark plug, a good charge on the battery - and a strong leg! Once you do get this big thumper started, it runs pretty decently. With my Enfield here, if the engine is left cold overnight it takes a good 3 or 4 kicks to get it to fire up - but with a warm engine it's easy to restart with just one kick. Speed: The lower three gears are adequate for riding in town. For local riding I usually short-shift up to 3rd gear and cruise along at 50 to 60 KPH. There's a big gap between 3rd and 4th gear; 4th is really more of an overdrive. On the open road 85 KPH (a whopping 50 MPH!) seems to be the sweet spot, and the engine doesn't sound or feel like it's straining too hard. For a stock Enfield 500 the top speed is realistically about 110 KPH - and the engine would be working hard to do that. Handling: I find the hand controls aren't hard to use, but the steering is a bit heavy and there isn't that much turning radius. The Bullet does lean nicely into wide sweeping corners so it's fun on quiet back roads. The Bullet does have a fair amount of vibration compared to a modern thumper, but I find the 500 reasonably comfortable for short day trips.

Transmission: I'm used to gearing 'down' as I brake, but with my Indian rental bike (British-style right-side shift), 1st gear was actually up' and 2-3-4 were all down. I kept accidentally shifting into a higher gear as I slowed. I eventually got used to braking with the left foot, but it was difficult to get used to the upside-down gear shift on the right side. My Canadian Bullet has a left-side shift like a Japanese bike, and I have to say I vastly prefer this. Brakes: If you're used to a modern disc brake you'll find the Enfield's front drum is next to useless. If I squeeze hard with all four fingers I find the Enfield starts to slow rather modestly.

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