Royal Enfield Electra [1995-1997]

Right. I having been planning to write this for a long time. As required by the untold law that every royal enfield buyer should write a review about their biking experience, i am not an exception. I booked my machine at legend motors, tambaram, chennai by 9th of august, 2014. When i did the booking, it was a royal enfield standard 350. Reason: because, that thing looked like a real bullet. I mean, if it is good for the army, the police and the doodhwala, it was good for me too. Dealer told me that it would take 2 months for delivery, which was okay . Boy, i loved the look on that machine, shining black metal, golden badge et al. But i had this thin doubt about the lack of electric start and the front disk break. Not that it made much difference to me. But then, had a sudden change of heart one day after watching my little angel play (tanya, the love of my life, was born on june this year). I needed electric start and a better brake, because safety is paramount, if not for me at-least for my little angel. So i over-rode my original choice and decided to go for an electra 350, black. And it was closest to my dream machine, standard 500, given that the 500 will not suit my budget nor the city of my residence, chennai. I didn't want to be riding on 20 km mileage in velacherry-taramani link road. People from here know what it means, it is the best dirt bike obstacle course the government ever built. So be it, electra it was. I went back on september 12th and changed the model to electra. And to my frustration, i was told that any change in order automatically increases the expected due date by month. Hence, i had to wait an extra month! let me talk briefly about the waiting period. It is hell. I mean, you start reading all sorts of reviews, blogs everything there is to know about the bullet. Some guy says bullet sucks and the other guy says it is heaven. I mean, i read so much theory, i could probably teach a bachelor's degree on royal enfield bikes. Your mind wanders here and there. When i ride on my cbz extreme during my daily commute, all these enfield guys whiz past me which added to the frustration. At one point, there was no more review to read and no more blog untouched by me and there was still a month left before i got delivery . But in a way, the waiting period is good. Kind of keeps the general population off buying this vehicle, thereby protecting the uniqueness to some degree. Finally i got a call on the 15th of november! went to the dealer, made the payment in cash and in couple of days, took delivery of my second baby! i forget to mention one fact, i've never ridden a bullet before in my life. I never test drove when i went to the showroom. I probably spent not more than a few minutes for booking, never asked the dealer any questions about the bike. So the first enfield i ever rode was mine! let me sum up my review . Damn its worth it! i wanted to use profanity instead of 'damn', but leaving it out to uphold the sanity of this review. To say it is the best ride i ever had is an understatement. Starting the bike is like starting a factory. I felt its heaviness and power, but was in no way uncontrollable. And during my first ride, i felt taller than the rest of the people on road. The smoothness is incomparable. And, riding at 50 km, i felt that this beast could easily outdo 90-100. Until now i haven't pushed her to what she can, with all that less then 60kms rule for the first 500 kms. But tell you what, i realised for the first time, what owning this machine means. It is different. And it is probably a lifestyle change. I've had no complaints so far. Except for the false gears here and there. That too is not a complaint, it just adds to that uniqueness. I haven't sold my xtreme yet. I like that bike too. Then there is a difference between 'like and love'. One sharp turn in my perception: the other bikes now look like plastic. I have not faced the trademark issues like leakage, falling parts yet. To be fair, i have only driven 450 kms until today, so perhaps i am not qualified enough to give a complete review. Until last week, i was scared that when i take delivery of the bullet, that reality would not meet with expectations (like marriage,like job, life in general), but this time around, reality outdid for once. Thanks guys. Sathya.

Pros

looks, riding comfort, sound, power

cons

false gears, service center quality