Royal Enfield Classic 500 – Road Test & Review

Engine:

Coming to the engine, the C5 employs a brand new mill. It’s not the AVL 500cc lean-burn engine from the, err, LeanBurn500 – but instead a dual spark plug, unit construction engine (UCE) derived from the 350cc mill that powers the Thunderbird twin-spark. As you may have already guessed, the new engine  has a different exhaust note as compared to the deep, pounding note of the conventional Bullets. There is a hint of a ‘wheezing’ sound alongside the thump – which makes it feel as if a poor old asthmatic is trying to replicate the thump of a Bullet by coughing every ounce of life out of his lungs! If you like your Bullet to announce its arrival, then make sure you opt for the optional upswept exhaust – for the stock one won’t sound any louder than a pipsqueak. Can’t blame RE though, for the ever worsening emission norms demand such incorporations.

The instrumentation layout remains similar to the conventional RE’s

Finally the Bullet gets 18-inch rims!

Like any other Bullet, the thump of the C5 sounds intimidating only when you rev the living daylights out of the engine. And since there is no rev counter to tell you where the red line is, you need to trust you ears to know when to shift to a higher gear. With the right shifts, the 500cc UCE managed to propel my test bike to a speedo-indicated top speed of 130 km/h, but brought along a lot of vibes. The absence of a balancer shaft in a single cylinder engine as big as this is bound to emit vibes. Hence for my liking, the C5’s enjoyable speed range lies between the 90 km/h to 110 km/h mark – where the bike does not vibrate much, gives you a decent cruising speed and most importantly, it still leaves you with a few extra units of turning force to make those quick overtaking maneuvers. Speaking of which, the C5’s electronic fuel injection not only gives the bike a linear acceleration but very reassuring roll-on timings as well. There is no fluttering whatsoever as the ECM constantly churns out optimum air-fuel mixtures for a smooth engine performance no matter what temperature or altitude you are operating on.

The upswept exhaust looks great and sounds better but costs a premium of a thousand rupees over the stock

The Indian version of the Classic gets a kick starter too

Though the Classic uses 18” rims, the hub remains the same – making retro fitting of the new rims easier on older Bullets

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Related posts:

1. Royal Enfield Classic 500 and 350 launched in India! All the details, with prices
2. Honda CB Twister First Ride / Road Test Review
3. TVS Jive first ride review and road test
4. Mahindra duro first ride review / road test
5. Aviator 110 first ride review / road test