Royal Enfields

[Navydad]

Many of us Spyder folks also have a two wheeler in the garage for when we get the urge to lean a bit. My choice for solo travel is a Moto Guzzi V7II. However, I like all bikes and jump at the chance to check them out. My son and I rode up to the nearest Royal Enfield dealership yesterday to test ride and get an up close look at the Enfields. I have three buddies that have the Himalayan model and I have ridden one quite a bit. It is an adventure style bike and is actually a very nice bike. I wanted to check out the 650's and the Meteor 350 as well. My take is that the 350 is better suited to around town or country roads riding. It has plenty of power and very good brakes and handling (I touched down the pegs in the curves) but the lighter weight makes it feel twitchy on the freeway. The 650? Oh my, very nice ride with plenty of power and also very good handling and braking. The only reason I did not bring the red and white one home was because I prefer the shaft drive of my Guzzi to the O-ring chain on the Enfield. I had a 350 Enfield several years ago. It was rude, crude, and would have made a great boat anchor. These new Enfields are the real deal. Very refined, build quality is great, paint, fit and finish, all get an A+ from me. I know this reads like a commercial for Enfield, but they are actually a very nice motorcycle and if any of you are looking for a bike in that size range the Enfields are worth your time. Oh yeah, the price is right too.

[RICZ]

Agreed. And as much as I hate to admit it, there are a couple brands of Chinese bikes presently coming in that are not to be sniffed at. One line is CSC - they also have 650s, adv bikes, 250s (for less than $2K), gas & electric scooters (one looks like a Honda Super Cub), and electric bikes. I don't recall the name of the other line. I just stumbled across it, but I gotta say I was impressed with their lineup.

[JayBros]

Royal Enfield is going to bring out a Super Meteor using the 650 engine well proven in the Interceptor and Continental GT, don't recall just when. I have an old Marine friend with more artificial joints than real ones who recently sold his T-100 Bonneville, last year one with carburetors, because it had gotten too big for him weight-wise. He's awaiting a 650 Interceptor whenever the ship waiting to unload at some backed up port can offload them. I told him it would be fun to try to do a twofer deal but with the Spyder already in the barn the divorce papers might be too rich for my blood to add a two wheeler to the inventory. Happy wife and all that stuff.

[ARtraveler]

Yes, yes, yes. I cut my teeth on 305, and 350's then 400's. All good stuff from the 50's and early 60's. The reviews from the cycle mags on the Enfields have all been very good. They would be on my radar if I could still ride on two. That 900 that I traded off just became to big for me to handle.

[BertRemington]

As they say of Royal Enfield, the best 1955 motorcycle made today. Actually the 500cc fuel-injected UCE (Unit Construction Engine) was quite a step forward modernization- and quality-wise. The 411cc Himalayan and 350cc Meteor are even more so and make the same power as the 500cc. Either one is a good choice while providing that classic motorcycle look.

WRT to the classic look, the 650cc doesn't work for me -- too much crankcase and too little cylinder proportion-wise. But they are doing well both sales and on the race track.

Great RE community at https://forum.classicmotorworks.com/index.php

As the say of Moto Guzzi, making mechanics out of riders for 100 years. I had a 2019 V7 III. Local dealer wanted 2 hours labor to change engine/transmission/final drive lubricants. And while fun to ride (not much heavier than the RE but twice the power), in the end I just didn't trust it, especially the engine. I was relieved to sell it. (I also had a 2012 Norge which I gave to a nephew before I got a come-to-court traffic ticket.)

Both the REs and MGs have classic looks but while I can recommend the REs I can't for the MGs.

[cptjam]

The new RE are amazing! I like them, too.

[bigbadbrucie]

I just have chime in on this. I learned how to ride on my first ever motorcycle. This was in 1959 and the ride was a 1949 500cc one lung Royal Enfield. No battery, kickstart and ran on a magneto....had a decompression lever as well as a spark advance lever (which I used extensively to prove to the “jocks” that they did NOT know everything about motorcycles). Many times they walked away from my bike limping.....Gotta love kickstarts. Very dependable bike.

[ColoRider]

A friend of mine recently picked up a new Meteor 350 and although I have not ridden it - just looking it over it is quite impressive. We took a lunch ride yesterday of about 75 miles and it was fairly windy. He struggled to maintain the speed limit (65) so they do have certain limitations in the power category. Still, I nice little scoot for running around town and shorter trips.

[Navydad]

As they say of Royal Enfield, the best 1955 motorcycle made today. Actually the 500cc fuel-injected UCE (Unit Construction Engine) was quite a step forward modernization- and quality-wise. The 411cc Himalayan and 350cc Meteor are even more so and make the same power as the 500cc. Either one is a good choice while providing that classic motorcycle look.

WRT to the classic look, the 650cc doesn't work for me -- too much crankcase and too little cylinder proportion-wise. But they are doing well both sales and on the race track.

Great RE community at https://forum.classicmotorworks.com/index.php

As the say of Moto Guzzi, making mechanics out of riders for 100 years. I had a 2019 V7 III. Local dealer wanted 2 hours labor to change engine/transmission/final drive lubricants. And while fun to ride (not much heavier than the RE but twice the power), in the end I just didn't trust it, especially the engine. I was relieved to sell it. (I also had a 2012 Norge which I gave to a nephew before I got a come-to-court traffic ticket.)

Both the REs and MGs have classic looks but while I can recommend the REs I can't for the MGs.

I hate to hear that your MG experience wasn't a good one, but sounds more like a dealership issue than a bike issue. My 2016 V7 Stone has been as reliable as a stone. I do my own work on all my bikes and the V7 is a snap to work on. I can change all the lubricants, check valves, change plugs and filters in an hour WITHOUT removing the fuel tank. With the dry clutch I don't have to worry about oil specifications either. Quality oil of the proper weight and I'm good to go. It is my solo touring machine and hasn't failed me yet. Just goes to show how you can get a good apple or a bad apple in pretty much anything you buy.

[pidjones]

Interesting video by Fort Nine comparing first oil drain from many new bikes. Looks like they finally got their quality issues under control in Chennai. https://youtu.be/9GAUo8eUXeU

[troop]

Royal Enfield is going to bring out a Super Meteor using the 650 engine well proven in the Interceptor and Continental GT, don't recall just when. I have an old Marine friend with more artificial joints than real ones who recently sold his T-100 Bonneville, last year one with carburetors, because it had gotten too big for him weight-wise. He's awaiting a 650 Interceptor whenever the ship waiting to unload at some backed up port can offload them. I told him it would be fun to try to do a twofer deal but with the Spyder already in the barn the divorce papers might be too rich for my blood to add a two wheeler to the inventory. Happy wife and all that stuff.

2024

[troop]

I hate to hear that your MG experience wasn't a good one, but sounds more like a dealership issue than a bike issue. My 2016 V7 Stone has been as reliable as a stone. I do my own work on all my bikes and the V7 is a snap to work on. I can change all the lubricants, check valves, change plugs and filters in an hour WITHOUT removing the fuel tank. With the dry clutch I don't have to worry about oil specifications either. Quality oil of the proper weight and I'm good to go. It is my solo touring machine and hasn't failed me yet. Just goes to show how you can get a good apple or a bad apple in pretty much anything you buy.

The V85 TT Adventure is on my short list..

[Navydad]

The V85 TT Adventure is on my short list..

My buddy bought one a couple of months ago and I made the mistake of putting about a hundred miles on it. Great motorcycle and My money says it will give the King of the Hill (BMW GS) a run for the money. Quality build using top notch components. My last three touring mounts have been European brands, BMW, Triumph, and now the Guzzi and I would put them up against anything I have owned from Japan and in 50+ years of touring I have owned them all. We put 100K miles on the 06 BMW RT and the only failure was a spark plug coil. We put 80K on the Triumph Trophy SE with zero failures. Sold the Trophy and bought our Spyder RT. I have the Guzzi for my solo touring bike and it has been trouble free. The big four from Japan no longer have the market cornered when it comes to well built, reliable machines.

PICT0694.jpg trophy.jpg small shield.jpg

[Little Blue]

I never owned any of the old bikes but I still enjoyed looking at them. As for getting a two wheeler those days are gone.

Spyder RTL is going to be the last Ryde for me.
Hopefully 10 more years, but health wise only God knows for sure.....

[BertRemington]

My 2019 V7 III Stone never caused problems that kept me home. But it was not consistent in operation and began to show symptoms of problems other V7 III owners were having. So I bailed out early with a year left on the transferable warranty. And Moto Guzzi has dropped that engine from their product line.

[Navydad]

My 2019 V7 III Stone never caused problems that kept me home. But it was not consistent in operation and began to show symptoms of problems other V7 III owners were having. So I bailed out early with a year left on the transferable warranty. And Moto Guzzi has dropped that engine from their product line.

They did make some changes to the III series mostly for emissions I believe. I know some were having issues due to the changes and unless you wanted to spend some rather hefty $$$ there wasn't much you could do. The V85 engine they use now was engineered from the beginning with emissions in mind and is a very nice platform. I have my VII running quite well, so no new V85 for me yet. I think the next Guzzi will be liquid cooled. Getting almost impossible to meet the tightening emissions standards without it.

[RideOn]

A gent named Stuart Fillingham does some very good YouTube videos on the 650. He owns one too so its not just a magazine review.

His initial review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD5r7gcI1A4

And a one-year-in review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgWfWVu9YYY

Seems like a decent bike at a reasonable price.