Royal Enfield Classic 350

Yes I am a big fan of short stroked, high revving, 4 valve, DOHC, liquid cooled, fuel injected engines. Yes I love them even more when mated to a 6 speed gearbox astride a lightweight diamond framed chassis and an aerodynamic fiber body. Yes I feel that Royal Enfields should have gone out of production a few decades ago. Yet today, when I got the chance to ride a friend’s RE Classic 350 for about 50 odd kms, I was pleasantly surprised on more than one occasions.
Starting off with the physical appearance. Let’s face it, there is no bike that comes close to an RE in terms of road presence. In fact, I got a lot more second glances today than I did a few days ago on the Ninja 650R. Thankfully, RE have toned down the traditional “thump” with their UCE engines which makes life astride the bike a much more pleasant experience. That said, it still attracts attention. Lots and lots of it.
My first pleasant surprise came from the quality of fit and finish. Unlike what I expected from an RE, the rubber quality of the grips, the quality of the brake and clutch levers, the quality of the paint and chrome plating and the overall fit and finish felt pretty top notch. A few downers here. The headlight beam chose to focus pretty much on the left and on a 1900 kms run bike, the speedo bulb and the left pilot lamp had stopped working. Come on buck up RE!
Moving on to the performance. Well there’s not much to talk about here. It’s a Royal Enfield. The torquey engine is only comfortable for cruising at low RPMs. As the revs climb up, hand and foot massage comes in as complimentary. The tappet sound that probably originated during the World War II is also still retained in this one. Overall, the engine feels boring for a guy like me. However, the intangible “feel” of the motor when cruising at a comfortable speed is once again unmatched. Astride the Classic 350, everything around you starts happening in slow motion. Suddenly you feel that you’ve come far far away from the rat race. You feel a lot more mature and forgive the “youngsters” zig zagging through traffic on their plastic bikes with an “I’ve outgrown all this” kind of smile.
One area where RE have done a truly brilliant job is transmission. The gearshifts are butter smooth and it’s difficult to get a false neutral even if you try hard to find one. Good job on that one Royal Enfield.
Next on my list would be ride quality, handling and braking and that’s where my next pleasant surprise came from. I had no doubts about the comfort levels on the RE nor about its stability in a straight line. What surprised me was the way the bike felt comfortable in corners and in dealing with city traffic. The bike happily leans into corners with no tinge of understeer. Sadly though, the lean angle soon gets restricted by the lower set footpegs. It also has a very small turning radius and happily cuts through bumper to bumper city traffic. Crossing the Mandovi bridge, I was hit by strong crosswinds. Normally I would be struggling to keep my bike in a straight line through conditions like these but not this time.  The bike held its line and the winds could only be felt hitting my helmet and tossing my head around as the bike thumped on.  Royal Enfield have done quite a brilliant job in the braking department as well. The front disc brake is sharp but progressive and offers great feedback. The MRF zappers are grippy enough for stopping without screeching in a straight line. Add to that the weight of the bike itself, the quality of transmission and engine braking and you get an overall package that will save your ass in situations that call for emergency braking.
Well I really don’t know how to conclude this one. Contrary to popular belief, this is not the bike you can hit the highway with. Especially in today’s day and age of four laned highways and carpet smooth roads. The RE is slow, lethargic and full of vibrations when pushed hard. It only has that one comfort zone beyond which it just won’t go. Yet there is that charm, yet there is that feel. The top speed, the agility, the quarter mile timings nothing matters. With a Royal Enfield, it’s all about the intangibles. So would I buy one? Till yesterday my answer would have been “never”. Now however, I choose to say “not yet”. May be 30-40 years down the line, when my reflexes would have slowed down and my hearing abilities would have substantially decreased and I actually would start getting an “I’ve outgrown all this” kind of feeling, I might buy one. Till then.. Bring on the revs…!!!

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