ROYAL ENFIELD BULLET 350cc REVIEW

ROYAL ENFIELD BULLET 350cc REVIEW 

The Bullet Standard, Electra, Classic are the cosmetic variants of the Bullet 350cc line up, with very minor technical differences between them. Hence performance and all aspects of these are almost the same with only some difference here and there.

Bullet Classic 350

THE REVIEW 

The Royal Enfield Classic 350 is my test machine ,I took it for a 150 Km ride through traffic, broken roads ,highways, mud and everything I could possibly find the bike to put under the test.

THE START

The engine comes life with just single press on the start switch , No kicks and starting problems .There is a fair amount of vibration on the bike which can be identified by looking at the rear view mirror shaking, The vibration vanish with slight twist to the throttle , the engine revs freely feels well engineered and refined.

LOOKS

The styling on the bike is really goes well with its geometry, very distinct and worth staring at silver paint job on the bike is of great quality everything looks perfect and in place. The overall size of the bike well suited for most of the rider. Tank is a piece of art , the rubber pads are well in place , the rear fender hugs the tire nicely. It is one of the best looking bike on sale

ENGINE

350 cc puts 19.6 bhp and 26 Nm of torque, all the power and torque are available at the low and mid rpm. The engine doesn’t like to be accelerated hard, gentle twisting of throttle the engine responds the best. BULL as enough punch to pull anything that sits on top of it , never really feels underpowered .

RIDE

Going uphill was a breeze 3 gear 40 km/hr the bike really did well, torque is constant throughout the rev range .  Bike is rock steady in most of the situation , at 90 kmhr on the highway bike confident and planted and grip on the road is superb. Going beyong 90 you will feel vibration from all parts of the bike coming to you , saying you to slowdown. It is not a racing machine it is meant of cruising at 70 to 80 kmhr.

Suspension has really improved , dynamically the bike feels better compared to the older ones , cuts through traffic well , steering is not heavy and turning radius is also reasonably short , city rides wont be a problems . there is bit of heat which can be felt on the legs while riding the bike though traffic. 1 and 2 gear pull the bike nicely through low speeds of 5 to 10 kmph, clutch is also not heavy to tire out your hands but definitely heavy compared to other bike. Gear ratio are well set for all riding conditions and  you will definitely find a perfect gear for a speed for your choice . shift are not that smooth, neutral finding is tricky at times. But RE show a good improvement in all the aspects of the bike .

Braking

One area which really needs improvement this is it. Stopping power seems in sufficient  , the front disk is also soft and doesn’t offer good feedback. Rear drum is something you cannot rely while heavy braking.

Fuel efficiency

Highway 38 kmpl

City 32 kmpl

Can improve if you ride well

Verdict

The Bullet is an Icon of Power and Masculinity in India , the bike keeps it up , well there are area of improvements but what it offers is exceptional that no other bike can. The feeling itself of seeing it makes you smile and history of over half a century passes through your mind just a glimpse of the bullet makes all this happen. The all metal construction will make bike last thorough generation in the family and a proud possession.

It is not great piece of engineering nor it is meant to be that, it is the connection between body and soul the joy and the pleasure it’s all about the feeling when you ride it. Buying one will really make you proud owner of the BULLET .