A big, BIG consideration with the new UCE engine was with traditional look and feel. In Royal Enfield's home market, India, a huge amount of attention is paid to look and sound, and if the new engine didn't have a primary cover, or they put the starter in a different spot instead of making it look like a distributor, then I guarantee you it wouldn't sell nearly as well when they bring it out.
Some of the stuff you say makes sense so I wont argue it.
But the above statement does not.
For Example the other day I had an old bullet guy over and he was checking out my bike. He was going oh no oh no this engine has something drasticlly wrong with it.
You must show it to a RE tech guy.
Since Im on pretty good terms with the Tech head honcho for the region.
I called him up and next morning I had the bike in front of him.
After talking to me for a few minutes about any loss in power etc.
I fired it up he listened to it for a long time and said Nah nothing wrong with it.
Then we got to discussing how this engine is totally diffirent from any other Bullet.
About how its not going to ever sound like an old bullet and why some of the older bullet guys are freaking out on the sound not being the same and other BS issues.
I think you have a few misconceptions about the Indian Market.
The number of guys who give a hoot about the sound and clasic bs is not as much as you think. 90% of the guys who are buying these bikes myself included.
Are doing so for one very very simple reason.
Its 500cc. It makes 28 BHP (Claimed).
That puts it at close to double the power output and CC size of any engine made in the country.
In the old days when India was not doing so well. We had one yard stick to measure the goodness of a bike and that was what is the mileage. Now as more and more Indians have more and more disposable income. Mileage is no longer the sole criteria to buy a bike. Now its about Power output. And top speed.
Its easy for you to say buy a Jap bike. But what Jap Bike ?
Do you know that imports are baned in the country. You can only bring in a Jap bike on a TR (Transfer of residence). Or pay a heafty fine and customs duty.
It was only a few months ago that the show rooms for Yamaha / Suzuki and Kawasaki started to import Jap bikes. They do this by paying the absurd duty rates the Indian Govt imposes on all imports. So what you would pay 10,000$ for we have to pay 20,000$
So buy a Jap bike is not really an option unless your really really loaded.
Asuming you do buy a R1 or some jap bike. WHere are the roads in India to ride them on ?
Try and look at the biger picture and what you realize is that the Bullet 500.
Is your only option. Its got nothing to do with sound or mileage.
RE have the bigest badest Indian Bike.
The closest competition is the Bajaj Pulsar 220 which claims to be the fastest bike in the Country. (With some guy who weigs as much as one of my legs I guess).
Because with me on it. Im lucky to get it moving.
THe other day I was on the Banglore ring road. And we where having a trafic light to trafic light race. And the bullet even with me on it was outpulling all the other bikes. That is your RTR / Pulsars / Ferios you name it. The bullet 500 is the meanest badest bike an Indian can buy. Very few of the new customers really give a hoot about its sound or tech.
My only gripe with the bike so far is if the road is long enoughf or if the distance between signals is long enoughf the little bikes will pull ahead.
And when it comes to last minute braking they win here too.
The braking bit can be fixed quite easilly with some real brakes and a rear disc.
The top speed part will take some head scratching.
But first we have to get the bike to run in a straight line without wobling un-controlablly all over the road at any speed over 100.
I know it can be done. Because we have invited quite a few bullet guys to our track days. And we have had quite a few bullets which touched 135-140 Kmph down the straights and they where rock solid.
Its some silly little issue like the tyre not being seated right. A stuck swing arm bush but Im confident we can solve it.
Reading all the Pros of the chain drive is kinda re-asuring but I know the kind of power loss we are paying for that chain.
There are two camps in India when it comes to the Bullets.
THe Purists. To whom the UCE will never be considered a real bullet.
They will stick to their old 350s and Cast Iron 500s.
And then you have the new customers like me who are buying the bike for the reasons stated above.
RE in no way is depedning on the pureists to sell they new modells.
The new modells are targeted to a new audience. And a new market which has to date not been taped into.
This is the only way they will be able to sell the numbers they plan on producing.
The puresits are a teeny meeny minority.
Who anyway are not going to part with their cast irons.
Untill they get tired off being passed on every road and every ride.
By the new UCE bikes.
The old bullets where never a sucess, they never sold in numbers.
In fact the plant allmost closed down due to lack of sales.
But then some new management came in and who ever the guy is.
I respect him a lot for his guts. He is playing a big gamble. But as long the Bullet is able to attract new customers like me I think he has a winer on his hands.
There isnt a guy in my club who hasnt allready booked a 500 or is planing on booking one.
The only problem right now is there is a 2-3 month waiting period to get the bike.
That should give you some idea about the kind of intrest and demand its generating.
THe old bullet never ever had this level of interest or demand.