Author Topic: Minutes of meeting between RE and Bangalore C5 owners.  (Read 6952 times)

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chinoy

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In an effort to reach out to customers and take their feedback to improve the C5. A team from RE is visting various dealerships and taking feedback.
This is the minutes from the meeting between a few C5 owners and RE.
====================
So yesterday all C5 owners who had purchased their bikes from HSR where asked to meet with the Royal Enfield Guys at HSR dealership.

There where only 4-5 guys who landed up which was sad.
Present from RE side was one guy who handled sales and one guy who handles tech.
The highlight of the evening was a bullet guy who says he is selling his C5 and has booked a Thunder Bird 350. he even had the booking slip in his hand.
his story is really sad. It ends in him wanting to sell his bike.
he has been put thru the ringer. Battery acid boiled over and took out all his paint.
the dealers scratched his bike and then tried fixing it with a rattle can which they didnt know how to use. the bike has spent more time at the dealership than with the customer. Being a south Indian well mannered gentleman. He didnt even raise his voice once while re-counting the story. If this had happened to me I would have bitten some guys head off.


The points covered with them which all owners agreed upon rather strongly.


1. Bike is not stable at speed. Unlike the LB500 or any of the oether bullets the C5 is not ride able at speeds over 100 Kmph. This was echoed by all owners present.
I told them that the day somebody tries to take this bike past 110-120 and crashes RE will have a court case on their hands. And if any automotive expert is asked if this bike is road worthy the simple answer would be no. so fix this or get ready to spend a lot of money and time in court. And no dont ask us to install 19" wheels.
That is an un-acceptable solution to most of us.

2. Lack of availability in spares.
the dealerships do not have spares. Request for spares can take weeks / months. Im still waiting for spares requested when I purchased the bike over 2-3 months ago.

3. Lack of knowledge on the part of service staff.
They dont have a clue about this bike. And are experimenting on customers bikes.
this is the state in RE dealerships. can you imagine what its like out side the dealerships.

4. No service manual.
Why do Indian customers have to pay 65$ and buy a service manual from the UK/US for a bike made in India. its also apparent that the dealerships them selfs do not have access to the service manual. their excuse its in print.

5. Problem off Black smoke and excessive carbon buildup on the first start:
Re dont have a clue how to solve this. But it is resulting in carbon build up. Which increases compression. Which in turn destroys the engine. So anybody who has done more than 6000 Ks is pratically asking for a complete engine replacement.

6. Lack of O2 sensor.
Even your most dumb owners have now learned terms like open loop and closed loop.
Everybody was demanding that RE provide the O2 sensor. Even if its at an extra cost.
they should send out new O2 sensors and ECUs. The dealerships can install this and take back the stock Indian ECU to the factory  for re-programing.

7. Low RPM surging.
the bike cant be driven at low rpm like the old bullets as it suffers from surging at low RPM speeds. And in bumper to bumper stop and go trafic of Bangalore this is resulting in a lot of accidents.

the RE guys left promising to do something about all this.
the reason for the 6 month waiting period is not because of some insane booking numbers. Its because they cant make the bikes.
they have delivered something like 70-80 bike total in Bangalore from the launch day.

I would request that all C500 owners across India. Avail of this opportunity to meet with speak with their RE reps. And give them the feedback they are asking for. Good or bad.

My summary to them was fix this while you only have 50-60 bikes to deal with.
Once they start selling in the 1000s your problems will be much more.


singhg5

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Reply #1 on: March 08, 2010, 04:11:48 pm
Ron Ji:

Do you think that C5 for Indian residents is different than C5 sold abroad ?   Besides one major difference, lack of Oxygen sensor in your C5 - that has two spark plugs, is there any structural or frame difference between C5 for India and C5 for US or UK ?  Is there any way to find that out from RE guys ? 

RE does need to provide you with manuals and train the dealers with new ECU systems.  Here the dealers were shown the mechanical parts of engine, and transmission but electronic gadgetry is a whole new game.   

Thanks for sharing the minutes. 
1970's Jawa /  Yezdi
2006 Honda Nighthawk
2009 Royal Enfield Black G5


SSR

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Reply #2 on: March 08, 2010, 07:08:29 pm
Singh Veer ji nu SSA Punjab to.

Here are few things which differ from export to domestic C5

Export C5                                                       Domestic C5            
Side stand safety switch                                          Not present
Pav not present                                                        PAV present
Single plug/                                                               Twin spark
No kick start                                                             Kick start present

Rear Licence plate located over a inch lower then the domestic one

Twin cat fitted in the exhaust                                     single cat in the down pipe
O2/closed loop ECU                                                  O2 absent/open loop ECU
Front license plate absent/RR is covered by a         Front license plate covers the RR
vented metal plate
Head light bulb stays on day/night(UK version same as domestic)    Stays off in day time.

Fitted with Avon tyres                                                Fitted with MRF tyres
Spark plug with different heat range to domestic ones

Only toe gear shifter with foot rest arm placed          Toe & heel shifter
a bit forward.                                                            

Apart from small cosmetic difference there is no frame difference between the frame's all over the C5 range. Confirmed it with an RE official that is if he was telling the truth.
« Last Edit: March 12, 2010, 08:35:22 pm by SSR »


singhg5

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Reply #3 on: March 09, 2010, 03:52:35 am
Singh Veer ji nu SSA Punjab to.

Here are few things which differ from export to domestic C5

Export C5                                                       Domestic C5            
Side stand safety switch                                             Not present
Pav not present                                                           PAV present
Single plug/                                                                  Twin spark
No kick start                                                                Kick start present
Rear Licence plate located over a inch lower then the domestic one
Twin cat fitted in the exhaust                                       single cat in the down pipe
O2/closed loop ECU                                                    O2 absent/open loop ECU
Front license plate absent/RR is covered by a           Front license plate covers the RR
vented metal plate
Head light bulb stays on day/night(UK version same as domestic)    Stays off in day time.
Fitted with Avon tyres                                                  Fitted with MRF tyres
Spark plug with different heat range to domestic ones

Apart from small cosmetic difference there is no frame difference between the frame's all over the C5 range. Confirmed it with an RE official that is if he was telling the truth.

SSR ji: 

Sat Sree Akaal.  Thanks for the above info.  Let us see some pictures or video of your bike and what is your experience with these UCE bikes ?

Good to hear from Punjab. 
1970's Jawa /  Yezdi
2006 Honda Nighthawk
2009 Royal Enfield Black G5


basanti

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Reply #4 on: March 10, 2010, 07:45:34 am



1. Bike is not stable at speed. Unlike the LB500 or any of the oether bullets the C5 is not ride able at speeds over 100 Kmph. This was echoed by all owners present.
I told them that the day somebody tries to take this bike past 110-120 and crashes RE will have a court case on their hands. And if any automotive expert is asked if this bike is road worthy the simple answer would be no. so fix this or get ready to spend a lot of money and time in court. And no dont ask us to install 19" wheels.
That is an un-acceptable solution to most of us.



Why would the bike be unstable above 110 kmh? Is it becuase of 18" wheels? Why would 18" wheels make a bike unstable?


SSR

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Reply #5 on: March 12, 2010, 05:49:50 pm
There is another difference I noticed, looked at the picture posted by a member http://www.enfieldmotorcycles.com/forum/index.php/topic,6717.msg74851.html#msg74851.

It's the gear shifter, can anyone confirm if everyone has the same. We in India have a heel and toe shifter gear lever. I quite liked the one on this bike. I think I want one. Can I get one from CMW, do they have it?


JamesC5

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Reply #6 on: March 12, 2010, 06:25:11 pm
Hey

Yeah in the west we just have toe-shifters for the gears like in the picture, no idea the India models had toe and heel shift, can you take a picture? :p
2009 Royal Enfield Bullet Classic C5
1951 Royal Enfield RE2 http://www.enfieldmotorcycles.com/forum/index.php/topic,4701.0.html
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SSR

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Reply #7 on: March 12, 2010, 08:12:13 pm
Here you go games. Now I really want one. Is there any place or dealer from where I can order one?

« Last Edit: March 12, 2010, 08:22:53 pm by SSR »


jayprashanth

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Reply #8 on: March 12, 2010, 08:18:18 pm
Randhawa,

You can chop off the heel shifter and finish it up by filing out the rough edges.

Cheers,

Jay


SSR

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Reply #9 on: March 12, 2010, 08:31:25 pm
Dont want to take that route Jay. OK, noticed another thing. Toe shifter construction is totally different from T&H shifter. Also the foot rest arm is moved a bit forward.

So now a need is a toe shifter and foot rest arm. ???


1Blackwolf1

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Reply #10 on: March 12, 2010, 08:48:42 pm
  Love that color..nice ride.
Will Morrison
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chinoy

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Reply #11 on: March 18, 2010, 07:38:15 am
Boss our shifter is any day better.
Trust me the minute I shifted to using the heel to shift Ive not had a single problem.


SSR

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Reply #12 on: March 19, 2010, 06:15:11 pm
On a second thought I agree with you. Hard to ride with any boots just with a toe shifter.