Greetings to all RE comrades.
I own a C5 C-green which I bought in November last year after impatiently waiting for few weeks.
Here is my mini review which I posted on a Indian Auto forum.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorbikes/73998-royal-enfield-500-classic-4100-km-ownership-review.htmlSome pics of it, hope you like it. Will post more a bit later.
In brief, I have done 4350Miles so far. To my observation it has some flaws which either I have taken care of or RE has provided a solution to it.
When I bought the bike I had the tool kit missing as they had supplied me with tool kit from Thunderbird UCE Indian model. With which i could not even open up the plugs and only thing I could do was to remove the rear tyre or replace a head lamp bulb. RE provided me with the C5 tool kit later on after complaining about it.
Then I had an oil leak from the kick shaft seal which upon replacing second time got sorted.
Had Issues with black smoke coming on cold start which to this day exist even after replacing the plugs to high temp range. Some of us down here blame it on missing O2.
Within couple of months the center stand moved a bit forward, resulting in a bit of effort to take it off the stand and on sharp turns it would touch on road. Me and my local RE engineer worked out a way of resolving it without touching the chassis by modding the existing stand. Before I could chop my stand he made few calls to RE R&D and they were aware of the problem and they had worked out exactly the same solution which we had in mind. So now they are sending me a new stand with adjustments to cure the solution. They have rectified the problem in the new G5/C5 manufactured in January 2010 and after. Yet to see the same problem in C5 manufactured after december. Although details can be found on y review with pics.
Now my recent and biggest issues I have is the piston making a racket. I am awaiting my new block kit this week and once it arrives then the engine will be opened up to asses the damage. Will be making another post explaining the issues/symptoms and asking for your views about it in detail.
In a nutshell, I love my bike even after so many niggling problems. I do think that there are areas where it definitely needs improvement.
Specially the paint job. On mine it has already started to rust on some parts of the chassis.
Recently I changed the exhaust to upswept and here is what I feel about it;
Yes its loud and I loved it for a week but now I am bored. It breaks wind sometimes gently or loudly with a bang. Gets embarrassing sometimes when its not expected and on slower speeds.
Its tone changes at high speeds from a meatier one to a more less basy thump. Which is really annoying. This happens when I feel the engine is running lean.
Performance wise I feel the improvement is at the top end. As normally my bike would take its time to reach Its top speed of 124km/hr but with the upswept it goes smoothly to the top.
Acceleration feels smooth.
It has already rattled itself within a week and to be changed under warranty.
Please forgive me for my bit of hotch potch write up as I have so many things crossing my brains about this bike at the moment. So putting info in one go is a bit tricky for me. Although If you people do not find it offensive to click on the link to my review about my C5 on a different forum then please do so. As I have compiled it a far better then at this moment.
I do apologize in advance for being rude on this part.