Buying Royal Enfield Thunderbird (Bullet)

After lot of deliberations and thinking, I finally decided to buy a second hand Thunderbird, pre August 2008 model. The reasons are as below :

a) The latest Thunderbird Twin-Spark (TBTS) with AVL engine, is not yet tried and tested in the market. Since there has been a significant change in the technology, I considered it best to wait for at least six months to one year before adopting TBTS.

b) Took a test drive of TBTS. The drive was good except that I was not allowed to rev up the bike to above 50kmph. The vibration level in TBTS is significantly lower than the previous Thunderbird, and the handling is as good as well. However, for not being able to go above 50kmph, I chose to keep my decision to buy a TBTS in abeyance. Gear changing from higher to lower gears made some sound, I guess it must have been because the bike was brand new. Thump is missing ! Previous Thunderbird has at least some thump, if not as much as the Standard Bullet, but still, it has some. In TBTS, the thump is missing.

c) Due to my personal situation, uncertaintly about me continuing to stay in India or go back to Australia, I thought it was best not to invest nealry 100,000 rupees in a bike that I might have to just keep in storage. With the second hand bike, at least I can sell it with not much loss.

I purchased a May 2005 Thunderbird from a dealer in Karol Bagh for 55K. On asking how much would he be ready to pay for it if I came back to sell it in say Sept'09, he said, anywhere between 40-45K, however, there was no commitment to do so, as it depended on the condition of bike at the time of selling. I felt that the bike was a bit overpriced at 55K, but did not bargain, as he was known to a very close family friend of ours. Besides, I had rented the same piece of bike from the same dealer few weeks before, and knew that the bike ran alright. Black in color, looks majestic, has good tyres, is clean without any oil leaks (except a minor one that appears after three four days), has good pickup (I have seen santros and wagon r's receding in my rear view mirror on the highway so many times), and the odo stood at ~8700kms, I decided to buy this bike. I took its delivery on Sudnay, 10th May 09. It has Uttar Pradesh's number.

Today, I went to the dealer with the following list of things to fix. His mechanic was very cooperative, and agreed to fix everything.

a) Brake Light : after the rear brake was applied, the brake light would not turn off. Fixed.

b) Brake noise : when the rear brake was applied, the brakes would generate noise. Fixed.

c) Difficulty in changing the gears : When gears were changed, there is a loud noise 'thak' of the gears striking each other. The mechanic adjusted the clutch by turning some screw under the label '5 Speed'. Fixed.

d) Oil Leak : The mechanic said that it will need time, will do it on Sunday.

e) Khach khach noise : Imran took a test drive and found that the chain is loose. He examined the chain, the lock of the chain, and decided that it was best to change the chain. There are two types of chains, one is with the oil rings, and the other is without the oil rings. He recommended the one without the oil rings. When I talked to the dealer, he recommended the chain with oil rings. The dealer said that the chain with oil rings does not let dust settle on the chain, and thus, it help in reducing the wearing away of the sockets. Will be done on Sunday.

f) Oil change : will be done on Sunday.

g) Headlight beam adjustment : Fixed.

Will get back to it on Sunday.