Royal Enfield Classic 350 Long Term Review: Pros & Cons
This is a Long Term Review of the Royal Enfield Classic 350 after 25000 Kms and 4.5 years. It includes the pros, cons, mileage, and overall experience of the bike in this period.
Royal Enfield
What comes to your mind when you hear about this Brand? The Iconic dug dug sound, Vintage Style, Strong metal build, powerful engine, Heavyweight, or something else?
If you ask me what comes to my mind when I hear the word Royal Enfield, it has to be the feeling of riding it and nothing else!
So, here is my story of how I ended up getting a Classic 350 and ownership review after 4.5 years
Background Story:
It was the initial period of my college and I was looking to get a bike for the commute. Being an old-school guy, the plastic toys never attracted me. There were only a few options available for me to choose from. The bike had to last long as I was planning to keep it for at least 5 years and the bike with the tagline 'Definitely Male' had bad reviews for its long life usability.
Also, it was my father's dream to have a Royal Enfield machine at home, so considering all the options, there was no other option than to go with Royal Enfield.
Now I had to choose from either the Standard 350 (or better known as Bullet 350) or Classic 350 as there was no use of a 500 cc engine for my daily use. Found the Classic looking better compared to the Standard and thus booked the Classic 350.
Booking Procedure For Classic 350:
The booking procedure was simple, a little paperwork and depositing a token amount of 5000 Rupees. The price at that time for Classic 350 on road Ahmedabad was Rupees 1,48,000 and I included the leg guard and Teflon Coating(Which is of no use after a week, so do not go for it). So, the on-road price of Classic 350 was around Rupees 1,52,000 in 2015. The remaining amount was to be deposited one week before the delivery date.
I wanted the delivery to be on Dhanteras (Festive Season) and knew that the waiting period would be 3 months. So, booked 3 months before Dhanteras in 2015.
Before 3 days of delivery, the showroom called up to come over and check the bike as it has arrived at the showroom godown and some paperwork was also to be done. I am not a fan of adding unnecessary accessories so added just the leg guard that too from the showroom end.
The 3 months of waiting period seemed like a year to me, but finally, the moment came when the Beast entered my life!
After using it for more than 4.5 years and putting over 25000 KMs, now I am well aware of the bike and confident to write this review. So let's start with the looks and features of the bike
1. Left side view:
From the side, it still looks like any iconic old school bike which has all-metal body parts and a practical design. On the left-hand side, there is a battery compartment(the one with a rectangle box) and Toolbox/Fuse box (one with the Classic 350 Logo).
 |
| A close look at the Fuse/First Aid/ Toolkit Box |
This site also houses the gearbox which has a configuration of 1 forward and the remaining 4 backward, totaling 5 gears.
2. Right side view:
This site has an air filter situated in the triangular box (again the one with the Classic 350 Logo).
 |
| A close look at Air Filter Compartment |
The rear brake pedal and kick-start mechanism are also placed on this site.
Do you see the long silencer finished in chrome? this continues the tradition of Royal Enfield bikes.
3. Rear View:
This is the best angle to look at this bike according to me. You can see all the curves of this bike from this angle 😉
Rear turn signal lights are flanked on either side, but the suspended placement makes it prone to break while climbing or getting down from the rear seat.
Notice the rear seat is tilted a bit towards the left? I have seen such flaws in other classic 350 rear seats as well as in tail lights of standard Bullet.
4. Front Look:
On the front, you will see a large headlamp housing with halogen and reflector setup. The small lamps (as they call them tiger eye lamps) over the main headlight assembly adds a subtle touch to the overall front look.
Again, you will see the leg-guard being bent a bit due to a hit by an auto-rickshaw, though it saved my leg 😊
5. Handlebar and Speedometer view:
The handlebar is placed and designed in a perfect way which makes it easy to maneuver in traffic while feels comfortable to hold during long rides. Reflection from excessive use of chrome on the handlebar can distract you while driving under direct sunlight.
On the left side of the Speedometer, there is the ignition key. The handle lock is provided below the handlebar.
On the right side of the Speedometer, the Ammeter is placed which gives details of battery status. While it is good to have the feature in the bike, the need for a Fuel gauge is felt sometimes.
The odometer was not working for a few months, which I got repaired in recent service and that is why the meter reads 22728 while the original reading must be over 25000 Kms.
Enough with the images and features of the bike, let's talk about My experience with the bike, I will divide the experience into two parts:
a) Good things
b) Not so good things
a) Good Things about Royal Enfield Classic 350:
1. The first and foremost good thing you will realize while driving the Classic 350 is the Feeling of riding it, It has the Torque and Sound which no other vehicle can get you.
2. Ride Quality: The ride on classic 350 is great due to its suspension and seat position. Additionally, the rider gets an individual spring-loaded seat which is much helpful in long rides and adds to the comfort level.
 |
| A close look at the spring-loaded rider seat. (The leather seat cover is coming out of the clamps which holds it, will install a seat cover soon) |
For the pillion rider, I got two opposite feedback. One being a good level of comfort but the other being always a fear of falling back while the rider accelerates hard.
3. Engine: The engine produces 19 bhp of power and 28 Nm of Torque which never lets you feel a lack of power at any point in time. Sometimes I can get going easily at the speed of 20 Kmph in 3rd gear.
4. Weight: Some people would say this is a bad thing for a bike to have 195 Kgs of weight, but trust me when you are driving this, it feels more stable and gives you better confidence compared to any light-weighted plastic bikes.
Initially, I had a problem managing the bike in bumper-to-bumper traffic but once I got used to it, it became normal for me(I was weighing around 52 Kg only when I got the bike, so you can easily lift and handle it). So it is a myth that you cannot handle a bike with a heavyweight in slow-moving traffic.
5. Brakes: I found the brakes to be adequate, though the generation I have did not come with ABS, I do not miss it often. The main benefit of the combination of heavyweight + Disk brake is that whenever you apply the front brake in an emergency, it will not lock the front tire immediately as it happens in any other bike.
6. Mileage: The Classic 350 has returned me mileage figures which are above my expectations.
Here are the mileage figures which I have recorded over time:
- In city bumper-to-bumper traffic: 30-35 Kmpl
- In city moderate-light traffic: 40 Kmpl
- In highway with speeds around 60-70: 40-45 Kmpl
- In highway above 80 Kmpl: 35-40 Kmpl
For 6 months, I was commuting to my workplace which was 44 km in total and the roads were mostly straight without much traffic, In that situation, I got astonishing mileage of 50-52 Kmpl while driving at a constant speed of 60 Kmph in 5th gear.
7. Seats: As explained in the 2nd point, the seats for both rider and pillion are well cushioned and positioned at a comfortable height for all heights of people.
8. Fuel Tank Capacity: Classic 350 has a fuel tank capacity of 13.5 liters out of which around 2.5 liters is for reserve. Overall you can cover long distances without refueling often.
9. Tyres: The bikes come with company fitted MRF tyres which are great on all kinds of roads. The rear tyre is wider than the front providing better grip while accelerating and braking. Though I have some incidents of losing grip while accelerating on wet surfaces, it is due to the heavyweight.
10. Leg Guard: While some people do not like it because of its size, I found complimenting the size and look of the vehicle. Initially, when I was learning to ride it, it saved my legs by acting as support whenever I dropped the bike.
11. Headlight: The headlights are very powerful and provide more than enough lighting on the road. You can drive at high speeds even on poorly lit roads with confidence.
Quite a few good things, but now its turn for Not So Good Things about Royal Enfield Classic 350:
1. Speed: Being a heavy vehicle, it is not easy to reach high speeds compared to any other 350 CC bike, your maximum speed is limited to 130-140 Kmph.
2. Vibration: The bike comes with 3 levels of Massage feature:
Level 1 (At speeds below 80): Mild and pleasant hand and Leg Massage
Level 2 (At speeds between 80-120): Intense full body Massage
Level 3 (At speeds above 120 Kmph): I can not feel my body Massage
That being said, At speeds above 120 Kmph, you lose confidence in the handling of the bike and are forced to slow down to a manageable speed. Though it is not safe to drive above 120 Kmph in our road conditions with a bike without ABS. It does not matter to me as I keep the speed below 80 always for better fuel economy.
3. Maintenance: I give my bike for servicing in an authorized Royal Enfield service center twice a year. In the initial period, the service cost did not include major cost heads other than oil (by the way, it consumes 2.5 liters of oil!), but since the last 2 years, the service cost is raising since more parts are needed to be replaced. The average service now costs me around 3000-3500 Rupees, which was initially under 2000 Rupees.
4. Royal Enfield Classic 350 Battery: This is my biggest complaint to Royal Enfield, they provide an acid battery that dies after a year, so you are forced to change the battery after a year. I installed another acid battery after a year which also died after a year. Then I came across Gulf dry Battery, though it comes for 4800 Rupees but also has a warranty of 4 years. I have been using it until now without a problem.
Also, the battery compartment lock is flimsy and prone to break. So be careful with it.
 |
| A close look at lockable Battery Compartment |
Notice the stains on the right side of the engine box, which is due to leakage of acid from the battery.
5. Some of the part's quality: The bike is made with a metal body, but when it comes to plastic and rubber parts quality, it is not up to the mark. For example, the decorative plate which was installed on either side below the battery compartment to hide the nut came off while driving, I was scared and thought any part of the engine has come off. But after a couple of days, I observed that it was just a plastic part that came off.
6. Mirrors: If there is one thing which you have to be extra cautious with, that has to be the mirrors. If you apply slightly extra force to adjust it, it is definitely going to break. In my 4.5 years of ownership, I had to change them 5 times.
7. Horn: This is not a bad thing, but the company provides dual horns that sound like Royal Enfield undoubtedly. The problem here is with the traffic norms, You are not allowed to have a loud sounding horn on your bike. Once I was stopped by a cop and they fined me for installing a 'Musical horn'. They also kept my horn with them.
 |
| Look how empty the other side of the horn holder is looking |
8. Clutch: Clutch in this bike is no joke, you can literally have a workout of your fingers by pressing the clutch in 10 repetitions of 3 sets on each side of your hand. Jokes apart, if you are riding for the first time, it will feel tight, but once you are used to it, you will not notice this.
9. Gears: Gears are usually easy to shift, but while moving from 1-2, the gear will position into neutral if you do not have enough speed. This creates a problem in traffic.
Conclusion:
Phew!, this was quite a long list of good and not so good things for a bike, but this sums up the review for this bike. I know this bike has some problems which are persistent for the last couple of generations, but if you want the feeling of riding the Enfield, Even a single Pro will overpower a list of Cons. To conclude, Royal Enfield is not only about riding a motorcycle, it has a lot more than that, and if you want to know what then you must ride it once.
This is the end of this post, Thank you for reading till here. Please provide your query/ comments in the comment section below 😊
Comments
Post a Comment