I purchased one yesterday. Been riding road bikes since 1988 and trail bikes much earlier than that. The brakes on the demo model were absolutely fine. I found the suspension to be well suited to Australian roads and I was able to rail corners with confidence. The heavier weight somehow works. The demo was easily able to sit on 110kmph. I don't think I have ever put a leg over a more easy to ride motorcycle. It's definitely a bike that you have to discard the spec sheet, it's somehow more than that. I plan on light touring mine.
as someone with an older classic 500, I can say the kick-starter is not useless! has saved me from a dying battery, starter and corroded push starter wire many times. I was sad to see them get rid of it on the new model
@@Itachi_Uchia1 The classic 500 is fitted with a fuel pump also and will start on the kick-start when the battery does not have enough amps/power to spin the motor.
Can't believe people call it useless? Bro it's most essential feature of bike. Batteries die anytime and it's best to have kick rather than jump starting in middle of nowhere where you can also injure yourself in the process.
Great review. You’ve made it abundantly clear that you cannot understand this motorcycle. This was never designed to be a bang for the buck, nor be compared with the likes of Yamaha mt03 type of motorcycles. It has a strange emotional connect that I don’t get to experience on my Triumph Trident.
All easy upgrades. Sprockets, pads, and perhaps a free flow intake/exhaust and ECU tune and TA-DAH! gripes are gone... No bike comes out of the box ready to please every person. We could pick holes in everything including high end European money pits. Ride it like you stole it and if you're grinning you're winning.
'Like the unnecessary kickstarter'. Mate, IMHO, you're dead wrong on that one. You should have said, 'like getting rid of the unnecessary electric starter'. Kick starting a bike like this is an essential part of the ritual. What's next ? Get get rid of the gear box and put in an automatic transmission ? (corrected from manual, which was obviously an error on my part). Apart from that glaring error, great review. 👍
So all you guys put a handle in the front of your car & crank the engine over to start it? No? I am surprised he says sarcastically. Anyways - with a near flat batter the kick starter is useless anyway - with electronic ignition & fuel injectors.
@@derekcostello1016 Getting rid of the electric starter would take a bit of weight off a bike that is already ridiculously heavy (as are all modern bikes for that matter unfortunately - My beloved Triumph Daytona 500 had almost twice the HP and weighed ~60 lb less than the Classic). And it would separate out the purists from the pretenders. 😉 FWIW, the battery on my Meteor 350 went flat over the winter. Not enough juice to crank the starter. Bike started just fine with an old fashioned rolling start, jump on, and engage the clutch. Admittedly this was down a hill and IIRC there was probably enough juice to crank the fuel pump. So YMMV.
@@broncosgjn the whole bike is exported from India to Australia what do you expect the Harley's in india are also exported from America with rediculus prices
@@vorrdegard2176 My point is that commenters say the bike is inexpensive. It is not. It is priced similarly to Japanese bikes in the same displacement range in the market outside of India. This is okay but commentators act like it is cheap. This makes me suspicious about people saying this. I am not an idiot as you seem to think. By the way I would by the bike if it could maintain highway cruising speeds. It can't and that makes me unhappy because I think it is beautiful. Just not practical in my area.
Not strictly true. A bike has to have a certain level of ability. If you are referring to speed etc then that's a subjective thing.. I.e Am prob going to get the Classic but will test it and have a long think if I dont like a certain aspect.
Great review, though don't agree with you though that it's not for motorcycle nuts, motorcycling is a broad church. This little machine has plenty to offer.
My friend looked at it and said it needed an exhaust and a camshaft I told him if that what I was looking for I would have bought a different motorcycle I could buy an e-bike I want and I chose this one
Hi there, thanks for your comment. No, is my short answer, the distances are just too far here and you would need to carry fuel. You would also need more top speed and many outback areas would be hazardous on the 350.
Even with the ECU limit, the bike struggled to get up to 110-120 due to the long overdrive gear! We tested the 2018 Classic 500, you can check out the review here. bikereview.com.au/quick-test-2018-royal-enfield-classic-500-abs/
Its a very expensive toy. I love the look of it but for $8,000 I cant ride it on the highway at 105 KPH cruise speed. Big disappointment at that price point.
This has to be the worst review of this bike I have seen so far. The young bloke is still very obviously in the ego driven small capacity bikes are only for learners stage. I don’t own one or intend on buying one, but this take on the 350 Classic made me cringe.
I agree - I own a RE Classic 350 Halcyon Grey - what a charming little bike filled with so much character & charm you cant help but love it. I found the review cold & sterile. Not everybody wants or requires a bike that will do 300 KPH costing 30K As for the breaks - geez give them time to bed in - duel channel ABS
