I was very enthusiastic about seeing you doing a proper review on this new entry from Royal Enfield. I turned my computer on and to my delight you were there. This company seems to be hitting the sweet spot with every one of their bikes. Quality, finish, value and dependability. The prices for their bikes make it possible for many people to own one and put a smile on their faces for many enjoyable rides and occasions. I trust your opinion and comments. Thank you.
Hi Stu, it was a nice touch to put those western lettering and music on a video about a bike called Shotgun. Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, Lee Van Cleef, Sergio Leone and, of course, Ennio Morricone would approve it. On the next coming video maybe you could tell us in more detail about The Good, The Bad and The Ugly regarding that steed. Regards from Brazil. 🤠🐴
Yet another, fully comprehensive review from Uncle Stu! I like the way you highlight the individual characteristics of the bike, without being overly critical. Anything that the rider wants to improve can be tweaked and adjusted with after market accessories. These bikes are perfectly fine as standard, and surprisingly good when customised. Built to a cost, with plenty of scope for improvements. Part of the multiple charms of a Royal Enfield!
If I was looking for a long distance cruiser, the Shotgun or the Super Meteor would be my choice. But for daily city riding (Houston, Texas) and weekend day trips, my Meteor 350 is almost the perfect motorcycle.
Riding in Houston is just to much for me. Traffic is down right crazy there. Iv seen people flying along at about 90 with no helmet on like they just don't care. Not me.
I had the same problem with my Royal Enfield 350 Hunter last year. The rear shock absorbers were too hard. Even with no spring preload at all, every pothole, every short bump hit my back and after a while it hurt so much that I slowed down or even braked completely in front of such a surface. So I bought two new adjustable shock absorbers from YSS, Eco Line, a gas shock absorber from a Korean manufacturer, but made in Thailand. Excellent quality, actually intended for the vintage Yamaha SR 500, also a single-cylinder motorbike in a similar weight class. A good price at 200 EUR. Since then, the rear end has been working as it should. Sven from Germany
This video was a little earlier than your usual time. I really look forward to all of your videos, but especially this series on the Shotgun. Its a bike i have a lot of interest in.
Now that’s the kind of review I would listen to if I was in the market for a bike. Concise but complete. Trustworthy is the wording would use. Nice job (as usual!) uncle Stu!!✔️
A little squirming on todays roads is most likely not related to the tires, the roads here in Sweden also are nowadays so badly kept that this is no surprise. From what I have seen on RU-vid you are not any luckier with this in the UK. So we just have to deal with it, or start to use enduro bikes instead. Too cold still to start the season here, some years it has been possible but propably this year a couple more weeks are needed. This RE bike is not as interesting to me as the SuperMeteor but as I can´t ride I can at least watch videos where someone else does it so it is still interesting. Thanks for the video, good review like we all, your followers have come to expect by now. Ride safe, and enjoy!
Excellent as always, looking forward to the final review - try bumping the pre-load one notch - this defies logic but made my Hunter much less harsh on the back end at lower speeds, so maybe worth a try on the Shotgun?
Thanks a million for all your reviews and this one is precise, very interesting and very helpful, as usually. Great help for a potential purchase, after my Classic 350 Take care Bruno France
I've only ridden an Interceptor. 6th gear was, to me, impractical below 70 mph. 5th gear was quite relaxed at highway speeds. Stark contrast with my '82 KZ 550.
You hit the mail on the head when you mentioned a comparison to £12000 bikes people even change the front fork springs rear shocks and carry out other personal mods for £6500 it’s a better starting place. Another good review.👍
Love honest reviews and you’re experience of riding over the years is great to listen to. Only real question is would you prefer the Shotgun over Super Meteor if you had the choice to own one?
On the matter of having a 6 speed transmission on a bike with a wide/flat power band. I agree that as delivered all of the 650 RE models could function just fine with a 4 or 5 speed box. It seems that some riders don’t understand that one need not use all the gears most of the time. Just as with a buffet, you don’t have to eat everything. My normal suburban riding style is to start in first gear, double-lift the gear lever to third, repeat to fifth and unless I am on a high speed road, leave it there. I’ve been doing this ever since my testosterone levels normalized and I didn’t feel the need to beat everyone to the next stop sign. Now that doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy “letting her rip” occasionally. Very few things in life are more therapeutic. When that happens, 6 speeds are just fine. Thanks Stuart for your unmatched thoroughness in evaluating and constructively criticizing the bikes as well as the both the industry and the regulatory bodies that shape our future enjoyment of this wonderful diversion. From Texas
'I'm 6 foot with short legs and long arms' So Stu, from what I can gather from that is that you are recommending it for anyone built like the Cadburys gorilla....... Keep up the good work!
Great review once again Ty for sharing. I am curious, though, as to how this model fares next to the Super Meteor, which has basically the same engine.
Thank you Stuart. I was waiting for the Classic 650 but starting to like everything I hear about the Shotgun so hoping to test one in April. So far my dealer hasn't answered my question about whether I could attach my top box together with a pillion for the odd two up tours. Hopefully seeing one in the flesh may answer the question.
Aside from the obvious difference in the front end, how do you think it feels compared to the Interceptor? Peg position and general feel about the same?
Rear shocks sound like they could do with swapping out for a set of YSS shocks with the correct spring rates for the weight of the rider. At the end of the day, it is built to a price isn’t it… Good review 👌🏻👍🏻
I wonder on this and the super Meteor if they worked out the kinks like regreasing certain connections/the rectifier issues and the warping of the gauge faces? I see guys all the time talking about this on the other models, but havent heard if its an issue on the super meteor
Thanks Stu, appreciate your thoughts. I'd be interested in you doing a comparison withe the Super Meteor (given it's essentially the same chassis), perhaps a bit like your video on the three 350 variants. The smaller front wheel and changes to rake/trail explain the faster steering of the SG, but my understanding was that the rear suspension had been retuned compared with the SM. Interested in your view. Cheers!😃
I'm slow on the uptake.....but on listening to the wild west intro I got the connection between the shotgun & the bullet! Looking forward to the 450 Trigger!
Something missed out of a lot of reviews is how difficult is it to put on the centre stand I've had bikes that made me very nervous when using the stand.
The Shotgun sounds like a larger twin equivalent of the Hunter, based on the handling and suspension qualities. Styling is different, but the sportiness seems not dissimilar 👍
Are you holding back on this excellent motorcycle- or is there a bit of jealousy that you don’t own one?😉 Joking aside, it is after all custom built for me. I would put Hagon shocks on the back, add the small wind protection that looks great and consider it the way a motorcycle should be. Entertaining review as always👍🏻
This is a very nice-looking bike and nice in so many other ways that I like....but I wish they would give me an option to put the footpegs back in the normal location. I have never been able to sit back towards my tailbone with my feet forward especially with my 3 back surgeries. I have changed the handlebars and footpegs on Japanese cursers like Kawasaki LTD & CSR bikes and those were great to ride and looked better I believe after that change. Sure, I like the Interceptor, but the Shotgun is a great looking bike and for me putting the pegs back in the normal place for me should not be that difficult.
With the front end being so light, for all the reasons that you’ve already stated, how will this affect your confidence in handling on wet roads? Assuming of course that the weather forecast was wrong and it pi55ed down while you were out riding!
Strange how low powered Royal Enfields are now. Back in 1960/61 they had bikes such as the Meteor Minor Sports 500cc that had 33bhp and could do 95 mph. Or the Constellation which could fo 115mph. Even the Crusader Sport 250cc could on a good day do 80mph.
Lovely review, you have to sit on the bike and develop that throttle control and drop through the gears, abs for motorcycles was always a bit alien for me, it’s approach of the road ahead that counts. Dual disk breaks on the front were a key feature for me and one on the back, people tend to forget how velocity works and the reliance for me, was probably more for comfort value. If it’s not balanced, you’re going to hit problems 👍
The buffeting is fairly quite natural, you can be blown across lanes, so it’s just adhering to your surroundings, fully faired is disproportionate to your surroundings and you can jump to higher speeds without realising 👍
The more powerful the engine, the more powerful the breaking system, which in turn incorporates a more stable machine, but that level of responsibility, should always be adhered 👍
The bike looks great as is but there's so many ways you could go with it, it would make a very nice modern bobber but in the same breath it would make a very nice 40/50s retro. The options are limitless
