Review: Royal Enfield's Thunderbird Twinspark
 

<table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top">http://im.rediff.com/getahead/2008/dec/29slid1.jpg</td> <td width="10">
</td></tr></tbody></table> Review: Royal Enfield's Thunderbird Twinspark
December 29, 2008
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="5"><tbody><tr><td height="5">
</td></tr></tbody></table> It is a beautiful morning and there is a nice chill in the air. And I am writing this story instead of riding the wheels off the Royal Enfield Thunderbird Twinspark. That, dear reader, is the failing of the newest Enfield. Actually, you cannot call it a new motorcycle. Nothing with alphabets conjuring up to read Royal Enfield on the tank can be new, right? There are a few people I would like to introduce to you before I get to this, the first road test of a motorcycle that I have done in ages for these pages. First of those is a man called Siddharth Lal or simply Sid. Today, he runs Eicher trucks but before that he landed himself the golden opportunity to do a Harley-Davidson to Enfield India. He knew the ingredients -- a time warped motorcycle engulfed in myth, better quality and thereby reliability, and bingo, India would have had its very own naked British singles that the world would love to own.



Siddharth gave the direction by launching the cruiser, the Thunderbird, an obvious hint at the Harley-cruiser image and a quick way to get established at least in India. And the Thunderbird, which featured an AVL developed engine, was much more reliable, had better finish, was more economical and greener than the older 350s and 500s. The rest of the world got motorcycles that looked straight out of the 1950s and 60s while the T-bird was getting more Indians to "real" motorcycling where there were no plastic fairings but only genuine bones to break when you fell down.

<table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top">http://im.rediff.com/getahead/2008/dec/29slid2.jpg</td> <td width="10">
</td></tr></tbody></table>
Shouldn't they make better motorcycles?
December 29, 2008
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="5"><tbody><tr><td height="5">
</td></tr></tbody></table> The second man, who needs no introduction in automotive circles, is Ravichandran -- the man who gave unsuspecting Indians the Supra and the Shogun. Also the man who helped Bajaj become a serious force in motorcycles. If someone knows how to sell motorcycles in India, it is Ravichandran.

The third bloke, ahem, has a journalistic background. Sachin Chavan used to regularly crash Royal Enfields in his effort to go faster when he used to work for Overdrive magazine (I hear). Sachin today works for Royal Enfield and organises rides to far flung parts of the Himalayas which has earned him cult status already.



He has been sowing the seeds of 22nd century Enfield worship amongst youngsters who normally spend an abnormal amount of time in front of PCs. And last year he rode a heavily modded Enfield, still an Enfield, to third place at the cruel event called Raid de Himalaya. I was there too, driving a new SX4 with a heater, and I saw how Sachin was riding on sheer will power to overcome a nasty fever and a snowstorm.


With people so committed and able in their fold, Royal Enfield should be developing, building and selling better motorcycles. Motorcycles that make me jump out of my bed on any morning and head for the garage, instead of a workstation, right? Alas, they have a lot of work to do.

<table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top">http://im.rediff.com/getahead/2008/dec/29slid3.jpg</td> <td width="10">
</td></tr></tbody></table>
Surprisingly easy motorcycle to ride in traffic
December 29, 2008
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="5"><tbody><tr><td height="5">
</td></tr></tbody></table> I have been looking forward to riding T-Spark though, since I am in the market for a new motorcycle and there is nothing out there that is big enough for a 5'10, 95 kg homo sapien, Indiene. So it had better be another Enfield ( I need something with electric start, hence) -- either the 500 LB or the new T-bird. So this test was important in every sense of the word.

The new T-Spark, T-bird looks good from almost every angle. It is certainly a cruiser but one in the Moto Guzzi cruiser mould rather than a Harley-clone. So you get a raised tank, a massive antler of a handlebar and essential chrome. It has got the correct proportions and there is nothing you want to change. The seating position was comfortable for me, as long as the ride did not last longer than two hours.



Well, you do take a break after two hours on our roads in any case. So. The handlebar-foot peg-seat positioning feels good on slow manoeuvres and the T-bird is a surprisingly easy motorcycle to ride in traffic -- unlike the longer breed of cruisers (have you tried your hand at a Yamaha Royal Star? Any Yamaha Royal Star?).
The chrome on the wheels is terrible and was already rotting on the test bike -- the rest of the bling work is of a better quality though.



Mental note: If I buy another Enfield, I will have alloy-wheels on it, however horrible they look -- since dogs do pee on motorcycle wheels and there is nothing more I detest than corroded wheels and spokes on a motorcycle -- any motorcycle.

<table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top">http://im.rediff.com/getahead/2008/dec/29slid4.jpg</td> <td width="10">
</td></tr></tbody></table>
It does 100 kph in 25.8 seconds
December 29, 2008
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="5"><tbody><tr><td height="5">
</td></tr></tbody></table> I am yet to come to terms with the electric starter on the test bike. It makes lots of noises and I had to develop a technique that involves two hands to start the bike without flooding the carb. I was expecting a healthy whump, whump idle and was disappointed at getting a mechanical chatter where every moving part of the new UCE (unit construction engine) was singing to different tunes.

Trust me, there is nothing more unbearable than a British single that is out of sync and the only excuse RE can have is the fact that it is NOT a Brit single any more.
First gear engages positively, but the clutch release results in a judder that can put the pelvic thrusts of an ageing Rajnikant to shame. You are not supposed to stay in first gear for more than, say, three seconds since vibrations will start shaking your vertebrae loose. On to second and then third quickly and life gets better. And you are really riding a British single all over again.



According to my colleague Kyle, who has been riding all kinds of Brit singles as well as Enfields for years, the roll-on performance of the new T-bird is impressive. And our tests show that it does 60 kph in 6.7 seconds and 100 kph in 25.8 seconds. In Enfield terms that is whopping, ok?



And for the record it can do a top whack of 108 kph, though an optimistic speedo will happily show you 115 plus. Not that you buy Enfields to emulate Hayabusas, still.

<table align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top">http://im.rediff.com/getahead/2008/dec/29slid5.jpg</td> <td width="10">
</td></tr></tbody></table>
The braking could get more progressive
December 29, 2008
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="5"><tbody><tr><td height="5">
</td></tr></tbody></table> On to the final gears and settle down to 70 kph and you are actually enjoying the new Enfield. Sure, it will go faster and it can cruise at slower speeds, but things are peaceful and more manageable at 70 kph -- it will steer, stop and be ready for overtaking at this speed, hence. But what hurts is the mechanical rhapsody that is packaged into this new engine as the speed climbs to 80 and beyond. The exhaust note is inimitably British, but the cacophony is not.

Maybe the test bike was really out of tune as it had been to a Himalayan Odyssey, amongst other things. Vibrations of the tuning fork variety attacks the foot pegs and takes over at 80-100 kph -- which is a shame, since you really are enjoying the ride at this point. Surprisingly the vibes don't get transmitted to the short-arm rear view mirror, which work well.



The best way to come to a halt in an Enfield is to reduce your speed through the gear box -- which, I must say, worked well for me. There are false neutrals that you can stumble upon every now and then, still. The rear drum is spongy on the feel and good for parking speeds at best.


The 280 mm front disc bites with a vengeance though and when combined with the rear drum, provides more than adequate panic-stopping ability to the motorcycle. That said, the braking could get more progressive and may be a better bedded-in pad up front would do wonders.