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General Category >> The Cafe >> Royal Enfield 500 out of production?
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Message started by Dave on 11/21/19 at 09:39:59

Title: Royal Enfield 500 out of production?
Post by Dave on 11/21/19 at 09:39:59

It appears the 500cc Royal Enfield may be joining the Savage and is being discontinued.

The article states the 500 is not sold in enough quantities to justify an engine makeover to get it's emissions compliant with the new requirements.

https://www.businesstoday.in/sectors/auto/royal-enfield-may-stop-selling-500cc-bullet-classic-thunderbird-from-next-year/story/390688.html

Title: Re: Royal Enfield 500 out of production?
Post by WD on 11/21/19 at 16:27:35

Not that great a loss honestly. Poorly finished, uncomfortable and unreliable.

At least the Savage could usually get out of its own way. Other than the weak charging system and guaranteed to fail timing chain tensioner, the Savage was a good bike. Not great, but if you recognized its built in limits, pretty decent. 1969 front brake, 1975 ignition, 1978 carb... old tech, but generally reliable. Did it need upgrading? Yep, the front fork is a bad joke stock, but an easy fix... add fluid. The swingarm wobbles a bit... that’s what shim stock is for, and grease fittings are easy to add. Air cooled... run 15W40, change once a year like any other ag pump engine. Simple problems with simple fixes...

The Enfield? Ever heard of the RMS Titanic...?

Title: Re: Royal Enfield 500 out of production?
Post by pg on 11/21/19 at 18:05:12

The KLR 650 is not more as well, the big singles are going by the way side. The KLR is a brilliant machine, I have taken mine all over the country.

Best regards,

Title: Re: Royal Enfield 500 out of production?
Post by LANCER on 11/21/19 at 19:19:04

There are still bug singles out there but they are of the big bore and short stroke variety.

Title: Re: Royal Enfield 500 out of production?
Post by Armen on 11/21/19 at 20:00:41

I can't imagine that they won't keep making the RE 500s for the home market. Favorable tax laws for domestic production and lots of inertia.
As for the rest of the world, the RE500s are bordering on raw sewage. Glad to see them go.
My bud just bought the RE650 twin, and so far, it seems like a good bike.
Just put on a set of shocks and revolved the forks. Few more tart-ups planned.
You have to work on an older RE500 to believe how bad a bike can be.

Title: Re: Royal Enfield 500 out of production?
Post by MMRanch on 11/21/19 at 20:48:58

Hay , I think if the RE650 Twin had mag wheels , then I'd even like to have one of them !

After getting rid of the inter-tubes ... I don't miss them a bit ! ;D If I never saw another one that would be just fine ... ;)

Title: Re: Royal Enfield 500 out of production?
Post by Dave on 11/22/19 at 04:43:14

41726D656E000 wrote:

I can't imagine that they won't keep making the RE 500s for the home market.

The article seems to indicate the home market buys far more 350's than 500's, so it may not be worthwhile to make 500's if you can only sell them at home....they sell nearly 9 times as many 350's.

From the article:

While buyers kept coming for specific 500cc motorcycles, they always played second fiddle to their 350cc siblings. Royal Enfield saw domestic sales of 500cc grow three times to 36,093 units in FY19 from 12,216 units in FY13, as per SIAM data. Meanwhile, the 350cc portfolio saw sales grow seven times during this period to 764,012 units from 108,478 units.

Title: Re: Royal Enfield 500 out of production?
Post by Armen on 11/22/19 at 05:49:53

MMRanch,
As for the inner tube thing, totally agree. Probably the single biggest thing that annoyed me about my Thruxton. I used the Outex tubeless conversion kit from Japan. Did my bike, and a few others. Thousands of miles and no problems.
My bud bought the Outex kit for his RE650. We'll do the conversion on the next semi-warm day. Takes a bit of time, but not rocket surgery.
Now all I carry is a plug kit and CO2 cartridges.

Title: Re: Royal Enfield 500 out of production?
Post by Armen on 11/22/19 at 05:57:30

Dave,
At the local dealer in NJ, the 500 Bullet sells for the same price as the 650 Twins. The sales manager says the main market for the Bullets are ex-Pat Indians. Still a status symbol. They buy the bikes, go to the Temple and family gatherings and everyone oohs and aahs.
I asked one of my customers (ex-Pat Indian) who was lusting after a Bullet if he'd ever gone 80 MPH for an hour in the old county. He just laughed. Said he go to 50 for a few seconds.
Explained that a non-counterbalanced single on a major US highway is a truly painful experience. I think he gets it.
Funny thing, he rode his brother's Sportster the other day and thought it was an absolute rocket ship :-)
I wish RE had made the singles counterbalanced and E-Start when they did the Continental GT. Very pretty bike, just gutless and tons of vibration. I believe they discontinued it.
I think the company will see major sales in the US if the new models hod up.
S&S already has performance parts for the twins. Pipes, cam, airbox stuff.
Could be the new tinkerer's special.