I think I’m in love with Royal Enfield. It is a brand that I’ve overlooked in the past and now it’s the only one I can think about.
I grew up watching MotoGP therefore I always had a soft spot for superbikes, and when I took my motorcycle driving license I thought that the whole cafe racer/retro style was a fading trend.
I knew that sportbikes and superbikes aren’t comfortable therefore when I bought my first motorcycle I opted for a compromise, a Ninja 650, sporty look yet comfortable enough to use on a longer ride.
I’ve owned this bike for a couple of years now and I’m thinking that when I will have the chance I would like to change for something else.
The reasons are multiple, first of all I found out that it is not that comfortable like I thought, sure it is not a superbike but after a couple of hours of riding you really want to get off. The comfort thing is even more evident when I have a pillion on board, and that’s something that I never considered when I bought my bike.
If you know something about motorcycle you would suggest an adventure bike, and you would be right, but why would I mention the Royal Enfield right it the title then? I love the styling of the whole Enfield lineup.
I really really like the Yellow meteor 350, I love the thumping sound of this single cylinder engine, I was never interested in single cylinders, but this engine is incredibly characterful. I love the comfort, I’ve been on it and I fit very well, and there is space on the back to fit another person and luggage! Another thing that I really like is the fact that it consume half of what my current motorcycle does and that means I could do the long trips that I always dreamed of cheaply. It is a very popular model and that means that you can find a really good deal on the used market especially considering that it is a cheap bike to begin with, and there is no lack of accessories and spare parts.
Then the choice is made, right? Well, not so fast. There is one little big problem, the horsepower. It is only 20cv and the top speed is a bit shy of 120kph. Most of the time it would be ok for me, and I fancy the idea of having just enough of what I need, in fact, I’m not one of those rider that goes three time the speed limit, but at the same time a bit of throttle got me out of potentially bad situations before and I don’t want to find myself desiring more power in a troublesome situation or on a long highway ride, especially with one person on the back.
What about the Super Meteor 650 then? I really like this bike too. Same engine size of what I currently own and more than twice the power of the Meteor. It’s very comfortable, even more than the Meteor 350, and hardly this bike will give problems with top speed. It has a good sound too, 270 degrees phase twin cylinders make more interesting noises than 180 twins, although it is not like the single cylinder of the 350. There lot of accessories, you can really go crazy and kit it out as a grand tourer, the tiny navigational aid called tripper is even included. But, is more expensive, three grand more compared to the one mentioned before, and it is a newer model, so good luck finding something cheap used. It is also an heavier bike, around 40 kilos more, and it consume more fuel, so I can’t really justify the expense by just saying that it will save me a ton of money compared to what I currently own.
If I where an old-school Top Gear presenter I would present now a third option that would fit every requirement like the new Himalayan or something compelling from another brand, in fact a lot of new interesting products have come out from China lately.
What I will do then? Wait. First of all I don’t have the financial means to buy another bike right now. I would love to own both of those bikes, or at least keep my current bike and have the 350, but that’s not very smart, I would pay taxes and insurance on two vehicles, and if I can keep only one bike it has to be able to do everything, and this make me lean towards the Super Meteor or even take into consideration something else, although it will never match the style of those two. In this case I would also have to figure out how to sell my current bike.
I will wait then, saving some money and meanwhile I’ll test drive both if I’ll find the opportunity. I can also hope that Royal Enfield make a new model with the new 450 engine that suits my needs.
Ironically this long chain of thoughts comes without me never even riding those two bikes, just by watching videos and sitting on both of them once. It is not unusual to wander on a potential buy for before or just contemplating a desire for a while, but it’s interesting to put the thoughts into words, hoping this will calm my racing mind to a calmer pace, like the pace of an Enfield.