Royal Enfield Machismo 500 review

[sumeet]

Thought I'd write a l'le review on the Machismo 500 and some of the features.
What has happened till now:
Total distance: ~ 12,000 km in 5 months.
Touring Stats: ~3800 (ladakh) + 900 (Ajmer/pushkar) + 1100
(Shimla/Narkanda - ridden by Biscuit-rtmc dude and Kam) ~~ 5,800 kms.
Fuel Economy: 28 - 32 kmpl for the entire duration. Irrespective of the terrain, speed and rider. Has remained thereabout ever since she rolled out of the showroom. Thats stable fuel economy I guess!

Performance:
Definitely one up on every other bike I have ever ridden. The TB and Electra are utterly underpowered when compared to the AVL 500. Havent ridden the CI 500 or the Lightening 535 to comment on the comparative feel. The first time I rode Kam's TB after the AVL, I was dying for the power. The throttle is responsive, though there is a very very short delay. The accelatation off a dead start is amazing. The first gear is shorter than what the ideal could have been (but thats just me, i guess). The sudden burst of torque sends u back with a jerk if you try to get off the mark too quickly. Same is the case while shiting to a higher gear. Shift to 3 from 2, and try getting off it fast, and there would be a strong jerk.

The capacity to ride with a loaded backend is smashingly amazing. Travelled to Ladakh; 170 kilos of bike+90 kilos of me+another 40 odd kilos of me making a combined weight of close to 325 kilos. I climbled the curves on Gata Loops and Tanglang La with butter smooth ease in 2 and 3 gear. Never had to switch to 1 gear to get that additional bit of power. The Avenger with me was growling for more power on those steep climbs.

Havent revved her to the limit in 5 gear to check on the top end, but have seen the odo climbing >130 in the upright seating posture. This was on the clean stretch on the Jaipur Byepass between Chandwaji and Gopalpura. While riding side by side with a fully stretched TB, only a mini twist of the wrist sent me off, increasing the gap very very quickly. Kam was on one such TB. Definitely has the legs and i'm pretty sure with a carb and filter mod, the top end could go up to >140. Would like to run it along with a CI500 and a Lightening 535, and of course, the new gen plastics (220s, ZMAs).

Build Quality:
Nothing much to write home about in that. Only a different engine on the original Machismo frame. Pretty much the same.

Glitches:
The quality self starter on the machine is the biggest disappointment. Have had the spark clutch replaced twice, the entire clutch cover assembly once, but i'm still scared. Donno why, but everytime I ride the bike, I'm always scared of the self blowing up again. Numerous visits to the service station for this particular problem. A pick up truck haul @ pathankot was the worst nightmare. But then, they say the Self Starts are not for Bullets. They need a kick to run. Following that religiously now. Otherwise everything else seems to be good and up to the mark.

Recommend??:
Oh yes! I would recommend it everyone, to have that *power* feeling. It will blow u away, trust me. Only advice would be to use the self start as sparingly as possible. You never know when it'll blow! But then, there is no perfect Bullet, is there?

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Post copied from Royal Enfield Machismo 500 under the microscope

[anantkrishna]

The starter issue has been solved on post Nov 07 bikes !

[hitanshu]

what about the inital test dummies?

good to hear all the same

[anantkrishna]

Originally Posted by hitanshu

what about the inital test dummies?

good to hear all the same

Intial test dummies get a free replacement under warranty. Provided they have got it replaced post Nov 07, things should be fine.

[nav75]

My first impression http://www.navendu.net/wordpress/?p=88

[digitalbiker]

Even the kick acts wierd sometimes, starter to duur ki baat hai!

What about the AVL clatter? still as much in the new machismo?

[sumeet]

They are coming to inspect the bike after sent them this:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Sumeet Popli <del430@gmail.com>
Date: Jan 31, 2008 6:22 PM
Subject: Problems with my Motorbike
To: rbhatia@royalenfield.com

Dear Mr. Bhatia
It was nice speaking to you and would really appreciate if the problems could be sorted out with your intervention

I had got the Bike from Ess Aar motors on August 4 last year and have had problems soon after

It started when had gone to Ladakh in October of 2007 with a friend on mine. On our return from Ladakh, when were close to the town of Pathankot in Punjab (we were about 50 km short coming from Jammu at Dayala Chak), on October 9, 2007, the bike broke down. After a long and tiring afternoon, we were able to haul up the motorcycle to the nearest Royal Enfield workshop (M/s Cashmir Sales Corporation) which was located in Pathankot. After 4 hours of intense scrutiny, they discovered that an essential bearing in the drive mechanism (forming a part of the electric start assembly) had been shattered into small pieces, jammed the primary transmission and needed to be replaced. The staff was very helpful and the bike was repaired with the required replacements. While all this was going on, I had maintained constant communication with the Royal Enfield Service and after sales head for Punjab (Mr. Jadvinder Singh, located in Chandigarh) and the North India Service and after sales head (Mr. Jagdish Sharma located in Gurgaon) about why such an essential component should fail on the bike while it was running.

Meanwhile I returned to Delhi on October 14th, 2007 and niggling noises kept coming from the repaired components. The replaced component would make a rumbling noise...kaadaaak kaat whenever I attempted using the Electric Start. While all this continued, I kept them informed about the problem. I was asked to come to the Royal Enfield Workshop operated by M/s Ess Aar Motors on Wednesday Nov. 1, 2007 (or sometime then, dont remember the exact date). Mr. Jagdish Sharma and Mr. Gurumurthy from Chennai were present at the workshop along with the regular workshop staff. They promptly changed the Sprag Clutch assembly and assured me that things would improve after the replacements they have made. But it never solved the problem. There was always this niggling sound which kept coming from the primary drive chain assembly and the self starter assembly whenever an attempt was made to start the bike using the self start.

I kept telling them again and again about the problem which never got resolved even after this. Towards the end of november, the Royal Enfield people from Ess Aar Motors and Mr. Jagdish Sharma personally called me up and told me that they have found a permanent solution to the problem and some major component replacements were to be carried out on the bike. They told me that there was a "DESING FLAW" in the setup that they had provided and are replacing the same component on other bikes as well. Finally this was done on November 29, 2007. The entire clutch cover assembly, I was told was replaced.

It has been 2 months since then and I have been facing the same problem again and again. The replaced assembly keeps making this familiar unpleasant Kaddaaak kaat noise when I attempt to start the bike using the Electric Start. I have visited the Workshop of Royal Enfield operated by Ess Aar Motors at least 4 times since then for a permanent Solution to this problem. Everytime they perform a check on the bike and return it me saying things are fine from there end and they cannot do too much more and I would need to speak to the Royal Enfield people.

I am very aggrieved and disappointed with the after sales service provided by Royal Enfied people. The problem which started nearly Four months back still continues and awaits a permanent solution. There are other people who also purchased this exclusive motorcyle and their bikes run perfeclty fine. This bike is supposed to be the better of the bike's manufactured by RE and after spending more than a lac on buying this bike, this was the last that I expected out it. I understand its a mechanical issue, but then its mechanical only, the people at the service station should be able to sort it out. Its been a long 4 months making efforts to correct and i'm running out of patience. I hope that this time around this would be sorted out for good.

My Motorcycle ID is
Registeration No. DL 8S AL 1779
Model: Bullet Machismo 500
Chassis No.: 7LS502219G
Engine No.: 7LS502219G
Date of Sale: 02/08/2007
Name of Owner: Sumeet Popli

Please feel free to call me anytime on my mobile no. 98734 35201.
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Sumeet

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[sumeet]

And so...went to workshop today...got it all opened up, yet again and guess what we
found....the bearings gone, yet again...third time now.

this time i have captured some pics of the same for everyone to introspect what could be causing this. RE people at workshop seem to be quite clueless on the cause for the same...

for the time being the sprag clutch is changed, detailed tests and further engine checkups lined up for monday. it was already 8.30 at the workshop while all this went on.
here are the pics http://picasaweb.google.co.in/DEL430...hIntrospection

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Are they fixing it for free or are they charging for it?