Royal Enfield 500 comments 7000 miles

[travelHK]

I just came back from India where I drove over 7000 miles 2 up with luggages.
The bike is easy to drive , the kick start is the best way to start the bike as the electric starter is not reliable, the front brake ( disc) is pretty good but at 80 KM/H loaded you may want to be carefull,the bike is very confortable even two up with hard luggage we drove some days for more than 10 hours and were not really tired. The engine runn great and have enough power to pull you across mountains but don't espect more than 40 to 50KM/H.

Reliability:
The components are basic and need almost attention almost every day, check all screws loose, make sure that your valve are set ok ( every 3 to 4 days for me),change the oil frequently ( every 2000 KM ),the wheel bearing are cheap and I had to change mine on the side of the road after 3000 km , the chaine is OK but get very flexible if you are very loaded .

If you like to work on your bike I will recommand the RE but if you are like me and prefer to enjoy riding rather than fixing the RE isnot for you.

Hope this will help you guys.