Royal Enfield Shotgun riding impression | GTAMotorcycle.com

Royal Enfield Shotgun riding impression

TK4

TK4

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Had a nice backroad ride up to Classy Chassis in Lakefield ON, arriving about 10:30am. The first demo ride had already left so I signed up for the Shotgun. They had two there, but some dunderhead decided that the rear brake pedal was a footrest and smoke started pouring off the caliper and fooked it. Other folks wanted to try one, so I put my turn off until 2:00pm.
On to the riding impression...
The Shotgun is their power cruiser - think of the Triumph Bobber or newest generation Sportster but with a mid-footrest position and low handlebars. If I was in the market for such a thing I think they nailed it on the looks department. Fit and finish was excellent except for the exhaust - it looks cheesy (which I guess likely doesn't matter to prospective purchasers installing LOUD pipes), the switchgear has been nicely upgraded since my INT650 - it also comes with a bolt on passenger seat or optional flat carrier so you have some flexibility.
Same motor as the other 650s - 43ish hp and smooth power delivery from 3,000 to the 7,500 rpm redline (not that I tried, the thing only had 2,300 kms on it), the shifting was stiff but I know that gets better with time. The shift lever itself was a wee bit short for my size 11s, but I'm sure it could be adjusted or replaced pretty easily.
A typical cruiser - every sharp bump sent jolts up my aged spine but the seat, pegs, and bars helped considerably. It's not a sprung seat like the Triumph even though it looks like it. No tachometer - not that it's necessary but I kinda missed having one (another old guy complaint). It does have a tripper navigation system, not that I'd have a clue how to use it (LOL). 4-way flashers and LED lighting - IMO every bike should have them !
One moment of weirdness - when I went to start it I couldn't find the button. It turns out that the kill switch is the starter. Central position is on, to the right is off, and to the left engages the starter motor. Okay I guess, but strange. Handling and brakes are totally adequate, not that I had a chance to really push it. I doubt many prospective purchasers will.
All in all a fun ride, even though I did catch flak about how my safety yellow riding attire clashed with the beautiful blue paint. At least they didn't write me a fashion citation...
Rob from Brooklyn Cycle was telling me that they've built up a 650 motor - big bore kit, cam, ECU reflash, etc. and easily got over 70HP on pump gas.
There are some lunatics in Australia (typically) that have one pushing nearly 100HP for drag racing on race gas but the fuse gets pretty short.
336kms from home to there and back again. I was worn out by the time I got back. Time to admit I'm getting too old for these extended one day rides, Advil and I had a long chat last night.
 

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bitzz said:
To ME; a power cruiser is a Vmax or a V4 Magna... I'd want 3 Enfields for THAT fight.
To ME; power and Royal Enfield are two mutually exclusive terms.

43 HP... TEE HEE TEE HEE A 1970 T100 500cc had 41 HP, the '70 T120 650cc had 50 HP.
A bobber at best... needs MO POWER
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Then you likely aren't the target market, and to be fair neither am I BUT let's not compare apples to oranges.
Liquid cooled V4s versus an air/oil cooled parallel twins ?
The 43HP limit is for Asian and European markets with HP/licencing restrictions.
They sell more bikes in India in one week than they sell in North America in a whole year. That's where the focus is.
There is plenty more HP juice to be had without spending a ton of money.
The V-Max and Magna are long gone, may they R.I.P.
As for your old English bikes - I sincerely doubt that either of your Triumphs functioned with anything remotely resembling the reliability of ANY new machine or had genuine 43 rear wheel HP.
It's a different world now, we gotta get used to it - nostalgia ain't what it used to be.
 
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Watched it before, looks like a good product finally and the team is putting a lot of passion into it. Glad to see the manufacturing scaled up in South India. Def will be looking to ride it when I get there.

Good write up, but yea, under power for my liking for now. I can see one in my garage just for the nostalgic value of seeing them around everywhere when I was growing up.
 
TK4 said:
It's not resurrected. The company moved to India in the late 1950s and has remained in continuous production since 1902.
Older than Harley-Davidson and not brought back like Indian or Triumph.
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It was only the 350 Bullet assembly jigs that moved to India in the 50's.
The "new" Conti is of more recent manufacture, 2013 I believe.
Eicher Motors own the RE name plate.
 
Chris-CJ said:
It was only the 350 Bullet assembly jigs that moved to India in the 50's.
The "new" Conti is of more recent manufacture, 2013 I believe.
Eicher Motors own the RE name plate.
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Correct - they continued to build the 350/500/535s until the overhaul and new factory.
 
RC-31 said:
Yes. I agree. Except for the fact it's a resurrected brand and nostalgia IS the product.
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I don’t think it’s really a redirected brand, they’ve been making bikes for a very long time

But you are right, nostalgia is the basis for all bit their Himalayan product.
 
I like RE's lineup. I'm not the target buyer but they've got a good niche. I was near Mosport last week with my wife and we were in a lineup behind a heavier fella on a RE bike who seemed to have trouble breaking 80 and often slowed down well below that on hills. My rather impatient wife was asking me why he was going so slow so I educated what RE was about.
I'm surprised Classy is carrying anything other than HD. I brought a non-HD product by there about 8yrs back and they were pretty vocal about turning their nose up at it because it wasn't HD.
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