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2013 Royal Enfield Bullet 500 B5 EFI on the Total Motorcycle Cool Wall

More photos and information: http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/motorcyc ... B5-EFI.htm








2013 Royal Enfield Bullet 500 B5 EFI

Built in the image of the legendary iron barrel Bullet 350, the Bullet 500 embodies the the rugged simplicity and timeless style the made the Royal Enfield Bullet popular across the world for more than 50 years.

The Bullet 500 combines Royal Enfield's most iconic model with its robust and reliable new UCE engine to create a modern bike that brings simple pleasures back to motorcycling.

The Bullet 500 EFI is the culmination of over 8 decades of legacy, of the longest running model in continuous production. Since 1932 the Bullet has mesmerized thousands all over the world with its unique styling and one of its kind feel of ride feel. The Bullet 500 EFI is a seamless pairing of the majestic Bullet styling, performance and reliability with the new technology elements like the Electronic Fuel Injection synergized seamlessly with the period styling.The Bullet 500 EFI is all about romancing with history on today's terms.

Styled in the image of its 1955 namesake, Royal Enfield's latest 500cc Bullet offers riders classic motorcycling from a brand with a pedigree stretching back to 1901. And with frugal fuel consumption of 80mpg running costs are modest too.

Valenced steel mudguards, hand-painted gold coach-lines on the petrol tank and side panels, and winged Royal Enfield badges mean that the latest incarnation of the Bullet, which has been in continuous production since 1949, could easily be mistaken for a restored machine from the 1950's. It even runs on Avon Speedmaster tyres. Like its predecessors, it is powered by a 499cc single cylinder engine with a bore and stroke of 84mm x 90mm. However, the engine is Royal Enfield's new unit construction design, introduced in 2009, with 5-speed gearbox and wet multiplate clutch, for fuss-free gear changes. The traditional chrome silencer contains a catalytic converter, so the Bullet 500 meets tough Euro 3 emissions regulations too.

Brakes, suspension and electrical system have all been updated; the 280mm front disc brake provides relaible stopping power, gas filled rear shock absorbers give a smoother ride and the 12-volt electrics power the halogen headlight, indicators and starter motor. In fact the Bullet 500 is one of the few modern motorcycles to give owners a choice of both kick and electric starting.


2013 Royal Enfield Bullet 500 B5 EFI - Specifications
USA MSRP Price - Starting at: $5999
Canada MSRP Price - $6895 CDN


Engine Single Cylinder, 4-Stroke, Spark Ignition, Air Cooled, OHV
Cubic Capacity 499 cc
Engine Output/Torque 27.5 BHP, 41.3 Nm @ 4000 rpm
Fuel System Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI)
Electrical 12V System; Headlamp 60/55W; Tail lamp 21/5W
Ignition Electronic
Transmission 5-Speed gearbox with left side gear shift
Suspension Gas-filled shock absorbers
Brakes- Front 280mm Disc brake
Brakes- Rear 152mm Drum brake
Tires - Front 3.25 x 19in
Tires - Rear 3.50 x 19in
Dimension - L x W x B 50in x 32in x 42in
Wheel Base 54 inches
Ground Clearance 5.5 inches
Weight (Wet) 412 lbs


More photos and information: http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/motorcyc ... B5-EFI.htm

Last week we had the 2013 Ural Gear-Up on the Cool Wall viewtopic.php?f=61&t=46947 , which was quite retro, but still finished very well at a respectable 64% Cool. This week we have another quite retro bike up at less than 1/2 the price of the URAL, but this time from India rather than Russia. Will it finish more cool than URAL? Let's see...

Voted: Cool

Not quite awesome, but pretty damn cool...needs a little more power for my taste, but I like the styling...

Don't mind my errant "awesome" vote, I'm biased. But hey, if a virtually-unchanged German-retro copy gets a solid "cool", then a British-retro bike with EFI and (apparently) greater reliability gets an awesome... at least from me. Bah.

One complaint: the rev limiter was put in place to maintain the engine's characteristic "thump". This bike is capable of so much more, but the Indian market has fallen prey to the RE equivalent of "rolling thunder" disease.

It is a beauty!!!!!!! I know I know Indian well I don't care when I see one I am a trip down cafe racer road Had to go awesome again a real pretty bike.

The above discussions remind me of why I love mid-sized displacement light bikes. They are fun to take to the limits (and are rewarding for doing so), fun to ride everyday, are jack-of-all-trades and just plain fun to own.

Mike

I prefer the looks of the C5 to the B5, but I'll give this a Cool

Awesome!

It's also somewhat historically correct that they are now built in India. The brits taught them pretty much everything anyways.

I don't think the build quality is that bad at all there; certainly light years ahead of any POS made in China.

I just can't get behind this...

I mean, literally. Idling in first gear and riding the rear brake, I couldn't stay behind this...

(-:

Hey, retro can be cool. But Royal Enfield -- it's all they do. Maybe they do it well, it's not an area I have enough appreciation for to know the good from the bad from the ugly. But something about the business model being deployed here just seems off to me. Their policy seems to be "Let's see how long we can build the same bike over and over again, while tweaking the tech just enough to call it modern." And the fanboys eat it up. Frankly, I think the whole reason bikes don't STILL look like Royal Enfields is because technology and materials have progressed in such a way they don't HAVE to look like this anymore. Imagine if Apple or Dell offered you a 'retro' computer that took up an entire room of your house...

But, now that I've said my piece, I offer this compromise to the fans of this retro look. I withdraw my vote from this entry. Ultimately this entry is more retro than it is bike, and I'll voluntarily restrict myself on the grounds that it's not 'in my wheelhouse' as they say.

Now, I'm going to hop on my little golfcart and zip on over to the other side of this warehouse where my mouse is, so I can click "Submit". Damn retro computer...

I prefer the C5 to the B5 as well, but I think this one is still cool.

@JackoftheGreen, I think your opinion is especially interesting considering the bike that you ride. Of course, Kawasaki and Royal Enfield are vastly different companies, with Kawasaki making a huge variety of bikes, and I'm sure the Vulcan in particular is far better engineered than anything in Royal Enfield's lineup. Still, the Vulcan itself is, to a certain extent, styled to look like bikes from an earlier era, even though that is "unnecessary", and IMHO there's nothing wrong with liking a bike for that reason. Just to be clear, I'm not knocking you for your preference (and I don't think you're knocking anyone who likes the Enfield either). I just found it an interesting opinion.