I have purchased the limited edition Royal Enfield Machismo 500 in August 09. Till now I have done 6000 kms on it. It is my second bike after Bajaj Avenger 180. This bike is just awesome. The first ride I took of my bike was enough to make me fall for it.
Performance (9/10): Well What can I say about performance the Bullets have been known for performance add to the new improved Lean Burn (AVL) over bored engine & you have a winner in your hand. The torque is just just too much it just pulls like a tractor on roads.
You can really feel the difference when you it climbs on bridge or you drive on a hilly road it just runs like a tiger eating up the miles! Machismo is the heaviest bike from Royal Enfield stable till now which makes it very stable on roads, coupled with 19inch rims makes it a good off roader. This bike can easily cross 80 mark it wasn’t until I noticed my speedo.
Mileage (7/10): Mileage is the last thing one can except from a Bullet. But this bike not lets it down. The mileage on city (New Delhi) is 34kmpl & 39kmpl on highway. Very good for a 500cc bike.
Style & Looks (9/10): The styling has been retro from every end. This bike looks like a chromed monster. With most of the chromed body. Tank, Front Mud guard, Spoke wheels, Silencer. Two colors are available Black & Green. Although black suited me most with chrome for me. It will definitely make heads turn. Although the windshield looks good but it affects performance by increasing air friction.
Handling (8/10): The bike is heavy so to ride it in a traffic is little frustrating. The clutch is very hard which makes it very hard on traffic congested roads. Although highway riding is on par. The riding position is relaxed like traditional Bullets for long drives but not very good for cornering but who needs a Bullet for cornering. The bike comes with inverted gas filled shocks making it very smooth on uneven roads.
The front disk is excellent to bring this mammoth to a stop but rear is a big let down. They vibrations are too much but that can’t be a deciding factor while buying this bike. The traditional instrument panel is present. The traditional thump is missing but a custom silencer can be used to get some acceptable levels thump.
The bike would have been much better if it had: Single key operation for Ignition & Handle locking. A RPM meter & fuel gauge. Front tyre is the traditional ribbed one which doesn’t give much confidence on wet roads (MRF Nylogrip would be much better). A little thick & tube less tyre.
Overall (8/10): If you want performance without much maintenance unlike previous versions of Bullet go for it.
Regards,
Akash
{ 28 comments… read them below or add one }
All that chrome looks real nice but I wonder how it fares in the long term.
I always wonder why Royal Enfield don’t give any attention on the rear mudguard of its bikes, it simply doesn’t go with it at all. Thankfully this time with new Bullet classic 350/ 500 they have done the justice.
chrome never goes off atleast from the tank… but yes there is a huge handling problem with buffed parts.
Talking about tyres well this bike really need MRF meteour for rear. first I was worried about the bike performance but when I rode the bike I was flying….And after few mods on my all customer bikes LB behaving like a small ferrari.
Well there is hardly any maintenace in new bullets…
I feel this buike need rear disc brake system..though I made the arrangement for my customer but I wanted to have it from RE side. Well Akash, enjoy that monster and ride safe..
BULLET 500CC…The king
THE INDIAN HARLEY….
@fas
I dont think the chrome will be a problem considering I have driven avenger whose tank is also chromed. Mostly rims gets a rust if you dont maintain it properly.
@BikeBhp.com
Well the Rear of Machismo is bit different from earlier Bullets it has a round back light of thunderbird which looks really cool for me.
The classic rear looks a little odd to me when I saw it in the service center(well that’s my opinion).
@chinmay
Yes dude I know LB are very good performance engines indeed & does not demand maintainace like cast iron ones thats why I purchased this bike I dont want to see a mechanic every now & then. I am too thinking of getting arear disc brake & a good tyre.
@jihu
Indeed Royal Enfields are Indian Harleys.
Dude, How come this be a Limited edition? Its just another LB500, don’t confuse poor chaps.
You first check ur knowledge.
It is limited edition bike that was delivered only 500 pieces in 2 years. that means 1000 pieces for two years now it stopped for & the new classic is launched as a regular product.
Yes BOSS! Enfield never called it Limited edition. Any idea how many were exported as Electra-X & many other trims? The numbers you quote make it rather a Flop, yeah it had a sort of limited run kinda stop gap between Cast Irons & new UCEs. Its a good machine but not worth the LE tag.
Yes Boss! if its about nos then either Machismo A-350 4speed or the later Machismo 5 speed should be called Limited Edition. Not this LB500 in any case.
Dude I think you haven’t seen the promotions as they were limited too they called it Limited edition. & also it was sold more then it was quoted. Yes only 500 pieces were said to be ever produced but due to no no new bike release from RE last year they delivered another 500 & I am only talking about India.
Its was only available after you pay some amount in advance & then the bike got delivered after 15days or so. Luckily in my case the showroom owner had one piece on display & he was our friend therefore we got it on the same day. In Delhi only that showroom kept this bike no other showroom was selling it.
Rest your wish believe or not. From my side this debate is over.
here is a source
www . 2wheelsindia . com/2007/05/new-royal-enfield-bullet-machismo-500 . html
remove space between dots
In my opinion, Crankie is right, even chk the site which you are referring to, the LE bike has twin seats, useless wind-fairing, leather bag, etc etc…
this bike (LE) is costlier by ober 10k than what you have got…
Moreover, citing a web-page/blog as a proof is mot right… But I do agree with you about how nice this bike is…
RideSafe
Doc
Dude these are the optional accessories you can get from the authorized RE showroom. Even on the RE official these were stated to be optional accessories these include
Windshield
Twin Seats
Leather Saddle Bags
Its not the part of the standard equipment sold by RE.
If you are familiar with RE you might know that even Leg Guard are not part of standard equipment with RE Bikes.
Just check the site I have mentioned it also states that accessories are there for additional costs.
So out of my some 30 odd friends who own this bike, you are the only one who thinks that its LE… fine by me…
Being familier with RE machine… hehehe… made me laugh though…
… hehehehe …
OK Sir… I didn’t meant to offend you by any means…
RideSafe
Doc
CI500, 58000+ kms on highways… see you also sometime…
Doc,
that atleast some one got my point. May be RE slipped the words ‘Limited Edition’ while briefing press. Who clings on to that? Not even RE the maker isn’t mentioning LE on product brochures or web. My bad i see no such in 650+ bikes of 2009 Rider Mania. Neways to each his own. Dood Akash, chill, dont feel insecure & yeah, whats in a tag LB or LE? enjoy the ride! Got a long way to go..
If you want to argue to to a respected dealer of RE & ask them.
Even if u go to service center (the one I went in delhi) has a time line of RE bikes it also mentions that its limited edition.
& check this out
en . wikipedia . org/wiki/Royal_Enfield_Bullet#Since_2007
got to the time line 1997 – 2007
& check it.
That’s the proof again & don’t again comment without searching & checking facts please.
The LB500 was an LE only for the first year it was launched(May 19th, 2007 to be precise) in India. Why? Royal Enfield wanted to beta test it on unsuspecting Indian customers
. Hence the marketing gibberish of 500 units only. And, they forgot to update their web page till they took it off recently. Ever since, RE has produced the LB constantly and do produce it even now. The only difference being the fact that, the LB500s produced now head straight to the US of A and the UK. LB500s were pulled off showroom floors in India recently, in anticipation of the stringent BS4 norms coming into place this April. Hope this clears the air.
Cheers,
Jay
@Jay
You are right they have stopped AVL(LB) because of BS4 norms & also to promote their new UCE engines.
Even the new UCE 500 engine was not BS4 so they installed FI.
Soon CI will also be stopped.
buddy Akash,
Lets please keep off dealers info here. Hehe.. we all are aware how Knowledgeable those chaps are, RE Brand stores included. The wiki page you mentioned says “LE as a heavily accessorized Machismo LB500″ but then your review is about regular machismo LB500. & that’s my point(see my first post of dec21). Your wiki link infact favors Doc’s comment(of jan12) a full option LB500 may possibly be called LE, not one featured here.
Now fyi, A proof is something which validates itself. See ‘Wiki’ disclaimer & if you can call it proof i bow in respect sir! Fyi., its a shared info source.
Again for proof, let me ask you to point us to atleast any one single auto magazine featuring ‘LE’ test/ ride report. I’m not asking scoop or a one box news, all news is not factual. For you here’s two: BikeIndia june 2007 & BSM road test digest july 2007, both featuring rest ride reports of regular LB500 (bike pic at top)& there’s no mention of even an optional LE. Let us know of any such printed article about LE ride report in any popular national auto mag.
LE was a purposeful off the record marketing comment gimmick for selling accessories. Even the page3 advt (BSM RTD jul07)shows a full option LB500 & there’s no word about of LE. When the maker RE is silent why you bother?. now Face the fact
)
Dood, heres a request- Love your bike for what it is! tags are for posers. good day.,
crankie
Very well put Crankie… all the 500s of RE are one way or the other ‘very very Limited Edition’ (pun very much intended)
Akash, I think we have got into this un-neccessary debate… final piece of word will be “love what you have”, its awesome machine
Enjoy the rides, travel the planet, make lot of new friends.
RideHard, RideFast, but always RideSafe…
Doc
Well I don’t know how long will you guys notice that the accessories are optional you need to purchase them with bucks.
I don’t want to waste my money on all those accessories that cost a fortune instead I can easily get the same after-market accessories at quarter of price. For eg The Windshield I inquired is sold for Rs8000
I can get the same replica from Karol Bagh for Rs1500
Same goes for other accessories.
Trust me replica after market items won’t match the quality/ life of RE factory items. Not that RE is great, its better. What are you upto with replica parts? an LE replica
now that will be real limited one ! Cheers
I needed a a powerful bike I know accessories of RE are great quality but I am little rash rider I know I will get my windshields broken soon so why waste money on that same goes for leather bags they can also get damaged.
The twin seats even from RE have problem of getting their spring broken so I didn’t installed that one.
Hey Guyz… any one from Bangalore? I own a Mach 500 a.k.a “Shining Star”
I have owned a 2009 Mach 500 LB. Right from the age of 14 I craved to own a 500…as my dad had a 1984 Standard 500, was a crazy bike and was the first bike I rode (after much effort).
I do not know if the Mach LB is a limited edition bike, but with almost 2 years of ownership, and one trip from Mumbai to Manglore via Goa (NH 17) and a second trip in Mar 2010 from Mumbai to Goa, the performance has been Awesome, I would call it an Endurance machine, in Mumbai city it gives me a mileage of 38 and on the Highway 44, which is fantastic.
The Mach 500 LB has some drawbacks:
The Self start is a disaster, changed the bearing twice, the third replacement is due soon…
The stock handle and seats are very uncomfortable
Rear discs brakes would have been very helpful
The suspension is a complete disappointment, the rear gas shocks are a disaster, I feel that the regular spring shocks would better, and the front suspension needs to be much better for such a heavy bike.
The gear shifting is not so smooth, very often goes into a fault by a new rider
The Brake lever is too curvy below the engine as it hit the road & almost threw me off the Ghats will negotiating a turn at 80 KM…was scary…
The tyres are not good during rains…would prefer the tyres on the new classic’s…good for all weather conditions…
The good thing about the 500 is that you dot’t even know when you hit a 100…done a top sped of 140…wen u look at the mirror after you leave the signal..the remaining vehicle look like a tiny speck far away …..:)
the other perks are you get undivided attention….everywhere you go…Well who does not love that….:)
Mods on my bike:
- Bucket seats
- Free flow exhaust
- RD 350 handle
- Ladhak carriers
- 18 inch back rest…
Going to Ladhak this year…anyone game…give me a buzz @ 9702911711
@ Prithvi,
I am going to Laddakh too… we are currently 3 guys… what are your dates??
write to me on
prasadbhangale@gmail.com
RideSafe
Doc
@ Jay: Are you from Bangalore? If yes, I need some serious help. I own a 09 Machismo 500. can you please provide your email id? would be glad if you can send a test mail to raghuveer.tirumala@gmail.com