Don't worry, I am not going to delve on what a Royal Enfield is or its heritage. Being one of the oldest 2 wheeler brands around on this planet, enough has been said at many places (including on this site). So, what's this article all about?

Styling:
It’s the same. The Machismo styling which is the very similar to the original Royal Enfield Bullets, nothings changed but for small 500 stickers. It's been called many things; AVL 500, Machismo 500, A-500 etc. Loads of chrome as usual, but let’s get on to more important stuff.

Chassis:
No changes to the geometry or handling for this new RE bike. By no changes I mean, no rake or trail or wheelbase or any other change. This is not a bad thing if you think about it, as the current motorcycles are stable and pose no serious problem to the regular user. I was thinking that the test bike may land up with a crash gaurd and that I would need to remove it in the morning before heading out.

Classic Machismo styling. But for the round tail lamp.

Engine:
 I had a faint idea about how the lean burn 500 engine would perform, after having ridden one of the few early bikes released by the company, which had been to the Royal Enfield track day way back in January 2006 . But, it was a small ride at the circuit and not enough to actually get an idea about the torque it made. Yeah, torque. It’s all about the torque. It's everywhere; you cannot miss it even if you're a friggin’ dork.

To look at the A500 is very similar to the A350 and if you don't look real close you won’t know the difference. The 500 cc engine retains the same stroke but is bored out and runs off a BS29 carb. This engine makes for a heap of power and can catch out the unwary guys trying to keep up at signals with this bike, who miss the little 500 sticker on the side panel.

I took it out to Nandi Hills with the main aim of testing it while climbing since the torque would really show up there. And I was not disappointed by the A-500 which climbs with lots less effort than the A350 and considerably less effort than the standard 500.

Aluminum 500 with a BS 29.

Peak torque is made at 3,000rpm and the motorcycle effectively pulls straight up until the redline at around 5,500rpm. All this with the restrictive silencer and a BS29 carb. With these changed into a more easy breathing silencer and/or a better carb, the perfomance could be improved.

The motorcycle I got had over 2,000kms on it and the engine looked spotless, without any oil leaks, even after the trashing I gave it over the distance of about 140kms in all.

Speeds:
Initial acceleration is greatly improved thanks to about 24bhp that the motorcycle makes. 100kmph which is a very comfortable touring speed in India comes quickly and the engine does not feel the strain. At this speed, if you need to overtake quickly, all you need to do it open the throttle and the bike lunges forward to 120kmph.

While testing out in the open highway, I managed to get it up to an indicated 135kmph. At about 125 kmph the motorcycle is stops accelerating fast and needs a bit of coaxing to get it there. At about 130kmph, the windblast is quite significant on the body.

This is where the changes that make it worth it are..

But the best part in this section is the way the motorcycle moves between 60-100kmph. It needs only a few seconds to reach there and anyone who rides on the highways (in India again) knows how badly you need to slow down and accelerate again due to a million variables. This is where this engine really excels and saves you the problem of down shifting and up shifting too many times. Remember our dear friend Torque? He's at play here, making life and overtaking effortless.

Brakes:
Could have been better. The motorcycle makes more speed and has not lost any significant weight over the A350. Then why the same brakes? This is one thing that I really felt needed addressing, more than anything else. The brakes are not bad, but when you manufacture a bike that is quick, it just deserves better brakes.

Gearbox:
The standard 500 never got the 5 speed gear box which it so desperately could have done with. Thankfully the AVL 500 comes with the 5 speed gear box, which in itself is such an improvement over the standard 4 speeder. This is the same 5 speed gearbox that is on the A350 too.

Electricals/ Switch gear:
Ignition is now TCI, not the points that were on the older 500s or the CDI which were on a few of the motorcycles (including mine).  Its standard 12v, but did not get to check out the lights since I didn't have the bike with me after dark.
The switch gear has changed (at least from my T'bird) and thankfully does not require me to go to the gym, for example to use the pass beam. The switches positioning has also changed which makes it more comfortable to use.

Mileage:
The motorcycle returned a mileage  of about  40kms to about Rs.100 of normal petrol, which is slightly less than 2 litres. How ever this was during the highway runs and climbing up and down Nandi Hills. Pretty respectable.

Comfort:
The seating comfort is the same as the older Machismos and compared to my El Vibrato Thunderbird, this motorcycle felt really smooth and vibrations seem to be reduced significantly  (significantly from a RE angle). I am not sure if this is due to some improvement for the A500s or a common feature of all RE motorcycles coming these days, it's a good thing!

Conclusion:
At about 1.11 lakhs

May not be as old as Tipu's palace, but sure needed a better engine!

This motorcycle is something Royal Enfield should have released a long time ago, since they had it ready for a while. Well, better late than never! Now with the other manufacturers planning on bigger motorcycles, only time will tell how long the A500 will enjoy its stay at the top of the performance heap. 

Update - Dec 2007: 

Looks like the quality issues which I was speaking of have still not been fixed. I've seen 5 of AVL 500s in my friends circle have issues that's just not acceptable. Bore-Piston kits packing up, Electrical issues and all the other problems that have dogged Royal Enfields still remain. I'll keep my money with me and wait for better stuff for now.

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